Indian Smartphone Shopping Volume On The Rise; Fashion Most Popular Category

Shoppers are increasingly making purchases using smartphones, with both the share and total volume of such sales growing. In the first half of 2024, the number of mobile purchases is expected to grow by more than 10% in India and more than 15% globally, according to mobile app growth platform Mobmio.

To support brands in leveraging this trend, Mobmio has launched a new platform designed to improve transparency, streamline tracking and automate the management of mobile traffic data. This platform aims to improve how businesses manage mobile sales channels, offering a more precise and efficient approach to tracking mobile marketing efforts.

The platform can issue direct MMP (mobile measurement partner) links, which reduces traffic loss and eliminates unnecessary redirects. The feature automates tasks related to cost-per-action programmes, allowing brands to optimise mobile traffic.

With the help of the platform, Mobmio analysed more than 26 million mobile orders globally, including over 2.6 million in India. The data sheds light on consumer behaviors and highlights which strategies help brands optimise their mobile sales channels.

Calculations showed that not only are the number of smartphone orders growing, but also the amount people are willing to spend. The global average order value for mobiles has risen from $25.5 to $28.7 this year, and from $17 to $17.3 in India.

What Mobile Shoppers Are Looking For

The most popular product category among Indian shoppers was fashion, accounting for over 27% of mobile sales in 2024, compared to 21% of purchases in 2023. Electronics were next in line with 22% of orders, but its position in mobile sales in 2024 declined—in the first half of 2023, it accounted for more than 23.1% of mobile sales.

Next in line were home goods (12.4% of total orders), beauty and health products (7.7%), auto goods (6.4%) and toys and hobby products (6.2%). Indian shoppers also like to order children's goods (4.6%), sporting goods (4%) and food delivery (3.9%) from their cellphones.

Mobile sales of fashion items (+15%), toys (+22%) and food delivery (+25%) grew the most in the first half of 2024.

Technology Challenges

Companies betting on mobile traffic have to study statistics from multiple sources—ad networks and trackers. This data is often incomplete and makes reconciliation difficult.

“Managers have to spend more than half of their time manually bringing all these disparate pieces of data together so that the brand can get a more clear tracking picture. And even after these efforts, it is often impossible to achieve 100% transparency and accuracy of stats, because these services and platforms provide already processed, secondary data, and may miss some of the indicators,” said Neha Kulwal, managing director, APAC and India, Mitgo. “Brands are using two main methods to address this challenge: increasing the spend on staff and additional contractors, or automation.”

Mobile Publishers' Profits Up

Despite the challenges, the sales and cash flow growth in the industry is good. Mobmio estimates that Indian mobile publishers' profits are up 15% this year. Global partner revenues are growing at a similar rate.

Brands are also increasingly turning to partnerships with mobile traffic owners. The number of Indian companies that partner with mobile apps, smartphone manufacturers and other publishers through partner networks increased by more than 12% in 2024 and are expected to grow even further in 2025.