Inside Secure finds that consumers are using their mobile devices to get their holiday shopping done

A new survey from Inside Secure shows that holiday shopping is having a major impact on mobile commerce. The survey found that 51% of holiday shoppers prefer using a mobile app when they are purchasing products. Doing so is seen as more convenient, as they are able to avoid large crowds when shopping online or accelerate the checkout process when they visit physical stores. Using mobile devices in physical stores, however, is less popular among consumers than using these devices to shop online.

Security concerns keep some consumers away from mobile commerce

According to the survey from Inside Secure, many consumers do not use their mobile devices to pay for products in physical stores because they have security concerns. Some 70% cited identity theft and payment fraud as the reason they avoid mobile commerce in physical stores. Shoppers have also expressed concerns regarding their privacy, as past cyber attacks focused on retailers have highlighted how easily some malicious groups can acquire consumer information and exploit this data for personal gain.

Mobile shopping is on the rise as holiday season approaches

While consumers have concerns regarding security, many believe that mobile commerce is the wave of the future. The mobile commerce space is experiencing healthy growth, powered by the holiday shopping seasons of past years. This year, some 39% of mobile consumers are planning to make an in-store purchase with their smartphones, an increase from the 33% that did so last year. A greater portion of consumers are planning on purchasing products online, using their mobile devices as their primary shopping platform.

Younger consumers are more comfortable with mobile commerce

Notably, the survey found that mobile commerce is most popular among those between the ages of 18 and 44. This demographic tends to be more comfortable with mobile technology, having had a great deal of experience with smartphones and the digital world. The survey also found that iOS users are more likely than their Android counterparts to participate in mobile commerce over the holiday season, making use of Apple’s new mobile payments service, Apple Pay.

Though m-commerce is still growing at a rapid rate, there are many who are holding off because they feel insecure.

According to a report that was recently issued by a leading global data erasure solutions and mobile device diagnostics firm called Blancco Technology Group, mobile security remains a barrier that is standing in the way of the willingness of many consumers to take part in shopping activities over their smartphones.

The study was based on the results of a survey in which 1,400 mobile users participated from four countries.

The research suggested that the low level of mobile security precautions that have been taken by smartphone users is not only placing their personal info at risk, but it has also made it possible for corporate data exposure. This places both forms of sensitive data at risk of cyber attack and theft. Even though both legislative authorities and consumers, themselves, have been demanding improved responsibility over data management and accountability by companies, 29 percent of the people who participated in the study confessed that they did not know when their personal info was being accessed over their mobile devices without their specific consent.

This suggests that consumers are in the dark about their own mobile security but want companies to look after it.

According to Blancco Technology Group IT security consultant, Paul Henry, “There is no excuse for not knowing what is happening with your data – be it personal information on a user’s smartphone or tablet, or company files and intellectual property on those same mobile devices.”

The research results also underscore the issue being faced by businesses as they attempt to create products and services in order to enhance the customer experience. At the same time that they want to produce highly personalized and relevant experiences for their shoppers, they are still faced with the challenge of having to keep that customer data secure against the attempts from cyber thieves to capture it.

Among the survey respondents, one in three stated that they felt somewhat confident about their security of their mobile devices, but at the same time, they didn’t feel safe enough to use their smartphones for shopping. Another 23 percent named mobile security as a barrier to linking their credit cards to mobile apps such as shopping applications and digital wallets.