Tag: asia mobile commerce

Asia has become the leading force in smartphone ownership

Asia has become the world’s leading market in terms of smartphone ownership, with more consumers choosing to purchase these mobile devices every day. The various economies of the region have been able to outperform other markets, especially in the mobile space and several other sectors. Mobile operators in this region could now have the opportunity to connect with new consumers and disrupt the payments space in a way they were never able to before.

Mobile operators are showing stronger interest in mobile payments and shopping

A growing mobile population has created high demand for mobile commerce services. These services allow consumers to use their mobile devices to shop for and purchase products online and in physical stores. In the past, technology companies and banks had focused on this sector, offering services that were in high demand among consumers. Now, telecommunications companies are beginning to enter into the payment space, with mobile operators leveraging their connection to consumers to establish a foothold in the mobile payments market.

More Chinese consumers are beginning to connect payment cards with their devices

Currently, China, India, and Indonesia are considered markets where smartphone ownership is growing aggressively. Consumers in these countries are also using these devices to pay for products they are interested in. In China, 16% of consumers have credit cards, with 49% having debit cards. These consumers are connecting these cards to their mobile devices, which is enabling them with the ability to pay for products online and in physical stores in a convenient manner.

Mobile operators have the potential to disrupt the payments space

In the coming years, telecommunications companies are likely to play a larger role in the mobile commerce market. These companies have been feeling pressure to provide consumers with services that make mobile payments possible and some have managed to find success in this regard. These companies will compete with other organizations in the mobile commerce market, however, which has become somewhat bloated due to the lucrative nature of mobile payments services.

Masaya Ueno, the director of Rakuten Asia has released a promising prediction for 2015 trends.

Rakuten, the massive e-commerce giant from Japan, has now released an official statement that has revealed that it has brought in $1.1 billion worth of revenue in Singapore via mobile commerce channels.

The company therefore feels that the Singapore market is a tremendously promising one for next year.

The director of Rakuten Asia, Masaya Ueno, who is also the company’s Country Manager for Singapore and the Head of the Business Development Division, explained that the country’s tremendous 80 percent adoption rate of smartphones has made it ready for a great deal more growth in mobile commerce. Smartphone shopping is already quite common in the country but the company feels that there remains a great deal more room for growth to continue throughout 2015.

The larger smartphones, nicknamed “phablets” are being called a driving force behind this mobile commerce trend.

According to Masaya Ueno, “Apple’s entry into the Phablet market with the iPhone 6 Plus and the launch of other phablets flagships like the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 will help to drive the adoption of mobile shopping is Singapore as well.”

At the same time, Rakuten’s forecast also explained that the focus on ‘mobile-first’ is also spreading throughout the Asian Pacific region, where many consumers use their smartphones as their exclusive method of accessing the internet. The prediction underscored the fact that this will be an important m-commerce factor in 2015, as it shows that the trend in mobile shopping will not be exclusive to Singapore, but will also have considerable potential in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Rakuten explained that this mobile technology trend should be telling retailers that they simply cannot think that they can continue to ignore this fast moving segment of m-commerce, as consumers throughout that region turn away from their desktops in favor of their smaller screen handsets.

The Rakuten prediction is that far more retailers will rapidly begin an investment into mobile commerce in both the marketing and retail efforts, and that this will be easily seen in all of 2015.