Tag: global mobile commerce

New report highlights growth of mobile sector

Leading market research firm yStats has released a new report concerning the global mobile commerce sector. The report, aptly named “Global Mobile and M-Commerce Report 2012,” highlights the growth that the mobile commerce sector had seen throughout the entirety of 2012 and what this growth could mean for the future. The mobile space has been gaining a significant amount of attention from businesses and consumers alike and many have been gravitating toward the new form of commerce that has emerged thanks to the advent of new technology.

Mobile sales rise throughout 2012

According to the report, the global mobile commerce sector saw impressive growth during 2012. In the U.S., mobile sales grow significant faster than regular online sales throughout 2012, especially when it came to purchasing tickets for sporting events and general travel. Beyond the U.S., the United Kingdom has establish a significant degree of momentum in the mobile commerce space and is expected to lead Europe in terms of total mobile and online sales thanks to the progress it has seen in this sector in 2012.

Mobile shoppers to reach 600 million by 2014

The number of mobile shoppers throughout the world is expected to reach beyond 600 million by 2014. Many consumers are beginning to show more interest in shopping from their mobile devices than through other platforms. Some are even opting to avoid physical stores in favor of mobile shopping. This is partly due to the convenience that mobile commerce represents as well as the growing availability of secure and comprehensive mobile payment services that align with the interests of consumers.

Retailers continue to show strong interest in mobile commerce

Retailers see a great deal of promise in the mobile sector and many companies have been working to become more accommodating to mobile shoppers. During the 2012 holiday season, many retailers saw a sharp increase in mobile sales, which accounted for a drastic rise in revenue. This year, retailers are expected to see a similar result, which will likely add further momentum to the mobile space going into 2014.

Many IT executives around the world are struggling to meet the demands of a growing mobile market.

Based on the findings of the 2013 IT Priorities Survey from Protiviti, many of today’s IT professionals will find it difficult to meet the challenges of mobile commerce, as they are expected to deal with and manage various aspects of mobile technology without having the necessary expertise required.

The survey reveals that IT professionals have only average mobile technical knowledge.

Protiviti’s research results show that almost 200 survey participants, which included IT vice presidents, IT directors, chief security officers, chief information officers, and chief technology officers, scored only an average competent rating for mobile commerce and social media technical knowledge. More specifically, the participants achieved an average 2.8 rank out of 5 in terms of their tech knowledge for the following: m-commerce security, social media security, m-commerce integration, social media integration, and m-commerce policy.

There is a strong demand for mobile commerce, which is rapidly expanding throughout the globe.

Gary Anderson, Protiviti’s managing director for their Asia Pacific region, said that the fast and continued worldwide growth of mobile commerce shows that there is a powerful demand from both consumers and businesses who want to be able to access the information they want wherever they are, whenever they want it. However, with this demand also comes the potential for bigger technology risks.

Anderson went on to say that the result of this puts substantial pressure on businesses and IT departments, “as they are asked to deliver more mobile technology-enabled services. This pressure forces them to take on considerably more risk than they’re prepared for – especially in terms of policy, integration, data management, security and data privacy related to mobile commerce and social media proliferation and innovation.”

According to the survey results, of the 21 technical knowledge areas that were analyzed, the two chief areas that require the biggest improvements are mobile commerce security and social media security. Due to the need for greater security on these fronts, chief information officers (CIOs) and their IT staff will need to work on bettering security to meet the growing number of state and federal information security requirements, and to deal with other technology threats that will only increase as mobile commerce expands around the world.