Mobile payments are lagging behind in physical stores
Mobile commerce is gaining momentum among consumers throughout the world, but it has yet to become a major force in the retail industry. Retailers have been showing more interest in engaging mobile consumers, largely due to the fact that mobile shopping is becoming so popular with consumers. Mobile commerce may not be as prominent in the retail space as is believed, however, according to a new report from Javelin Strategy & Research.
Only 1% of payments in physical retail stores are made from smartphones
The report shows that 9% of online transactions in the retail space are being made from smartphones. Mobile payments being made in physical stores, however, are quite low by comparison. The report notes that mobile payments with smartphones in physical stores account for only 1% of all transactions being made. When it comes to those making mobile payments in physical stores, those with iOS devices account for the most money spent and make mobile purchases more often.
Mobile payments may become more common in the future
Using a mobile device to make purchases in physical stores will likely become more common in the coming years. Retailers have been slow to embrace the concept of mobile commerce in their traditional stores, but this attitude is beginning to change due to the growing number of people that rely on their mobile devices when doing their shopping. The report from Javelin Strategy & Research predicts that mobile payments in physical stores will reach $54 billion by 2019, accounting for a significant portion of all transactions made in these stores.
Retailers are becoming more mobil-centric
Mobile commerce is considered to be quite convenient by consumers. Many of these people prefer to shop online, using their smartphones to purchase products from e-commerce sites. Retailers are beginning to adapt to the advent of mobile commerce by adopting mobile-centric practices and investing in mobile services that allow them to cater to the needs of mobile consumers that are interested in paying fro products with their smartphones.
Shoppers are making it clear that when it comes to shopping and buying, larger screens are king.
The latest development that has been becoming increasingly clear when it comes to mobile marketing news is that it is actually tablet commerce that is taking the hearts of shoppers, more than that occurring over smartphones.
Last year saw a doubling of overall mobile sales, bringing them to a striking $60 billion.
A report has just been issued by Javelin Strategy & Research, called “Mobile Payments Market: Tablet Shopping Surges as Mobile Retail Sales Top $60 Billion.” Within it, the trend toward tablet commerce was underscored, as it was evident that consumers appreciate the larger screen device for their shopping experience.
This trend toward tablet commerce shopping could be important insight for retailers.
The report reveals findings through surveys of 3,492 consumers that were conducted in June 2012, as well as the survey of an another 3,285 people last year in July. Yet another 3,509 people were also surveyed in November 2013 in order to generate the data seen in this research.
Executive vice president and research director of mobile at Javelin Research, Mary Monahan, explained that the mobile payments market has been surveyed by her company for about six years now, but that it has only been for the last two years that they have compiled historical trend data. The reason is that the survey in 2012, the questions on the survey were changed, making it so that the results from previous years could not be compared other than to an anecdotal level.
The survey results from 2013 showed a solid distinction in which retailers can find important insight, said Monahan. She pointed out that consumers are choosing tablet commerce to an increasing degree when they are shopping online on mobile devices. She stated that “Tablets played a dominant role in mobile shopping this year, accounting for approximately one-half of all mobile sales.”
Last year, tablets brought in $28.7 billion in mcommerce, which is five times the total of $5.1 billion that had been brought in the year before. Considering the level of penetration that smartphones have when compared to that of their larger screen counterparts, this figure is very interesting and shows that consumers find that tablet commerce offers something above and beyond what their cell phones are providing.
