Author: Denny

ACMA report highlights the growing activity in the mobile field

Mobile commerce has experienced strong growth throughout Australia since 2010, according to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). Consumers are becoming mobile-centric and more inclined to shop for and purchase products from their mobile devices. Australian businesses have taken note of this and are beginning to focus more aggressively on connecting with mobile consumers. The ACMA has released a report concerning the growth of mobile commerce in the country, highlighting the trends that are contributing to this growth.

Mobile payments grow by 448% since December 2010

According to the ACMA mobile commerce in Australia has grown by 448% since December 2010. As of December 2013, more than 3.4 million people throughout the country are making use of mobile payment platforms. People are beginning to use their mobile devices to manage their funds more easily, according to the ACMA report. The report notes that money transfers are the most widely used mobile service among consumers in Australia.

Smartphone adoption is powering mobile commerce activity

The report found that mobile commerce is most common among those between the ages of 25 and 34. This demographic tends to be more reliant on their mobile devices and more comfortable with mobile technology in general. The growing adoption of smartphones and tablets has also played a role in increasing mobile commerce activity.

Consumers remain more confident in conventional e-commerce than mobile shopping, but that may change in the future

While mobile payments are becoming more common throughout Australia, conventional e-commerce is still performing better than the mobile sector. The ACMA notes that e-commerce sales coming from PCs, in particular, are growing at a rapid pace. Currently, traditional e-commerce sales are 27% higher than sales being recorded from mobile devices. Shopping online from a PC is also more popular among a more diverse group of consumers. Many people have become very comfortable with e-commerce, having extensive experience with PCs and laptops. Mobile commerce may eventually outpace conventional e-commerce activity, but it could take years for consumers to become comfortable with the idea of purchasing products exclusively from a mobile device.

The majority of marketers have already felt this way, but a new report has confirmed these beliefs.

Mobile marketing has been moving at full steam ahead for some time now, but a new report that has been released by Nielsen is showing that this channel is offering brands a considerable opportunity that should not be missed.

The primary struggle is related to the fact that this type of advertising and promoting is still new.

At the moment, while it is known that there is a considerable amount of opportunity available for brands who use mobile marketing, the problem is that knowing exactly how to engage in the channel leaves many marketers feeling confused about best practices. It has already been discovered that the techniques for advertising are notably different over smartphones and tablets from what they have been over television, radio, and even the standard web.

Right now, one of the largest mobile marketing challenges is measuring the success of a campaign.

Currently, the ability to measure the effectiveness of a given mobile advertising effort has been inconsistent, at best. This produces an important barrier to growth over this channel. At the same time, the Nielsen survey showed that smartphone marketing is ready to become a fully mainstream channel that will parallel television. The research indicates the opinions of media providers, advertisers, as well as agencies, when it comes to brand advertising over smartphones and tablets. It also looks into the issues that must be addressed in order to allow it to effectively grow.

The Nielsen report said that “Marketers are deploying mobile campaigns on their own as well as a complement to other media. However, it’s this pairing of mobile with other mediums and focus on branding that gives rise to advertisers’ biggest mobile pain points.”

Addressing the disconnect that is currently being experienced over this channel will be highly rewarding for mobile marketing as a whole, as advertisers learn to calculate their campaign ROI and develop the proper metrics that will provide them with the ability to measure their successes. Once those two primary obstacles have been overcome, the channel will easily slip into the mainstream.