Apple’s payment service becomes more popular in the US market
Apple Pay is taking over the mobile payments space, while its potential rivals struggle to find traction with consumers. The service launched in October of last year, and has managed to acquire a strong amount of support in a relatively short period of time. Retailers have partnered with Apple to support the payment service, hoping that it will allow them to connect with consumers that like to shop from their mobile devices.
Apple Pay accounts for two-thirds of all mobile payments made in the US
According to the Robert Baird analyst group, Apple Pay now accounts for two-thirds of the mobile payments market in the United States. For the retailers that supported Apple Pay at launch, mobile payment volume has increased by a significant margin. Whole Foods, one of Apple Pay’s launch partners, has reported that the mobile payments it has received have grown by more than 400%. Other retailers have reported similar results because of the payment service and its ability to connect with mobile consumers.
Low number of vendors may continue to support Apple Pay
Though Apple Pay is being supported by some big-name retailers, there are still a relatively small number of vendors that use the payment service. Analysts believe that there will be relatively little change in this trend in the coming years. Mobile payments are quite attractive to retailers, but this does not mean that these businesses will support Apple Pay specifically. There are other payment services that offer features that could be more attractive to certain types of businesses and these services are available for the Android platform. Apple Pay is only available for iOS devices.
Apple may have some competition coming from Samsung in the future
Apple Pay’s growing popularity may be stymied in the future by the launch of other payment services. Samsung is rumored to be releasing its own mobile payments service in the near future. Both Apple and Samsung have been competitive with one another in the mobile technology space for years, with Samsung having recently established a modest lead in the device market.
Approximately 25% of Russian consumers have reported that they would like to be able to purchase products in physical stores using only their mobile devices. Another 22% said that they would like to be able to order food at restaurants before arriving and dining. This would cut down on the site people would have to wait at a restaurant before they were served their food. Placing a reservation through a mobile device would also cut down on wait times outside of restaurants.