UK consumers may be flocking to mobile commerce and abandoning cash
The British Retail Consortium has been keeping track of a surprising trend that has emerged in the United Kingdom. The organization has reported that cash usage among consumers saw a sharp drop in 2012. This trend has been growing more pronounced as consumers grow more reliant on mobile technology. Smartphones and tablets are allowing consumers to engage in mobile commerce, which has lead them to move away from traditional forms of commerce for the sake of convenience.
Consumers are turning to cards and mobile devices to purchase products
The British Retail Consortium has released the results of a new survey that shows the decline of cash usage among consumers. According to the survey, cash usage fell by nearly 10% throughout the United Kingdom in 2012. Many consumers appear to be using their debit and credit cards more often, with others favoring mobile commerce platforms. Notably, physical forms of currency are losing grounds with young, tech-savvy consumers that have a great deal of experience with mobile technology.
Retail sector sees growth in mobile commerce activity
While consumers appear to be moving toward mobile commerce, payments made from smartphones and tablets still represent a small volume of the spending that occurs in many sectors. The retail sector has seen the most activity when it comes to mobile commerce, but spending from mobile devices is still offset by the use of cash and other forms of commerce. Consumers that are not interested in mobile spending are showing interest in another aspect of mobile commerce, however, as they begin to embrace the usefulness of banking applications.
Mobile payments unlikely to completely replace cash for the foreseeable future
Mobile commerce is expected to continue growing throughout the United Kingdom, especially as more businesses begin offering comprehensive mobile services. Mobile commerce may eventually replace the use of cash, but this is not expected to happen for several years. For now, consumers will continue to rely on cash and their debit and credit cards until the challenges that mobile commerce faces have been overcome.
Report highlights importance of mobile commerce and other activities on smartphones
Experian Marketing Services, a marking firm associated with Experian plc., has released a new report concerning consumer behavior and the use of smartphones. Mobile technology has come to play a vital role in the lives of the average consumer, with many people relying on smartphones to function in their daily lives. The advent of mobile commerce has made these devices even more important to people around the world, especially as they devices begin to store and make use of financial information.
Consumers spend average of 58 minutes on their mobile device daily
It is no surprise that many consumers have smartphones, but what may be surprising is how much time a typical person will spend on their mobile device every day. The report shows that the average smartphone user devotes 58 minutes of their time to their mobile device. Much of this time is spend on a variety of activities, including mobile commerce and social networking. The report suggests that the typical iPhone user spends an average of 1 hour and 15 minutes on their mobile device daily, whereas the typical Android user spends 49 minutes on their device per day.
Most of this time is spend talking on the phone and texting
Approximately 26% of the time smartphone users spend on their device involves talking to others on the phone, while 20% of this time is spent texting. Some 8% of this time is devoted to mobile games, which have proven quite popular with a wide range of consumers. Mobile commerce also takes up some of a smartphone user’s time, but not as much as texting. While consumers have been quick to embrace mobile commerce, many people have not found enjoyable experiences through their smartphones. Poor experiences have driven some consumers away from mobile commerce, but not all have abandoned the idea.
Mobile commerce appears active among iPhone consumers
The report suggests that iPhone users spend more time on mobile activities than Android users. This could translate into iPhone users being more active in the mobile commerce space, but many mobile commerce platforms are based on the use of NFC technology, which is not supported by Apple devices. There are alternatives to NFC, of course, that have made mobile commerce more accommodating to iPhone users, but these alternatives are not as popular as the conventional NFC-based platforms.
