Amazon looks to make mobile payments more secure
Amazon has been a leading online retailer for several years now, but that does not mean that it is not constantly on the lookout to break new ground. The retailer has recently begun growing more aggressive on the matter of mobile payments, noting that a large portion of consumers shop with their smartphones and tablets. Amazon is eager to embrace these consumers by providing them with comprehensive mobile commerce services and has plans to introduce a new system that will help make mobile payments more secure.
Amazon awarded mobile payments patent
Amazon has been awarded a new patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for what it calls an “Anonymous mobile payments” system. According to the patent, the system is designed to allow consumers to pay for products using their mobile device, but these consumers will not have to reveal any personal information to those they are purchasing from. Amazon believes that this will provide consumers with a degree of security is largely absent from the current mobile commerce climate.
Security continues to be a major issue in the mobile commerce field
Security is a major concern that many people have when it comes to mobile payments. Protecting a consumers financial information has become a top priority for companies engaging in the mobile commerce field, and several companies have successfully developed mobile commerce platforms that provide a high level of protection. Amazon, however, claims that anonymity offers the best level of peer-to-peer protection, claiming that its system is ideally suited for a digital economy where consumers often sell goods to one another.
Anonymity proves important to consumers online
Anonymity has become a very popular trend on the Internet. Keeping personal information private has been an issue for many consumers over the past few years. Facebook, as well as other social networks, received a great deal of criticism due to their lackluster privacy features, allowing users’ personal information to be accessed easily. In mobile payments, privacy is a much more significant concern and Amazon is poised to address the issue as aggressively as possible.
Retailers seeing a marked rise in mobile commerce demand
E-commerce has grown to become a formidable force in India. The country’s retail sector has been working to appeal to consumers in a more dynamic way, now that many of these consumers have access to smartphones and tablets. These devices are beginning to change the way consumers shop online, making India’s traditional e-commerce initiatives somewhat outdated an unintuitive. As more consumers become mobile, retailers are beginning to consider whether the time is right to embrace mobile commerce more seriously.
Mobile technology expanding rapidly in India
The proliferation of smartphones and tablets is causing retailers to examine how to better engage consumers that are tethered to mobile devices. The best answer may be to adopt better mobile commerce services and ensure that e-commerce platforms are more accommodating to mobile devices. Currently, much the retailer industry’s online presence is built around those that shop online using their PCs. This means that e-commerce platforms are, generally, not optimized to be used for mobile devices, making it difficult for mobile consumers to shop and purchase products online.
Mobile commerce provides strong examples in other markets
Mobile commerce has already seen strong growth in other countries, such as the U.S. and the United Kingdom. In these countries, mobile commerce has helped several retailers find an impressive amount of success. According to a recent report from BI Intelligence, a leading market research firm, approximately 29% of mobile users in the U.S. have made a purchase through their smartphone or tablet. Many of these purchases were reported in the retail sector.
Retailers beginning to see a need to adapt to mobile consumers
Myntra, a leading seller of fashion and lifestyle products in India, notes that it has seen a dramatic rise in the number of people interested in participating in mobile commerce. This is partly due to the mass deployment of new mobile devices throughout the country. Consumers may be interested in mobile commerce due to its relatively new nature and the novelty that provides, but Myntra notes that demand is beginning to grow to the point where mobile commerce can no longer be ignored.
