Mobile Commerce

Category: Mobile Commerce

Mobile gaming survey sheds light on problems that gamers have

Stephen | January 26, 2013

Survey highlights the issues that gamers have with mobile gaming

Mobile gaming has become a fun and important pastime for a wide variety of consumers all over the world. Like other consumers, gamers are a very picky bunch, and anything they perceive as a significant challenge to their gaming experience could have major consequences for mobile gaming. A new survey from Ebuyer, an e-commerce retailer based in the United Kingdom, highlights the challenges that face mobile gaming, and what gamers consider to be one of the most significant problems with most of today’s popular mobile games.

Poor controls cause irritation for gamers

According to the Ebuyer survey poor controls are one of the most problematic issue facing mobile gaming today. Given that the vast majority of these games are developed with a touch screen in mind, creating a control interface that can be both accurate and effective has been a serious challenge for nearly all developers of mobile games. Touch screens are not designed specifically for games, thus have limited functionality when it comes to gaming. According to the survey, 23% of gamers said that controls were often so irritating that they refused to play mobile games.

Micro-transactions and bugs are also a top issue

Controls are not the only problems gamers have with the mobile space, of course. The survey shows that 20% of gamers claim that micro-transactions are problematic in some regard. These gamers suggest that micro-transactions are either completely unjustified or that they are too difficult to use. In some cases, a poorly implemented micro-transaction system has led gamers to spend significantly more money than they had initially intended because of their repeated efforts to get the system to work properly. Bugs and glitches were also a problem for gamers. Approximately 17% of the survey’s respondents claimed that bugs were irritating enough to stop them from playing games.

Advertising proves to be the most problematic issue

The chief issue that gamers have with the mobile gaming space, however, is in-game advertisements. More than 40% of the survey’s respondents claimed that these advertisements were a very problematic issue and that they would be willing to pay significant fees in order to not have to see these advertisements at all. While these problems represent aspects of mobile gaming that are well on their way to becoming infamous, finding solutions to these problems is likely to be a difficult task for developers.

Mobile commerce to reach new heights in the US

BWild | January 25, 2013

Forrester Research predicts healthy growth for US mobile commerce

Forrester Research, a leading market research firm, has released a new report concerning U.S. mobile payments and the growth the sector is expecting to see in the coming years. Mobile commerce has begun to gain momentum throughout the U.S., largely due to the increasing number of NFC-enabled mobile devices and the rapid adoption of mobile commerce being seen among retailers. Consumers have expressed their interest and willingness to participate in mobile commerce, pushing mobile payments to reach new heights.

Report forecasts mobile payments to reach $90 billion in 2017

According to Forrester Research, mobile payments in the U.S. will reach $90 billion by 2017. The firm predicts a 48% compound annual growth rate over the next two years. The firm expects in-store mobile payments, general mobile commerce, and peer-to-peer transactions to be the driving factors behind this healthy growth. The report notes that a strong focus on mobile commerce coming from numerous companies spread across equally numerous industries is raising awareness of mobile payments among consumers. These consumers, in turn, are discovering mobile commerce services that fit their needs and make use of these services extensively.

Retail industry to play major role in growth of mobile commerce

Forrester Research expects to see significant progress made in mobile commerce come from the retail industry. Over the next five year, the firm forecasts that retailers will put more focus on mobile commerce, potentially seeing major benefits from doing so. During the 2012 holiday season, retailers saw major gains from their focus on mobile commerce, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday producing a great deal of profit for many of the country’s large retailers.

Holiday season places momentum behind mobile commerce

The success of mobile commerce during the 2012 holidays generated a great deal of momentum, encouraging retailers to continue or increase their focus on mobile consumers. While retailers are expected to face significant challenges in the years ahead, most of which will come in the form of competition with other retailers, Forrester Research expects that the industry will continue seeing positive results in regards to mobile commerce.