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UK mobile commerce is most busy on Christmas

Forget Black Friday because in the United Kingdom shoppers buy the most on Christmas Day.

Some fascinating festive shopping insight is coming from the United Kingdom, as data has shown that UK mobile commerce spikes higher on Christmas Day than any other day of the year. Criteo recently released the results of a recent study. The festive trends analysis showed Christmas itself was the top shopping day for smartphone users.

This study took into account the volume of shopping on all days throughout the holiday season.

This holiday shopping study included Black Friday. What Criteo found was that on Christmas Day, 62 percent of online purchases are made over smartphones. This effectively makes that holiday itself the busiest UK mobile commerce day. There have been a number of theories to explain this trend.

UK Mobile Commerce - Christmas ShoppingPrimarily, researchers believe that mobile shoppers look around online to find sales on gifts they wanted but didn’t receive. If Santa didn’t bring it, they’re determined to find it for themselves. Moreover, as the brick-and-mortar shops are closed that day, their only option is to go online. Criteo reported that 53 percent of Christmas Day shoppers are looking for items for themselves over their smartphones.

UK mobile commerce has already been showing a heavier trend than in the United States.

Previous studies have indicated that people in the United Kingdom are more likely to complete a purchase over mobile commerce than their American counterparts. This only increases the tendency to use the device that is already in their hands in order to make a purchase. On the other side of the ocean, many Americans still prefer to use their laptops.

In the UK, only 28 percent of online shoppers are making their purchases over a desktop. That figure is quite different in the United States.

The Criteo study showed that while the largest day for sales volume is Black Friday (246%), Christmas Day leads in a different area. Two out of every three transactions completed online are done over smartphones. While the actual total number of purchases may not be as high on Christmas as it is on Black Friday, the percentage of UK mobile commerce purchases is notably higher that day when compared to desktop.

QR code payments launched at South African McDonald’s

A pilot program is now underway using QuickPay for WeChat customers in the country.

McDonald’s is now running a pilot project using QR code payments with a cashback offer. Customers using WeChat can get 50% cash back when they use the QuickPay service. This is exclusive to select restaurants in South Africa.

The goal is to encourage people who are already using the social messaging app to pay with their smartphones.

Participating restaurants are located in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Customers using the WeChat mobile app are being offered a special 50% cashback offer. This is mean to encourage them to use the QuickPay QR code payments at McDonald’s in a participating location.

QR Code Payments McDonald'sThis incentive is meant to help to encourage customers to try the mobile payments for the first time. By showing them how easy it is to pay for an order simply by presenting the QR codes at the point of sale so they can be scanned, McDonald’s hopes that consumers will be taken with the service and will continue to use it.

The QR code payment cashback offer is available to the first 20,000 customers to use the service.

Those customers will receive 50% cash back when they pay for their meals with their smartphones. According to the McDonald’s South Africa chief marketing officer, Daniel Padiachy, “We are continuously searching for innovative ways to enhance our customers’ experience.” He added that “We believe that WeChat’s Quick Pay will further assist us in upholding these principles.”

The WeChat app first launched in the country in November 2015. The app is owned by Tencent, the ecommerce giant from China. Payments through the service have been made possible in South Africa through a partnership with Standard Bank.

WeChat makes it possible for users to make P2P transfers as well as to scan QR codes to make payments in-store at any of 30,000 merchants across the country that support the SnapScan platform. The mobile app can also be used to purchase wireless services such as airtime and data, as well as to pay certain utility bills.

While Quick Pay is functioning within the SnapScan WeChat feature, that QR code payments option is currently available exclusively at McDonald’s.