Inside Secure finds that consumers are using their mobile devices to get their holiday shopping done
A new survey from Inside Secure shows that holiday shopping is having a major impact on mobile commerce. The survey found that 51% of holiday shoppers prefer using a mobile app when they are purchasing products. Doing so is seen as more convenient, as they are able to avoid large crowds when shopping online or accelerate the checkout process when they visit physical stores. Using mobile devices in physical stores, however, is less popular among consumers than using these devices to shop online.
Security concerns keep some consumers away from mobile commerce
According to the survey from Inside Secure, many consumers do not use their mobile devices to pay for products in physical stores because they have security concerns. Some 70% cited identity theft and payment fraud as the reason they avoid mobile commerce in physical stores. Shoppers have also expressed concerns regarding their privacy, as past cyber attacks focused on retailers have highlighted how easily some malicious groups can acquire consumer information and exploit this data for personal gain.
Mobile shopping is on the rise as holiday season approaches
While consumers have concerns regarding security, many believe that mobile commerce is the wave of the future. The mobile commerce space is experiencing healthy growth, powered by the holiday shopping seasons of past years. This year, some 39% of mobile consumers are planning to make an in-store purchase with their smartphones, an increase from the 33% that did so last year. A greater portion of consumers are planning on purchasing products online, using their mobile devices as their primary shopping platform.
Younger consumers are more comfortable with mobile commerce
Notably, the survey found that mobile commerce is most popular among those between the ages of 18 and 44. This demographic tends to be more comfortable with mobile technology, having had a great deal of experience with smartphones and the digital world. The survey also found that iOS users are more likely than their Android counterparts to participate in mobile commerce over the holiday season, making use of Apple’s new mobile payments service, Apple Pay.
BlackBerry has involved itself in the mobile commerce space in the past, but has found limited success in doing so. BBM Money was one of the first mobile payments service from the company, which allowed users to send funds to others. They could also use this service to send people pre-paid mobile credit, which could be used for a variety of purposes. BlackBerry has not found the same success in mobile commerce as other companies, such as PayPal and Google.