Tablets win out in the realm of mobile commerce
Mobile commerce has been growing at a rapid pace around the world. Several industries, including the retail sector, has shown a strong interest in the adoption of mobile commerce because of the opportunities it represents. Most of these industries are focusing their efforts on catering to smartphone users, who are believed to account for the vast majority of the mobile population. While this may be true, smartphone users do not account for the majority of mobile commerce activity.
Adobe research shows that web traffic primarily comes from tablet devices
According to research from Adobe, websites around the world are seeing more traffic from tablets than from smartphones. Adobe researchers tracked more than 100 billion visits to 1,000 of the world’s most popular websites, many of which included e-commerce platforms like Amazon and eBay, and found that most of this traffic was coming from tablets. Tablets are particular prolific in the United Kingdom, where consumers are more likely to surf the web and even pay their bills online using a tablet device.
Tablets considered more convenient for consumers
Researchers suggest that smartphones are more appealing to consumers when it comes to mobile applications and games. Tablets, however, are more convenient when it comes to actually browsing the Internet. Moreover, tablets can take advantage of conventional website design rather than being forced to access mobile-friendly versions of popular websites. This is a benefit for some in the mobile commerce sector as they do not need to design services that are designed solely for smartphones.
Mobile commerce may cater to tablet users in the future
Adobe research shows that consumers are more likely to spend more time on a website using their tablet than a smartphone. Smartphones are favored for short, quick visits to websites, whereas tablets are more accommodating to those that enjoy a longer experience. Mobile commerce may be moving into a realm where tablets are winning out over smartphones. Adobe expects that mobile commerce among tablets will continue to grow in the coming years.
MasterCard is predicting that by 2018, the use of smartphones and tablets for purchasing will be widespread.
MasterCard has just released its latest predictions regarding mobile payments, which have shown that it believes that the market will become mainstream by the year 2018.
Not coincidentally, this announcement coincided with the unveiling of its new MasterPass product.
The new MasterCard MasterPass mobile payments product will be launching later on in 2013 and will allow consumers to tap, touch, and click their smartphones in order to complete transactions to make purchases. This service also supports NFC technology, tags, QR codes, and other forms of checkout within a brick and mortar shop.
MasterCard is hoping that this will help to move past the struggle mobile payments has seen until now.
Jorn Lambert, the MasterCard Europe group head for emerging payments, has stated that the hope is that after years of experiencing false starts, the habits of consumers are now changing, meaning that this year will be the start of mobile payments truly gong mainstream. He explained that “For me, the train has left the station on this. Consumer behaviour around tagging and the like is becoming more and more mainstream.”
He has been a part of the development of the mobile payments service which is predicted to be launched later this year. He explained that the company’s data is indicating that within three to five years, this will be one of the methods that consumers will expect to have available to them for making payments. He said that this will occur with or without the credit card giant, so it is vital for that company to launch this MasterPass product.
Lambert also revealed that he felt strongly about the rumors that have long been circulating about the first steps that Apple and Google will be making into the mobile payments market in Europe, and that this will be important to speeding up the pace of adoption by consumers. He stated that he would be very surprised if either of those companies chose to create its own acceptance brand and created the structures for managing the risk in the credit ecosystem that are currently developed by the industry itself.
However, he is hopeful that they will move forward with mobile payments as this will be an important catalyst.