Tag: mobile commerce

Mobile commerce is growing quickly in Southeast Asia

| April 6, 2016

More consumers are opting to shop via mobile devices

Mobile commerce is beginning to see aggressive growth in Southeast Asia. The Asia Pacific region has become one of the most attractive and fastest growing mobile payments markets in the world, with companies from all over the world flocking to the region to take advantage of this fact. A new report from Criteo shows that Southeast Asia, in particular, is seeing significant growth in terms of mobile shopping and the availability of mobile payment services. This is partly due to consumers becoming more comfortable with the basic concept of mobile commerce.

Report shows that mobile shopping is growing in many Southeast Asian countries

The report from Criteo shows that mobile payments account for approximately 40% of all transactions made among digital retailers. In the fourth quarter of 2015, mobile transactions accounted for 25% of all payments being made in the digital space, with countries like India, Singapore, and Thailand experiencing the strongest growth in mobile payments. Among mobile shoppers, smartphones where the favored purchasing platform.

Smartphones have become the favored shopping platform among consumers

Mobile Commerce - Map of the Association of Southeast Asian NationsSmartphone purchases accounted for approximately 73% of all mobile commerce sales in Southeast Asia. Tablets accounted for only 27% of these transactions. Consumers had favored tablet devices in the past because of the larger screens that these devices feature. The shopping experience was also relatively more enjoyable than what consumers experienced with smartphones, as retailers had developed services that performed better on tablets. Now, however, consumers are favoring smartphones because of their small size and how much more convenient they are when compared to tablet devices.

Security remains one of the greatest concerns that mobile shoppers have

While mobile commerce is growing quickly in Southeast Asia, many consumers remain concerned about the security of their financial information when making mobile purchases. As mobile shopping becomes more popular, hackers are beginning to target this sector in order to gain access to consumer financial information. Retailers and companies responsible for mobile payment services have been addressing security issues in order to secure the continued growth of the mobile commerce space.

SK Telecom launches new hands-free mobile payments service

| April 5, 2016

New service will allow consumers to make mobile transactions without using their hands

South Korean telecommunications company SK Telecom is launching a hands-free mobile payments service that features its own rewards program. The new service, called T Pay, has already accrued 100,000 subscribers, who will be able to make use of its Bluetooth technology to make payments without having to hold their mobile devices. All purchases made through the service will be charged to customer’s existing mobile phone bills and consumers above the age of 19 will have a $427 purchasing limit through the service every month.

Mobile commerce is gaining popularity among younger consumers

Approximately 65% of T Pay’s current subscribers are aged in their 20s and 30s. Among this demographic, mobile payments have become quite popular. Many of these people are relying heavily on their mobile devices to shop online and in physical stores and the demand for loyalty programs is growing among consumers. SK Telecom is looking to take advantage of growing interest in mobile commerce in the hopes to establish more success in this sector. Competition in this market is quite fierce, however, which has lead SK Telecom to develop an innovative new service in order to establish a competitive edge.

Voice commands will be used to make mobile transactions through T Pay

SK telecom - Mobile PaymentsAfter downloading the T Pay application, consumers can purchase items with a simple voice command. A store’s point-of-sale system would collect payment information from a mobile device’s Bluetooth technology. Cashiers would identify a user through the use of a nickname and a mobile phone number, which would appear on the screen of their point-of-sale system. SK Telecom believes that this is one of the most economical and convenient ways for consumers to make purchases in physical stores.

Loyalty program may make T Pay more attractive to consumers

Customers that use T Pay to make purchases will also gain access to special discounts through the T Membership program. The program is designed to reward consumers for their loyalty to the new mobile payments service. Such programs have been in high demand recently, as mobile consumers want more value out of the new payment services that they are making use of.