Tag: mobile consumers

Survey finds that consumers are still not convinced that mobile commerce is the best solution when shopping

The holidays are here and consumers are expected to begin using their mobile devices to get their shopping done. This may not be the case for everyone, however, according to a new survey from Bankrate.com. The survey found that while consumers are interested in the concept of mobile commerce, they are not necessarily interested in using their smartphones and tablets to complete a purchase. Some have reported that they are not convinced that mobile payments apps are able to keep their information secure enough to feel comfortable with making a purchase.

14% of US consumers expected to use mobile payments apps

The survey from Bankrate.com has found that only 14% of consumers in the United States said that they will be using mobile wallets to make payments during the holiday season. Of those avoiding mobile payments, 36% reported that they are not comfortable with the level of security that can be found in the mobile commerce space. Security has been a problem for this market for some time, with many consumers reporting concerns regarding the safety of their financial information. Another 31% said that other payment methods were simply more convenient than what mobile commerce has to offer.

Consumers likely to continue using their mobile devices to conduct research on products

Consumers do remain interested in mobile commerce despite their security concerns, of course. Many are likely to use their mobile devices to research products before they make a purchase. This allows shoppers to find better deals or take advantage of special offers coming from certain retailers. When it comes to actually making a purchase, however, the survey from Bankrate.com found that the majority of shoppers prefer to pay with cash, with approximately 30% of consumers preferring to pay with their debit cards.

Retailers could see success by engaging mobile consumers with secure and convenient services

Over the past few years, the mobile commerce market has experience strong growth on the back of the holiday shopping season. This year, retailers are expected to see similar results, especially if they have begun growing more mobile-centric over the past several months. They will, of course, have to ensure that consumer information is kept secure if they want to find any success in the mobile commerce field.

This, according to the results of a recent study that was conducted by Synchrony Financial.

Consumer financial services firm, Synchrony Financial has released the results of its 2015 Digital Study that underscores the importance of mobile shopping strategies for retailers that want to boost their customer experience and engage their shoppers.

The survey was held throughout March and April of this year, with the participation of 7,000 of the firm’s customers.

The customers were selected at random from throughout the country. The purpose was to build a better understanding of the way in which customers view mobile shopping in the retail experience, and what they expect from the offerings over their smartphones and tablets. There were a number of key findings that identified some important trends to retailers that will be keeping a focus on the tech expectations of consumers.

Among the primary findings of the study was that nearly 50 percent of respondents use mobile shopping.

Nearly one third of the survey participants will purchase a product after having seen it on social media. Moreover, it was also pointed out that about the same number of respondents to the survey said that the receipt of offers via text would push them to make an incremental shopping visit. Additional value offers, such as loyalty programs, free shipping, and personalized offers also proved to continue to be important to the people who completed this survey.

The report indicated that consumers are using mobile technology to an increasing degree. Adoption of m-commerce has been rising among central segments of the population. Of all of the study’s respondents, 45 percent said that at some point this year, they had already used a smartphone or tablet in order to complete a task that is related to shopping, such as reading or leaving reviews, researching a product, brand or store, sharing information over social media, or actually making a purchase. This represented an increase of 4 percent over the figure from 2014. When compared to 2013, it represented an increase of 9 percent.

As mobile shopping habits continue to be an increasingly important trend among all mobile devices and all age groups of shoppers, the report showed that retail habits are also continuing to change.