Tag: mobile payments

The 2015 holiday gifts were exchanged digitally, and quite frequently over smartphones.

The 2015 Lunar New Year used mobile payments more than any previous year, as instant messaging platforms, such as WeChat from Tencent, drew a great deal of attention and made it easier for people to exchange cash gifts.

WeChat and the China Central Television Spring Festival gala were broadcast on Lunar New Year’s Eve.

During the show, mobile payments were featured, as audience members shook their smartphones throughout the broadcast in order to increase their chances of receiving red envelopes that contained cash gifts from WeChat. According to WeChat’s own figures, the show recorded 11 billion smartphone shakes. The high point was at 10:34pm, at which time the company had been recording an average of 810 million shakes every minute. During that time, there were 120 million red envelopes being distributed.

These mobile payments were issued to the people who took part in the WeChat red envelope promotion.

The service also made it possible for smartphone users to send the smartphone payments to friends and family members who were registered on their contact list through WeChat. According to the company, there were over 1 billion red envelopes that were sent out to recipients on Lunar New Year’s eve. This was about 200 times the number that had been recorded for the same day in 2014.

While many were very happy with the number of exchanges that they received and were shocked at how many different red envelopes were sent in their direction, there were some that voiced concerns over this use of digital payments over mobile. Some observers expressed that they were afraid that younger users of the mobile app might become so taken with the sending and receiving of the red envelopes over the messenger program that they will spend more time paying attention to their devices than they will with their actual families, in person.

This concern was not without foundation, as some people did admit that over the two day Lunar New Year holiday, they barely stopped checking their devices, as it was a lot of fun to be able to send and receive the red envelopes. Most of them were sent in tiny amounts, but people enjoyed the opportunity to receive them, and to send other mobile payments to their friends, family, and coworkers.

New report shows that online retail sales are growing due to mobile shopping

Mobile commerce is powering growth in online retail sales in the United Kingdom, according to a new report from IMRG and Capgemini. The report shows that online retailers are beginning to see a surge in mobile traffic and sales. Consumers are using their smartphones and tablets to do their shopping more regularly, which has lead to an increase in mobile commerce and has opened new opportunities for retailers to engage mobile consumers.

40% of online retail sales are coming from mobile devices

According to the report from IMRG and Capgemini, some 40% of online retail sales are being made through mobile devices, up from 37% that was reported in the previous quarter. Mobile spending is growing quickly, as more online retailers take steps to accommodate the needs of mobile consumers. The report notes that 25% of mobile commerce sales are completed through smartphones, while 75% of these sales are made through tablets.

Tablets are favored among mobile shoppers because they offer a more enjoyable shopping experience than smartphones

Tablet devices appear to be favored among mobile shoppers. This could have to do with the larger screens of tablets. A large screen allows for more control and is more aligned with the design features of mobile retail sites. This provides a more enjoyable shopping experience for consumers, many of whom have shown favor for mobile commerce because of its convenient nature. Retailers are taking steps to be more accommodating to smartphone users, some of whom have suggested that the shopping experience on some mobile sites is subpar.

Demand for in-store mobile commerce support is growing among consumers

While online sales are growing quickly because of mobile commerce, in-store mobile sales are lagging behind. Relatively few retailers support mobile payments at their physical locations, but this could change in the coming years. New services are making it possible for retailers to accept these payments in their stores, and demand for such support is growing quickly among consumers that are interested in mobile commerce.