Tag: mobile payments study

Study shows tablets are favored for mobile payments

JiWire, a leading location-based mobile marketing firm, has released a new study concerning how consumers use their mobile devices to participate in mobile payments. The study, titled “Q1 2013 Mobile Audience Insights Report,” highlights the fact that consumers are becoming increasingly mobile; not in the sense that they are using mobile devices but that they are on the move more often than they have been in the past. Thanks to mobile technology, these consumers have the ability to stay connected to the Internet, allowing them to shop online no matter where they are in the world. For this reason, mobile payments have become especially popular among frequent travelers.

Travelers favor convenience over tradition

For travelers, convenience is often a top priority issue. Traveling itself is sometimes a chaotic and stressful endeavor, which can be exacerbated by having to deal with traditional forms of commerce. Mobile payments represent an easier way to pay for products and services given that these payments are entirely digital and do not deal with physical forms of currency. This has made mobile commerce popular with travelers that favor convenience and simplicity over traditional forms of commerce.

Study shows that tablets lead smartphones and laptops

According to the study, some 52% of travel booked in the first quarter of this year was made using a tablet device. The study suggests that consumers favor their tablet devices when it comes to mobile payments and travel. Smartphones and laptops were also used for travel booking, but tablets were praised for providing a more enjoyable and convenient experience over other platforms. This is similar to a trend that exists in the retail industry, where tablet consumers have been showing more interest in mobile payments than those using smartphones.

Mobile commerce impacting consumer behavior

JiWire notes that mobile commerce is beginning to impact consumer behavior across several sectors. Consumers are showing that they are more interested in mobile payments than traditional forms of commerce. Whether or not this trend will continue to gain momentum into the future is not certain, but consumers are currently eager to become more involved in the realm of mobile payments.

Recent research is showing that if this technology is going to take off, customers need a reason to use it.

Although there is definite growth occurring in the world of mobile payments, there is still a massive amount of potential that is being left unused and a recent study is suggesting that part of the solution to this issue is in offering incentives to consumers.

Regardless of whether wallets, NFC technology, QR codes or other methods are used, consumers need a reason.

The struggle is primarily based on the fact that consumers are currently quite happy with the method and convenience of their cash, credit and debit cards. Therefore, there is not a significant amount of motivation for them to learn how to use mobile payments through their smartphones when they already feel that they have everything that they need.

At the moment, mobile payments have yet to answer the consumer’s question “what’s in it for me?”

The research in a survey of 4,000 people in the United States and Canada has indicated that consumers aren’t necessarily waiting for mobile payments to become more broadly available. Instead, they want to know why using the technology would be of any value to them in the first place. They are concerned about issues such as security, privacy, and convenience – areas where they already feel relatively comfortable when completing transactions at the register.

The survey was conducted by Accenture in order to gain a better understanding of what would motivate Canadian and American consumers to start to use mobile payments as a larger part of their daily lives. What they determined was that making the infrastructure available wasn’t nearly enough. Consumers need to be shown how they can benefit by using their smartphones instead of cash, credit, and debit.

These mobile commerce incentives can be as straightforward ad discounts, rewards, or other value added strategies. The survey has indicated that these incentives will be enough motivation to turn many consumers toward using their smartphones instead of their traditional transaction methods.

Mobile payments services and retailers that understand this fact may be able to implement campaigns and strategies that will appeal to the consumer’s preferences and provide them with benefits that will encourage them to try the technology for the first time, and then become comfortable with using it more regularly, said the study.