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.
At the moment, in terms of merchants and consumers, the company may be considered the leader.