Mobile commerce expected to enhance the holiday season
Mobile commerce is expected to play a major role in the upcoming holiday season. Last year, consumers around the world made use of their smartphones and tablets to purchase gifts during the auspicious season. This lead to a spike in retail sales and helped prove the promise of mobile commerce to companies that had been on the fence concerning their engagement with mobile consumers in the past. In countries like Australia, mobile commerce may help make the upcoming holiday season one of the most profitable for retailers.
Consumers with little time to shop favor mobile commerce
Consumers are beginning to favor mobile commerce for a wide range of reasons. Many praise the convenience associated with mobile commerce platforms. Others favor these platforms because they have little personal time to go shopping for products. Through a smartphone and tablet, these people can shop online and make purchases at their leisure. While the mobile commerce field has been plagued with security issues over the past few years, these issues have not yet become enough to dissuade consumers from participating in this field.
Mobile traffic is on the rise
In a recent study released by Monetate, a marketing research firm, almost one-third of online traffic to retail sites on Christmas Day came from tablets and smartphones. Mobile traffic is continuing to rise, as well, even beyond the holiday season. IBM Smarter Commerce notes that more than 30% of online traffic to retail sites now comes from mobile devices as of the third quarter of this year.
Retailers begin taking matters into their own hands
In the wake of the 2012 holiday season, many retailers made efforts to make themselves more accommodating to mobile commerce in general. This meant improving their online infrastructure systems in order to better support traffic coming from mobile devices. Many retailers have also opted to develop their own mobile commerce platforms in order to better engage consumers.
Executives envision a promising future for mobile commerce
The future of mobile commerce is beginning to become a prominent subject around the world. People everywhere are beginning to rely more heavily on mobile technology in the daily lives, which is leading to a growing demand for comprehensive mobile commerce services. Executives from some of the leading companies in the mobile commerce sector have begun offering some insight into what the future may hold for the mobile space and for commerce in general.
Retailers are beginning to develop their own technology
Richard H Harris, CEO of payment technology pioneer Ensygnia, claims that retailers and vendors will play a major role in determining how individuals interact with the world around them. Retailers have begun to take matters into their own hands by developing their own technology and software as a way to engage consumers that are becoming increasingly mobile. Much of this technology is taking the form of mobile commerce platforms, which allow consumers to pay for products with their mobile devices. These platforms are also being equipped with social networking tools as well in an attempt to increase dynamic interact between consumers and businesses.
Mobile commerce could change the way consumers interact with businesses
Sam Shrauger, head of digital for developed markets at Visa, claims that mobile commerce and technology will become a more integrated part of daily life. Shrauger envisions a not-too-distant future wherein consumers can walk into a restaurant and their meal is waiting for them at their table, having ordered the meal from their mobile device in advance. Similar occurrences may be seen in the retail sector as companies work more closely together to take advantage of mobile commerce.
Technology is becoming more mobile-centric
Carey Kolaja, vice president of global solutions management with PayPal, notes that loyalty programs and point-of-sale systems targeting mobile technology have advanced more in the past year than they have in the past decade. The momentum growing behind the mobile space is likely to propel mobile commerce to new heights, especially as more consumers gain access to smartphones and tablets and wearable technology moves from science fiction to reality.
