Tag: mobile shopping

Mobile commerce becoming more prolific among consumers

Strategy Analytics, a leading market research firm, has released a new report that sheds light on how consumers are using their mobile devices for mobile commerce. The report, titled “67 percent of Smartphone Owners Use Devices In-Store – Consumer and Retailer Mobile Needs Explored,” suggests that the majority of consumers use their mobile devices for shopping. Mobile commerce has been growing in popularity among consumers for some time, with many considering it more convenient to shop with their mobile devices.

Majority of consumers use their mobile devices to shop

According to the report, approximately 67% of consumers use their mobile device for shopping. For many, this means augmenting an in-store experience using a smartphone or tablet, using their mobile device to find the best deals on products. Mobile payments are also popular among these consumers, especially as companies begin to offer better services in this regard. While mobile devices are often used in-store, the report shows that 61% of consumers use their smartphones and tablets to shop from home.

Retailers investing heavily in mobile commerce

The retail industry has been investing heavily in mobile commerce recently, hoping to capture the interest of tech-savvy consumers. Several companies, such as Tesco and Wal-Mart, have launched applications that make it possible to purchase products with nothing more than a mobile device. Google, as well as other technology companies, have also produced applications that serve as mobile payment platforms. These applications are becoming more prolific, giving a wider range of consumers an opportunity to participate in mobile commerce.

NFC technology may not be the future of mobile payments

The report shows that a great deal of the attention that is centered on mobile commerce revolves around NFC technology. NFC is one of the cornerstones of mobile payments, as it allows mobile devices to transmit financial information over a short distance. Strategy Analytics predicts that NFC technology will eventually fade away due to the lack of support for the technology and the security concerns that many consumers have due to the capabilities of NFC.

The results of newly released research have pointed to greater adoption of shopping over smartphones and tablets.

Stibo Systems has just released the results of its 2013 Consumer Retail Survey, which indicated that the number of consumers who have used a smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device in order to purchase a product through m-commerce has increased by 19 percent over the last year.

This was said to have reflected a considerably rising acceptance of shopping over this channel.

Among the respondents who took part in the survey, 59 percent said that they had bought something using m-commerce. Three out of every four participants said that it was “very important” to be able to learn more about a product through online information. This was an increase of 8 percent from having been 67 percent in 2012. According to the report about the survey, this indicated that consumers are becoming more savvy shoppers.

The report stated that consumers are becoming more selective and sophisticated through m-commerce.

They are using the devices to inform themselves about their purchases before they make their decisions and m-commerce is beginning to play a growing role in that behavior.

According to the Stibo Systems U.K. managing director, Mark Thorpe, “Although every year is hailed as the ‘year of the mobile’, there is sufficient evidence in these results to demonstrate that mobile is now a legitimate channel for retailers, particularly with the recent rapid adoption of tablet devices.”

Thorpe went on to say that if retailers want to take full advantage of the benefits of m-commerce, then they will need to start paying attention to it not only to make sure that consumers are enjoying the experience that is being provided, but also to be able to meet their expectations. The report indicated that this would help these companies to avoid disappointing their customers, which could be a rapid road to losing potential customers and many sales over the long term.

The survey’s results not only indicated that m-commerce is being more widely accepted, but also that it is becoming increasingly important to the decision that a consumer will have as to whether or not he or she will actually make a purchase, and where.