Tag: smartphone payments

Report highlights the impact that mobile payments are having on digital retail

Mobile payments are gaining momentum in China. According to a new report from Forrester Research, the country is becoming one of the most active and fastest growing mobile commerce markets in the world. The report notes that e-commerce spending is on the rise, powered by the growing number of people that are using their mobile devices to shop online and make purchases. By 2019, the Chinese online spending space is expected to reach more than $1 trillion.

Companies may benefit from more mobile commerce activity

This may be good news for companies like Alibaba and Tencent, which have become heavily involved in the mobile payments space. Both companies are currently vying for dominance among mobile consumers, with Alibaba holding a lead. Online retailers have been enjoying the growth in digital spending, as they have managed to find new ways to engage consumers in an effective manner.

China is the largest online retail market

China is currently the world’s largest online retail market. In 2013, more than $307 billion in online sales were made throughout the country. According to Forrester Research, more than $440 billion is expected to have been made in online sales during the last year. The growing prevalence of mobile payments services is making this growth possible. Many payment firms have begun to emerge in China, looking to support the adoption of mobile commerce and make this sector more accessible to consumers. The country’s banks have also begun supporting mobile payments.

Mobile payments are expected to become more common and better supported in the coming years

In the coming years, China will likely continue proving itself to be a promising mobile commerce market. New mobile applications that support transactions are likely to become more common and consumers are expected to rely more on the Internet when they are shopping for products. As such, retailers are expected to place more focus on the mobile and digital spaces in the hopes of connecting with consumers that exist therein.

The most successful smartphone transaction service is continuing to rise in popularity.

As much as Apple Pay may be holding the spotlight, at the moment, when it comes to mobile payments services, on the side of actual successes that have been proving themselves over time, Starbucks has remained at the very top of the list.

An earnings call from Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO, revealed considerable data and insight.

Schultz explained that in the financial quarter that came to an end on December 28, 2014, Starbucks had more than 13 million mobile payments app users throughout the United States. This shows a rise of 1 million people from the previous quarter, when there had been just over 12 million users of that mobile application. Overall, this brought about a considerable user base for the smartphone based transactions in its store locations.

Schultz reported that 16 percent of the total transactions processed by the company were through mobile payments.

Comparatively, Apple Pay had been reporting early victories in the use of that mobile wallet at Whole Foods, where 1 percent of the sales had been processed using smartphones. Clearly, Starbucks has been able to not only create a success out of its service, but it has managed to do so in a solid way that is generating a rapid, steady increase in the number of people who are actually using it. They have managed to avoid becoming a flash in the pan gimmick and have provided their customers with a transaction method that they are happy to use on a regular basis.

In his own words, Schultz stated that “We continue to see broad customer acceptance and adoption of our mobile payment technologies,” adding that “Today in the U.S. alone, over 13 million customers were actively using our mobile apps. And we are now averaging more than 7 million mobile transactions in our stores each week—representing 16% of total tender. That’s more than any other bricks-and-mortar retailer in the marketplace.”

Starbucks isn’t planning to simply stay put with the current offerings of its mobile payments app. It now intends to roll out a smartphone based ordering service, which is already underway as a part of a trial in Portland, Oregon.