More than 80% of global consumers are asking for more mobile interactions with banks, telcos, retailers, utilities, and other businesses according to a new study from SAP.
While the findings indicate that consumers want more commerce services through mobile phones universally, the drivers or barriers to further adoption of mobile purchasing vary within different countries and industries. Emerging markets such as South Africa, Saudi Arabia, and China show a greater pace of change, as 96% of respondents expressed a desire to use their mobile to buy goods or services, compared to 59% in mature markets.
Overall, the study that was conducted in 17 countries found that consumers would be more likely to increase their use of mobile commerce services if they had greater choice of payment methods (64%), if mobile payments were accepted by more retailers (51%), received regular order updates (41%) and if they were further incentivized by brands and services (32%).
The study also reveals important insights about what holds consumers back from using more mobile commerce and services. Nearly half of the respondents globally (46%) cited the hassles related to having to enter a lot of personal information, security concerns (45%), and lack of Internet access at the time of transaction (43%).
The study highlights a shift from a mobile-centric world to a mobile commerce-centric mindset, in terms of the type of activities carried out via mobile, with 63% of consumers now using their mobile phone for activities other than just making calls and texting. Half of mobile phone users (50%) access the Internet at least once a day via their mobile and nearly one third (32%) have used it to purchase products or services. The ability to use their mobile device any time of the day (51%), on the go (51%), with speed (50%) and with convenience (50%) are seen as clear benefits behind this increasing consumer adoption.
Research shows that ease of use is a core principle that will accelerate overall user adoption in retail, telecommunications and banking industries.
Banking
Excluding voice calls, half of mobile owners turn to their mobile devices to pay a bill (55%), make a bank transfer (52%) and set up a new account (48%)
Providing services that are lower cost (25%) and personalized (22%) will encourage mobile owners to begin making or make more bank transfers through their mobile phone
Retail
Retail is a key focus of mobile purchases with entertainment services (43%), music downloads (40%), books or e-books (40%) and attire (39%) all typical purchases
Users are encouraged to buy goods using their mobile phone by lower cost services (29%), exclusive offers (25%) and coupons (22%)
Telco
Free minutes, texts and Web use (24%), personalized services (22%) and lower cost services (21%) will encourage consumers to use their mobile to check usage data for their mobile account
More than half of users (52%) agree that their mobile payment activity will increase when they have more confidence in mobile security, with 39% requiring more confidence in how to use their mobile as a payment method
