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
Diarmuid Mallon, Lead, Global Marketing Solutions & Programs – Mobile at SAP, told Loyalty 360 that the survey goes beyond the typical view of mobile commerce, and looks at a very wide view of this space.
Mallon doesn’t think mobile is growing too fast, but there is a huge demand from consumers and many companies are struggling to stay on top of this demand.
“What is clear from the survey is that in that rush some services are not addressing the concerns of consumers, and that will hold back adoption of services,” Mallon said. “There is considerable appetite for the development of mobile technology and proliferation of interactions among global mobile phone users. At a global level, 62% of users agree that they rely on their mobile phone to help manage their lifestyle, and four in five (80%) agree that organizations should use any available technology to make life easier for customers.”
While in some markets mobile payments have been slow to take off, the study revealed that 71% agreed that mobile phones will be more important as a payment method in the future.
“We are in an ever-increasing mobile-centric world, with the consumer leading in many cases,” Mallon said. “In the past, a consumer would either physically go to a brand or online banking to interact with a bank. Today, we are already seeing consumers going to the App Store first – expecting to find an app for that there.”
Mallon said global consumers want to be able to use their mobile phones to check mobile usage data or the status of an order, and research products, prices, or tariffs. These activities are felt to also be relatively easy to achieve.
Despite an increasing appetite for mobile services, U.S. consumers remain reluctant to embrace mobile payments, compared to their peers in emerging market countries. Nearly one third (29%) of U.S. survey respondents will increase their mobile payment activity when they have more confidence in mobile security.
Additional highlights from SAP’s U.S. study include:
Over half (53%) of U.S. consumers believe that mobile payments will become more important in the future, or plan to use mobile payments in the future
Developing markets are showing greater enthusiasm for mobile payments, with 96% of respondents in emerging markets expressing interest in using mobile payments
Clear benefits for increasing mobile payments adoption, include: convenience, on the go capabilities and ease of use
Key barriers for the mobile payments to overcome: concerns around safety, hassle factor, and internet access at the point of purchase
Just 38% of U.S. respondents said they used their mobile phones for activities other than just making calls or texting. Overall, 63% of global users reported conducting activities beyond talk and text. This figure was even greater in places like China (86%), South Africa (74%) and Mexico (87%).