The use of mobile devices is growing at an increasing rate and the trend is set to grow even bigger. By 2015, 80% (estimated) of handsets will be smart phones, according to Forbes and Gartner.
There are now thousands of apps and consumers now have lots of options when choosing the next productivity, social or entertainment app. By 2014, there will be more than 70 billion mobile app downloads from app stores every year(Gartner).
Leading Mobile commerce trends
Mobile payments, tablet commerce and social commerce are leading the trends in mobile commerce. With the increase in purchase of smartphones and tablets, a lot more consumers are spending longer time on their mobile devices. Smartphones and tablet computers will increase mobile Web traffic by 26 times during the next four years (Cisco Systems).
The growth of mobile coupons
A growing number of online merchants and retailers including coupon raja are now delivering discount coupons and sales to shoppers’ mobile phones. Shoppers are also making use of coupon codes that can offer them great discounts and save them money. According to Juniper Research report, mobile coupons alone is set to becoming a $US43billion industry in 2016. According to the retail trade publication Retail Gazette, 58 percent of consumers now shop with coupons. And coupon use has grown by 40 percent in the last four years.
Social Commerce is still growing
As social apps continue to gain traction at an amazing rate, many retailers are investing in building social communities they can leverage to convert social app users to paying customers. In an IBM report, 78-84% of consumers now rely on their social networks when researching new products. Facebook, a huge player in how social commerce will change the way people shop has yet to master social commerce to reap the full benefits of it’s social platform.
Shopping convenience on a mobile device
More smartphone and tablet owners are expected to increase their use of mobile devices to find product information before making a decision to purchase. It is becoming easier for shoppers to rely on their mobile devices to conveniently shop for products and redeem coupons. Tech giants are closely monitoring shopping-related services and are making significant investments in mobile commerce. 31% of consumers research a product on their mobile device before buying it in-store, while 40% of consumers research a product from their smartphone before purchasing it online (iWire Mobile Audience Insights Report)
Mobile payment today
Most consumers are still hesitant about releasing personal financial information to some merchants. Adoption of mobile payment is steadily on the increase but most new payment platforms will go mainstream in the a few years. Gartner expect global mobile transaction volume and value to average 42 percent annual growth between 2011 and 2016, and the company has forecasted a market worth $617 billion with 448 million users by 2016. Mobile payment platforms will keep strengthening relationships between retailers and consumers, but it’s growth also depends on consumers confidence and adoption. Unless a new mobile payment technology saves consumers time or money, it may take time before it reaches mass adoption as we expect.
The possibilities are endless and the opportunities for growth are unlimited in the mobile commerce space. Mobile commerce has a bigger potential to explode but timing is significant. 2013 may see yet another important growth but mobile commerce may not go mainstream yet.
1 comment
I work for an e-commerce company and the market is so open in so many places. We are specifically in India, but the market is booming in a lot of countries, like Brazil, Finland, and Russia, because their is a strong need to get things quick and for a good price. Very nice article.
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