Spending via smartphones is accelerating, pushing mobile payments past tipping point, with more than han a half (59%) of all-in store supermarket mobile transactions worldwide have been conducted via digital wallets such as Apple Pay , Google Pay and Samsung Pay, demonstrating the rise of shop-on-a-go culture.
According to the latest consumer spending data from Worldpay, pubs, bars and restaurants saw a 12.5% uplift in the total spend – leading to the prediction that mobile will replace customers cards within the next five years.
In fact, the number of in-store contactless transactions made via a mobile device has increased by 328% on a year-on-year basis, totalling to 126 million of worldwide sales that equate to £975 million. These numbers are expected to exponentiate over the next 12 months.
‘Time-poor ‘ shoppers are also starting to purchase higher value goods via their smartphones, with the growing number (65%) of Generation Z (16-20 year-olds) contributing the death of traditional wallet. This has phenomenon been particularly demonstrative in the second half of 2017, with the average spend per transaction increased by 11% on the like-for-like basis due to a notable lift-off following the increase in retailers accepting ‘limitless’ Apple Pay transactions in May.
Consequently, luxury department stores and high-end boutiques are now one of the fastest growing sectors for mobile payments; although the volume of mobile transactions in this category remains a small fraction of the total (2.9%), its share of the market has more than doubled since last year.
James Frost, the chief marketing officer at Worldpay, says: “Digital wallets are growing in popularity every day, but what’s interesting is the shift in the way people are shopping with their smartphone.”
He continues: “No longer just restricted to light bites and post-work pints, mobile contactless payments are becoming increasingly popular for higher-end purchases too, as manufacturers integrate more sophisticated security features into handset designs.”
Photo credit: amixstudio (Fotlia)
