The key to meeting the ever-growing m-commerce demands of the public is in getting the payment side of things made simple and secure, as well as simplifying all the regulatory and process hurdles that surround mobile and retail. So says mobile content and billing company Netsize, which has published a survey that suggests that people are more than willing to spend large amounts via the mobile channel, once they feel confident with it.
In fact, according to Netsize’s study of 1000 mobile professionals and practitioners, as many as 94% of people would be willing to spend as much as €25 using their mobile phones, with a 83% willing to go as high as €50 and a staggering 51% seeing no problem with spending €100 in a single mobile transaction.
The study – which joins a raft of works from companies more usually focussed on the mobile content and billing business, rather than the retail sector – proves, says Netsize, that there is a huge hunger for m-commerce among the people it surveyed, and that this demand will grow as consumers get better payment tools that they feel safe using.
The study reveals that consumers are looking to not only buy things like transport tickets and low-value content on mobile, but are willing to spend potentially large sums of money on things like concert tickets and on physical goods through the mobile channel.
The study finds that simplified payment channels, easier-to-use mobile websites and security are the key factors that need to be delivered by retailers and the mobile industry to make these sorts of high value purchases commonplace, says the company.
Finding the things they want to buy is also addressed in the study, with 73% of respondents saying that this is one of the main hallmarks of a good shopping experience. And this is perhaps one of the most interesting findings of the study. Over the summer there have been numerous studies that all, generally, suggest that m-commerce and m-retailing are a good thing and that consumers want to use mobile to shop. However, what has not been addressed in any great detail is the role of search and discovery, marketing and advertising around the m-commerce experience.
Even for retailers such as B&Q or Argos that have launched apps, the problem of how consumers are going to find any one service on mobile remains. For those with apps, once it is downloaded onto the phone then they are in the consumer’s pocket. But getting awareness that the app exists in the first place is difficult. Big name retailers such as Argos, B&Q and countless others get some initial media coverage of their apps on launch day, but a week later who would know they exist?
For those retailers going down the mobile-optimised web route, the challenges are similar: how do you keep people coming back to your site? In fact, how do you get people to go there at all?
Here search and discovery of the sites and apps themselves becomes a huge issue and one that can be addressed through SEO and mobile and traditional marketing. Hard but can be done.
The real disconnect is between a consumer thinking “I want a grey marino wool jumper” with their handset in their pocket and then finding the perfect grey marino wool jumper on your site and buying it. And this is where discovery and search needs some work to deliver that perfect shopping experience: from picking up the phone to getting the goods you want be they on an app or an m-website.
