A new report from performance marketers Intela has revealed that more than two in five UK smartphone users said they were more likely to purchase goods over mobile than this time last year.
Nearly one in two US consumers (44%) agreed that they were more likely to buy through mobile this year than compared to 2012.
The Intela Mobile Consumer Report 2013 found that m-commerce trends were on the increase, however overall m-commerce promotions fail to influence consumer purchasing decisions.
Half of UK smartphone users were happy to spend more than £10 through mobile, compared to 56% of American users happy to spend over $10. 12% were happy to spend more than £100 through a single transaction.
But what gives smartphone users the urge to splurge on mobile? Mobile email was cited by 36% of US users and 27% of UK users and was therefore influential; however, banner ads proved popular with just 1% of UK consumers – and a miserable 0% in the US.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, retail was the most popular mobile purchase. Two in five UK smartphone users stated they would use mobile payments for retail goods above all else.
This research aligns with recent trends advocating the payments space. Back in November, IAB found that mobile wallets and mobile payments were the most appealing concepts for three quarters of smartphone users in the UK, USA and South Korea “assuming the scenarios were possible.”
“Waves of innovation in smartphone technology has meant mobile commerce is finally becoming a tangible reality for consumer facing businesses,” said Guénolé Le Gall, head of mobile at Intela.
Le Gall added: “As people get more dependent on their devices, mobile commerce’s prominence will grow – just as e-commerce did as online technologies improved.”
Marco Veremis, CEO of mobile monetisation company Upstream, discussed for TelecomsTech how the emerging markets are influencing the mobile payments sphere, asking whether in the West monetisation opportunities are slowing because consumers are approaching saturation point.
Regardless of how operators and networks need to play it, consumers are feeling more comfortable with mobile payments, if this research is anything to go by; Intela describes this as the “iTunes effect”, which spurs consumers on to making regular music payments through mobile.
Are you feeling more in tune with mobile payments?
Update February 28: Take a look at the infographic below from Intela summarising the research:
