Confidence in m-commerce grows

Wednesday, February 27, 2013 - 10:03 by Simon Crisp

British consumers are collectively spending more money than ever through their smartphones, but a new study suggests that we are now happier to part with larger sums when shopping from a portable device.

Research conducted by Intela, found that the majority of smartphone fans in the UK feel confident enough in their mobile platform to spend 10 or more through this channel.

Two thousand people were questioned in the study, with half originating from Britain and half hailing from the US.

Although consumers have long been comfortable with the idea of spending a few pounds via a smartphone, usually in the form of an app purchase or media download, these microtransactions are giving way to a culture in which much more significant m-commerce purchases are also acceptable.

Forty percent of respondents from the UK said that they were planning to spend more via safe shopping online from a smartphone in 2013 than they did last year.

Twenty seven per cent of Brits said that when it came to the most convincing marketing tool for m-commerce, email was still the best way for retailers to get them interested in making a purchase.

Intela spokesperson, Guenole Le Gall, said that m-commerce was the preferred platform for impulse buyers, who pick up products based on whims, rather than after a carefully planned purchasing decision process.

Interestingly, these impulse buys made through mobile devices do not necessarily have to be low value items. Le Gall pointed to things like high end gadgets and holiday trips as being popular purchases on m-commerce platforms.

It is likely that retailers will take this information into account when formulating marketing strategies to get more people to buy from their phone, when looking to carry out safe shopping online. It also seems that consumers in the UK and US will drive this trend.