Demystifying m-commerce
Shane Fitzpatrick is president and managing director of Chase Paymentech Europe
Payments made via mobile devices are fast becoming de rigueur as tablet sales are expected to overtake personal computers by 2017. Shane Fitzpatrick addresses five common myths about m-commerce and how to capture online revenues.
Smartphones are already more popular globally than desktop PCs and of the 1.875 billion phones to be sold in 2013, a staggering 1 billion will be smartphones. In Europe, revenue from mobile commerce is predicted to rise from €1.7 billion in 2011 to €19.2 billion in 2017, according to Forrester (EU Mobile Commerce Forecast, 2012 to 2017; July 2012). This presents a huge revenue opportunity in the face of declining high street sales, and companies that fail to adapt their online strategy may be left behind as a result. In a recent study, Chase Paymentech found that only 40% of merchants have a mobile commerce site in place to provide a seamless multi-channel shopping experience.
Consumers are comfortable using traditional online platforms to carry out transactions but now require additional incentives to move to the mobile channel. Mobile banking isn’t new, but according to Gartner, it’s the customer experience that is holding back the growth of mobile payments.
Along with some optimistic predictions for m-commerce, there are just as many myths and misconceptions. Chase Paymentech surveyed more than 1,000 online consumers about their online shopping experience and making payments online. The findings from the survey revealed the behaviour of mobile shoppers, and highlights the growing importance of providing a mobile-optimised site as part of a seamless multi-channel shopping experience.
Chase Paymentech uncovered five common myths:
Myth 1: “M-commerce renders other shopping channels obsolete”
A priority for retailers is to help shoppers add and save items to their shopping cart from their mobile, enabling them to pay later using their laptop or desktop computer. For example, adding a simple login to an e-commerce site could enable customers to switch between multiple devices as part of a seamless shopping experience.
Myth 2: “M-commerce is the easiest way to shop online”
When it comes to their m-commerce experience, a massive 93% of tablet users are left frustrated – and this has resulted in over two in every three of them abandoning an online purchase at the checkout stage* . Mobile retailers must invest in order to provide a seamless payment process that is optimised for a smaller mobile screen.
Myth 3: “Tablets and smartphones deliver the same shopping experience”
When asked how they were most likely to conduct their online shopping in three years’ time, 20 per cent of consumers said they would use a tablet, while just 4% expect to use a smartphone*. Analysing payment data and transactions by channel can also help to highlight just how many customers are using tablets, smartphones or both devices to visit an m-commerce store.
Myth 4: “There is no difference between shopping via tablet or a laptop”
Any m-commerce site needs to work just as well on a touchscreen as it does with a mouse or keyboard. Retailers have no control over how common verification methods such as Verified by Visa or MasterCard SecureCode are displayed on a mobile device. This means keeping the number of elements that need to be downloaded to a minimum as well as ensuring your payment provider offers a single, efficient round-trip to the server to complete a purchase and avoid customer frustrations.
Myth 5: “Fraud is widespread on mobile devices”
There is a common misconception that mobile channels are less secure than other online channels. While it is true to say that criminals will always try to exploit any new opportunity to commit fraud, there is no reason to believe that mobile devices are more prone to fraud. An obvious place to start addressing fraud concerns would be using your payment data to identify fraud trends broken down by sales channel.
The inevitable move towards more multi-channel retail raises a series of challenges, in particular the integration of m-commerce sites with e-commerce and legacy IT systems. Looking forward, four in ten multichannel retailers agree that they will always be in a state of continual evolution and constant change*. For a successful e-commerce evolution, retailers will need a dedicated m-commerce strategy with a strong focus on improving the customer’s online shopping experience.
*Source: Chase Paymentech/Dynamic Markets – Putting Customers First? (March 2013)
