Study: M-Payments Gain Traction with SMBs (Aug. 6, 2013)
Aug. 6, 2013
A growing number of small and midsize businesses (SMBs) are using m-payments and social networks to improve efficiencies and increase customer traffic.
Forty percent of businesses surveyed accept POS payments using a mobile card reader attached to a smartphone or tablet, and 16 percent of respondents plan to add this capability within the next year, according to a study of SMBs by BIA/Kelsey, a Chantilly, Va.-based research and consulting firm.
The study, which surveyed 568 SMBs last month, also indicates that 32 percent of respondents are using mobile advertising, up from 28 percent the previous year, and more than 70 percent reported using social media to promote their businesses.
“Mobile continues to make impressive inroads into the SMB market, as both a marketing vehicle and as an element of the business infrastructure,” said Steve Marshall, director of research, BIA/Kelsey. “Together, mobile and social tools are transforming the way SMBs acquire and retain customers. . . . SMB marketing is quickly becoming a two-way engagement rather than a one-way promotion.”
