Study: Mobile Increasingly Shaping Retail Experience in U.K. (Sept. 15, 2015)
Smartphones are becoming more integral to the shopping experience in the U.K., where consumers are increasingly using mobile devices to make in-store and online purchases and to research products, a new report found. Deloitte’s Mobile Consumer 2015 study showed a marked increase in the number of U.K. consumers who had made an in-store payment via smartphone, with 13 percent of respondents reporting having done so as of May 2015, compared to just 3 percent a year earlier. That number likely has increased since the study, given the July launch of Apple Pay in the U.K. Meanwhile, 40 percent of consumers reported having made a mobile purchase with their smartphones and 59 percent said they’d browsed retailers’ sites or apps on their devices. Of those who’d browsed, 36 percent did so at least once a week, according to the research.
Despite the strong year-over-year growth, in-store contactless payments still have a long way to go before approaching ubiquity, the report said. Though 13 percent of respondents had made an in-store mobile payment, just 1 percent said they do so regularly. One segment in which in-store mobile has become commonplace is younger consumers in central London, where mobile contactless has become the “default” payment method for fast food locations, the report noted.
Security concerns are top-of-mind among those consumers avoiding mobile commerce, with 42 percent of those who had not made an in-store mobile payment citing a perceived lack of security as a factor holding them back. It’s therefore incumbent upon mobile payment providers and retailers to educate consumers about mobile security to help them overcome such fears, according to the report. Meanwhile, 35 percent of those who hadn’t made a mobile in-store payment said they didn’t see any benefit from doing so. The continuing integration of mobile payments and loyalty programs should help increase the value proposition of in-store mobile, according to Deloitte. In the U.S., Discover recently announced a rich cash-back promotion to entice cardholders to use Apple Pay.
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