Frankfurt, July 6, 2010: Quickly ordering a birthday gift during your lunch break, or reserving your cinema tickets while on your way to work – so-called “mobile commerce” makes it all possible.
New research from e-commerce experts Avail conducted among German consumers reveals 17% of respondents use their smartphone to make purchases online. The products most often bought by mobile phone span from entertainment products such as music, books and videos (53%) to electronics (24%) to ordering railway, airplane and concert tickets (23%). The only product category not being bought by mobile in the survey was apparel.
83% percent of the respondents did not make purchases with their mobile phone. The most common reason (41% of respondents) given was the complexity and cost of making a purchase. 30% did not have a web-enabled mobile phone, with which they could shop online. Another 17% preferred to make purchases in stores, and the remaining 12% said that they didn’t trust making payments with their mobile phone.
Nearly half of respondents (42%) found browsing online stores on the small displays of mobile phones cumbersome, and wanted interfaces more suitable for the smaller screen. 28% percent also thought that it needs to be easier to find the right products on their mobile. Often the consumer has to fight through an “online jungle” until they are able to reach the desired product, which can be frustrating when using a mobile phone and a small display. Functions such as personalized product recommendations or landing pages would also speed up the search process when shopping online by mobile.
“The number of mobile shoppers continues to rise”, says Pontus Kristiansson, CEO of Avail. “That makes it increasingly important to develop mobile online shops that correspond to customer requirements. Interfaces that are easy to use on small displays, reliable payment options, and product recommendations are essential for mobile stores.”
