It’s time to begin experimenting with m-commerce, study suggests

Guide to E-Commerce Technology

As U.S. consumers grow increasingly comfortable with mobile devices, using them for activities beyond voice, the mobile channel stands to exert a greater impact on their shopping habits, a new study concludes. However, only 12% of U.S. households with mobile phones use their carriers’ data services, which enable most m-commerce activities, according to “U.S. Mobile Commerce 2007: Low Reception,” written by Forrester Research Inc.’s Tamara Mendelsohn with Nikki Baird, Carrie A. Johnson, Christine Spivey Overby and Brian Tesch.

Today more than three-quarters of U.S. households, 88.4 million, own at least one mobile phone, and, on average, two; household penetration will exceed 85% by 2009, according to the research firm, which specializes in technology’s impact on business and consumers. Consumers, especially young ones, are relying more and more on their mobile phones for voice and text communication, making the time right for retailers to begin experimenting with m-commerce, the study suggests.

Retailers that choose to be m-commerce pioneers should bear in mind a few fundamentals before making the leap. “U.S. Mobile Commerce 2007: Low Reception” cites the following:

• Age plays a large role in adoption: Generation Y’ers are the most likely of any generation to own a mobile phone or smartphone, use their phones to send and receive text messages, buy or download content, and use the mobile Internet. Teens are the most likely group to experiment with emerging functionality.
• Consumers require a strong m-commerce value proposition: They say time savings is key.
• Security and privacy remain the biggest concerns: As with the Internet, m-commerce adoption is struggling because of security and privacy fears. 57% of mobile device owners worry about data security when using their phone to pay for goods or services; only 20% have no security concerns.