Mobile commerce stats round up

Graham Charlton
eConsultancy

Mobile purchasing habits in the US (Compete)

• 37% of US Smartphone users have made a (non-mobile) purchase on their handsets in the last six months.
  
• 19% have purchased music on their phones, 14% have bought books, DVDs or games, while 12% have purchased movie tickets.
  
• The amount that mobile users are willing to spend varies between handsets, with 32% of Android and 29% of iPhone users willing to spend $100 or more from their handsets, compared with 14% of Blackberry users.

Mobile purchasing habits in the US (ATG)

• 27% of all consumers used their mobiles to browse and research products at least four times over a 12 month period. For the 18-34 age group, this figure is 41%.
  
• 20% of all consumers and 32% 0F 18-34 year olds are researching purchases via mobile at least monthly.
  
• 13% of all consumers and 23% of the 18-34 age group make purchases via their mobile four times a year.

Mobile payments (Juniper)

• The market for mobile payments market is expected to quadruple by 2014, reaching $630bn in value, which equates to 5% of total e-commerce sales.
  
• The mobile payments market is worth $170bn so far this year.

Mobile commerce market size (ABI Research)

• The research firm predicts that in 2015, $119bn worth of goods and services will be purchased via a mobile phone.
  
• By ABI Research's count, mobile commerce tripled in the United States in 2009, but still only constituted a $1.2bn market.
  
• In Japan, which has one of the most vibrant mobile markets, mobile commerce exceeded $10bn in 2009.

Mobile internet usage (Essential Research)

• 47% of daily mobile internet users live in urban areas, while 42% of mobile internet users earn over £40,000 a year (household income) compared to 31% of non users.
  
• These daily mobile internet users are also more likely to spend more on their monthly mobile bills, 55% pay over £30 a month, compared to 10% of non users.

Smartphone usage (comScore)

• In the three month period ending in February 2010, 45.4m people in the U.S. owned smartphones, a 21% jump over November 2009.
  
• The fastest gainer in that segment is Google, whose Android platform rose by an impressive 5.2% in only three months.

One in Five U.S. Adult Consumers Now Using Mobile Commerce

Fierce Mobile Content
By Jason Ankeny

One in five U.S. adult wireless subscribers utilized mobile commerce services in the past month according to a new consumer study conducted by non-profit industry trade group the Mobile Marketing Association in partnership with Luth Research. Among 1,000 adult subscribers surveyed in mid-April, 17 percent of respondents purchased mobile applications, ringtones and related digital content, 6 percent used their phones to receive coupons or discounts and another 6 percent bought physical goods or non-mobile content and services.

The MMA notes that more than half of iPhone owners and 34 percent of BlackBerry users have purchased content for their smartphones, more than subscribers across rival platforms. Fifty-six percent of mobile content purchases were made through the subscriber's carrier, and 43 percent paid for the transaction via bank or credit card account. Regardless of transaction type, adults between the ages of 25 and 34 used their phones more than other age groups--the MMA adds that most respondents consider m-commerce to be "secure and trustworthy."

Read more on the MMA m-commerce study >

What a Girl Wants: More Mobile Shopping

Mashable.com
by Jolie O'Dell

Mobile shopping company miBuys conducted a survey of 1,600 women on mobile phones and discovered that the majority is indeed interested in mobile commerce.

94% responded that they use their phones to browse the mobile Web, sometimes even if at home or nearby a computer, and 70% expect their mobile Internet usage to increase in the future.

Most of these engaged mobile users acknowledged that they sometimes splurge on items and would be open to learning about discounts, deals, and even promotions on their phones.

Read more >

Mobile Driving Evolution of Airline Business

By Rimma Kats
Mobile Marketer

Many airlines are going mobile to accommodate the growing trend of tech-savvy consumers and are expanding their mobile marketing strategy to retain customer loyalty.

Companies such as Continental Airlines, Alaska Airlines and American Airlines have all integrated mobile. The airlines have used mobile applications and paperless boarding passes to not only sell tickets and give travelers an expedited check-in process, but to also make sure they have all the tools they need while on the go.

“Our customers have shown us that they want to take more control of their travel experience,” said Jared Miller, senior director of customer self-service at Continental Airlines, Houston. “Self check-in, which began at Continental in 1995, now accounts for over 95 percent of all domestic customer check-ins.

“With the growth of smartphone usage and mobile Web adoption, customers are now able to self-serve many aspects of their Continental travel experience, freeing up their time and getting access to real-time information,” he said.

Mobile boarding passes
In March, Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air rolled out three mobile applications for Apple’s iPhone, Research in Motion’s BlackBerry and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile.

Consumers can check their flight status information, flight schedules, flight alerts and check-in one to 24 hours prior to their scheduled departure.

“Mobile is important to us more to retain customer loyalty and give our travel-warrior customers the tools they want most,” said Steve Jarvis, vice president of customer innovation at Alaska Airlines, Seattle.

“Specifically for Alaska, we differentiate ourselves with superior customer service and making travel easier for customers,” he said. “Mobile applications allow us to improve on both of these measures.”

The airline has launched mobile technology at 16 of the airports it serves that lets travelers check-in from a mobile device and use an electronic boarding pass at security to board the plane.

By July, Alaska Airlines plans to have about 50 percent of its airports outfitted with electronic check-in technology including three of its Hawaiian destinations – Maui, Kina and Lihu’e.

“Mobile presents another channel for Alaska Airlines to reach our customers and meet their needs,” Mr. Jarvis said. “Customers can opt-in to receive relevant offers through our mobile club or receive updates on flight changes for the convenience of planning.

“With so many customers traveling without access to a printer, the mobile channel gives customers the ability to stay connected and take advantage of marketing offers and other announcements,” he said.

Mobile expansion
This past year Continental Airlines claimed to be the first carrier to offer mobile boarding passes on nonstop flights from Britain to the United States.

The company provides mobile passes that display a two-dimensional bar code with passenger and flight information.

The mobile boarding passes not only save the airline paper and money, but also help prevent manipulation or duplication of tickets.

Continental currently offers mobile boarding passes at 42 of it airports and plans on expanding to other locations.

“Mobile has transformed the customer experience in that the customer is able to access self-service options while on the go, remote from the office or home, or at the airport,” Mr. Miller said. “In many ways, the customer’s smartphone is like their own personal kiosk.

“Mobile is not only about the mobile Web though,” he said. “We recognize that while smartphone adoption is growing, not all customers carry a smartphone or use it in the same way.

“With mobile devices, customers are also able to contact us by calling our contact centers and we utilize IVR technologies to allow feature rich self-service options there as well.”

Read more >

New Study Shows the Mobile Web Will Rule by 2015

Morgan Stanley shared a comprehensive report charting the most important online trends and predicting the future of the Internet. In addition to forecasting more online shopping and showing the geographical distribution of Internet users, the study also shows a dramatic shift toward mobile web use.

mCommerce continues to grow, more quickly than e-commerce, now consisting of 4% of total retail sales. In addition, social networking has already eclipsed email usage.

Read more >

comScore Reports February 2010 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

Use of Social Media via Mobile Device Continues to Post Strong Gains

comScore shared key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month period between November 2009 and February 2010. The report ranked the leading mobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and smartphone platforms in the U.S. according to their share of usage by current mobile subscribers age 13 and older, and reviewed the most popular activities and content accessed via the subscriber’s primary mobile phone.

The February report found Motorola to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 22.3% market share, while RIM led among smartphone platforms with 42.1% market share.

Read more >

More than 1 in 10 mobile subscribers to use mobile ticketing in 2014 globally, says new Juniper report

Travellers, cinema goers and sport fans to embrace the convenience of tickets on their mobiles according to new Juniper report

A new study by Juniper Research has forecast that more than 1 in 10 mobile subscribers will either have a ticket delivered to their mobile phone or buy a ticket with their phone by 2014. This represents a five-fold growth over the next five years.

The Mobile Ticketing report found that services are developing fastest in the transport sector, with SMS, bar code and, increasingly, app driven services being offered by rail & metro companies and airlines.

The potential for rail, metro & bus mobile ticketing is shown by early adopter market hotspots such as Japan, Scandinavia and Austria. Global impetus is being added by the rapidly growing number of airlines offering not only mobile boarding passes but ticket booking and payment as well. Beyond transport, mobile ticketing is already seeing traction across a wide range of sporting and entertainment venues including baseball, concerts and movies.

Report author Howard Wilcox stated: “Our research established that ticketing providers are exploiting apps to deliver innovative offerings - not just on smart phones either. One of the keys to widespread acceptance is going to be the ease for users of “silent” equipping via pre-installation. Telecom Italia’s new SIM cards for 2010 are a good example.”

Juniper Research gained unique market insight on top trends, issues and likely future developments directly from the heart of the market through its primary research interviews with leading mobile ticketing operators, application developers, consultants and vendors. The report includes a detailed five market forecasting suite covering key market parameters.

Further key findings from the report include:

• Europe, Far East & China & North America regions are all forecast to see double digit penetration by 2014


• Growth constraints include multiple ticket scheme environments such as certain transport markets, with their potential resulting user issues such as support and help

Read more >

Use of Social Media via Mobile Sees Considerable Gains in Past 3 Months

comScore Reports January 2010 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

comScore released a January 2010 report on the U.S. mobile subscriber market share. The report reveals that in the 3 month average ending in January, 234 million Americans were mobile subscribers aged 13 and older, and Motorola ranked as the top original equipment manufacturer with 22.9% of U.S. mobile subscribers. In an average month during the November through January 2010 time period, mobile browsers were used by 28.6% of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 1.8 percentage points).

Read more >

Gartner Says Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales to End Users Grew 8 Percent in Fourth Quarter 2009; Market Remained Flat in 2009

Worldwide mobile phone sales to end users totalled 1.211 billion units in 2009, a 0.9 per cent decline from 2008, according to Gartner, Inc. In the fourth quarter of 2009, the market registered a single-digit growth as mobile phone sales to end users surpassed 340 million units, an 8.3 per cent increase from the fourth quarter of 2008.

"The mobile devices market finished on a very positive note, driven by growth in smartphones and low-end devices," said Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner. ”Smartphone sales to end users continued their strong growth in the fourth quarter of 2009, totalling 53.8 million units, up 41.1 per cent from the same period in 2008. In 2009, smartphone sales reached 172.4 million units, a 23.8 per cent increase from 2008. In 2009, smartphone-focused vendors like Apple and Research In Motion (RIM) successfully captured market share from other larger device producers, controlling 14.4 and 19.9 per cent of the worldwide smartphone market, respectively.”

Throughout 2009, intense price competition put pressure on average selling prices (ASPs). The major handset producers had to respond more aggressively in markets such as China and India to compete with white-box producers, while in mature markets they competed hard with each other for market share. Gartner expects the better economic environment and the changing mix of sales to stabilise ASPs in 2010.

Read more >

Shopping by Mobile Will Grow to $119 Billion in 2015

In 2015, shoppers around the world are expected to spend about $119 billion on goods and services purchased via mobile phones. That number represents about 8% of the total e-commerce market.

“Mobile online shopping is reaching critical mass,” says senior analyst Mark Beccue. “In the United States, mobile online shopping rose from $396 million in 2008 to $1.2 billion in 2009. While definitions of ‘mass market adoption’ vary, a more than threefold increase in one year indicates significant consumer interest."

Noteworthy is that even that $1+ billion turnover in the US is dwarfed by the size of the mobile online shopping market in Japan, which exceeded $10 billion in 2009 alone.

This market is growing solidly in Europe too, and is expected to outpace the US by the end of 2010.

“The driver for mobile online shopping in the US has been the recent sharp spike in smartphone adoption and the corresponding enthusiasm for mobile Internet. Also, many more retailers have been launching mobile commerce websites,” adds Beccue. A longer-term driver in global terms is the fact that in many less-industrialized regions, mobile is virtually the only way to access the Internet.

Not only does mobile online shopping allow shoppers to manage their time better, but in the fourth quarter of 2009, an interesting trend emerged: consumers were checking out products in bricks-and-mortar retail stores and using their phones for comparison shopping.

A subset of mobile commerce is the trade in virtual goods, generally associated with online gaming. This too has seen rapid uptake, as mobile payments are the best option for online purchases under about $20, and this way of shopping is especially suitable for those – often young gamers – without credit cards.

ABI Research’s new “Mobile Commerce” study focuses on two emerging developments in mobile commerce: mobile online shopping and mobile payments for virtual goods. The report includes global forecasts for e-commerce, mobile online shopping (viewed as a subset of e-commerce), virtual goods, and mobile payments for virtual goods.

It is part of the firm’s Mobile Money Research Service, which also includes other Research Reports, Research Briefs, Market Data, ABI Insights, ABI Vendor Matrices, and analyst inquiry support.

ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of trends in global connectivity and other emerging technologies. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research’s worldwide team of experts advise thousands of decision makers through 28 research and advisory services. Est. 1990. For more information visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.

Mobile Metrics: Top Mobile Manufacturers & Devices

AdMob recently released their December Mobile Metrics report, highlighting manufacturer share, operating system share, top devices, and top smartphones for each region. The iPhone OS dominated the North American, Australian, and Western European markets (51% worldwide), and Apple shipped an incremental 26M iPhone units. December saw a cumulative 11,492,970,435 requests for smartphones, 36.3% of which were for Apple, 17.6% of which were for Nokia, and 11.2% of which were for Samsung.

Full Report (PDF) >

Mobile Devices and Shopping: Shop.org Research Results

Shop.org
Fiona Swerdlow

According to research conducted by Shop.org that interviewed nearly 7,000 people, approximately half of the 18 to 34 year-old participants enjoy product and price comparisons, store information, in-store events and specials, product availability, and coupons via their mobile phones. Scoring only slightly lower, female respondents also view similar shopping functionality as very useful.

Read more >

Retailers Are Learning to Love Smartphones

As apps have improved, m-commerce—buying all kinds of things via iPhone and BlackBerry—is rising

Business Week
By Reena Jana

People are using their smartphones for more than just making calls, sending e-mails, or watching YouTube (GOOG) videos. The fastest-growing cell-phone activity is shopping directly from a handset, reports market researcher Gartner (IT). Retailers from Amazon (AMZN) to CVS (CVS) to Sears (SHLD) have recently launched "m-commerce" sites or software applications that allow shoppers to browse and buy books, medicine, or even lawn mowers from their iPhones and BlackBerrys. "It's in-and-out, surgical-style shopping behavior" influenced by the recessionary need to focus on necessities, says Thomas Emmons, head of the mobile innovation group at Sears.

Some of the iPhone apps enable mobile shoppers to do even more. While strolling among the bookcases at a brick-and-mortar Barnes & Noble (BKS) store, people can use the Apple (AAPL) smartphone to snap a photo of the latest Jim Collins management title, for example. Image-recognition software triggers an algorithm to recognize the product in a database. The software then pulls up user reviews from Barnesandnoble.com on the handset's screen almost instantly to help shoppers decide whether to buy or pass. "We've seen a huge uplift in reservations of books for purchase in physical stores, as well as buying, from the iPhone app since we launched it," says Douglas Gottlieb, the retail chain's vice-president for digital devices.



In the travel industry, companies are using m-commerce to target businesspeople who need to purchase plane tickets and book hotel rooms while in transit. In the first four months after Marriott International (MAR) launched an m-commerce application for all smartphones, in August 2008, customers used it to spend $2 million even as overall travel expenditures slumped.

Why is m-commerce suddenly capturing the attention of retailers and consumers? "Shoppers now have the ability to buy on their phones easily as retailers are starting to get the design of iPhone and other applications right," says Gartner analyst Hung LeHong. Shop-by-phone consumers can pick up purchases in stores or have them shipped home or to a hotel without logging on to computers or interacting with salespeople.

M-commerce software specialists say business is surging. Jason Taylor, senior vice-president for mobile products at New York's Usablenet, which created m-commerce sites for Sears, Limited Brands (LTD), American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), and CVS, says it has signed three times more contracts in the past quarter than in previous periods. With more people buying smartphones—Gartner's latest worldwide sales data show a 12.7% increase in units sold in the first quarter of 2009 from a year earlier—the m-commerce market is likely to keep growing.

Mobile Web growing beyond the traditional boundaries

Mobile Marketer
Chris Harnick

According to Nielsen, unique mobile Web users increased by 14.4% this past year. Youths between the ages of 13 and 17 who now use the mobile Web grew by 45% and 67% for seniors over age 65. Lead analyst of mobile media at Nielsen added, "This [interactive medium] affords brands the opportunity to integrate mobile into their broader campaign efforts to forge the personalized experience that uniquely comes with mobile by providing the right message at the right place."

Read more >

Getting to Know the Mobile Population

eMarketer

Sophisticated—and diverse

Mobile users are inseparable from their devices. Whether they have a smartphone or a traditional feature phone, it goes with them at all times. And as these devices become more capable, they are evolving into extensions of users’ desktops and home communications and entertainment systems.

Penetration will near 100% by 2013, reflected in a modest 2.7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in the number of subscribers between 2008 and 2013.

Mobile Internet usage has been steadily rising, with some of the traditional barriers—namely cost, complexity and user experience—beginning to fall away. eMarketer predicts that growth will persist over the next five years, albeit at a slower pace. In the US, the number of mobile users accessing the Internet will jump from 73.7 million in 2009 to 134.3 million in 2013, a CAGR of 17.7%.

The mobile Internet user population in the US is now roughly one-third the size of the wired Internet audience, a gap that will narrow by the early part of the next decade. Smartphones constitute the bridge between the desktop and mobile Web.

Further, despite the spotlight on smartphones, they remain a minority share of the mobile device market. Smartphone users are a far more attractive group, both for the audience demographics and usage patterns, but marketers that ignore the other 80% to 85% of the user population do so to their detriment.

Read more >

Mobile Trends: Americans' Cell Phone Ownership Statistics

A poll conducted by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion supports that employment and age are among the most significant factors in determining an American's cell phone habits.

Nearly nine in 10 (87%) US Americans report that they own a cell phone, and 16% say they own a personal digital assistant (PDA) such as a Blackberry, Palm or iPhone.

Not surprisingly, the research confirmed that age is a determining factor in cell-phone and PDA ownership: Some 94% of Americans under age 45 have cell phones, whereas slightly more than eight in 10 Americans 45 or older tote the devices.

92% of the employed survey participants own a cell phone, approximately 25% of which are PDAs.

Regionally, those who live in the Northeast and South regions of the US report the highest cell-phone ownership. Nearly nine in 10 (89%) of residents in these areas report owning a cell phone, while 82% of those in the Midwest and 85% of those in the West have them.

Read more >

Usage of Mobile Devices Still Growing Briskly

Mediaweek

According to a July Forrester Research study, usage of mobile devices continues to grow. 15% of participants answered that that they now use their cell phones to access the Internet, a 4% increase from the previous year. A demographic focus showed that 18-29 year olds depend on their smartphones for features far beyond "entry level" activities (text messages, e-mail, IM). Compared to an older market, the younger group is much more likely to surf the mobile Internet, accessing social networks or playing music.

Read more >

Americans Flocking To Internet With Wireless Devices

Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project finds a 73% increase in Americans accessing the Web via their handheld devices since late 2007.

W. David Gardner
InformationWeek

The Pew report author attributes the escalation to Americans' desire to connect with others, satisfy information inquiries, and share content with friends -- wherever, whenever. A demographic study reveals that African Americans are 70% more likely than Caucasians to access the mobile Web on an average day.

Read more >

Study: Mobile Media Soars, Marketers Must Adapt

Media Week
Steve McClellan

One out of every seven minutes of media consumption today takes place via mobile devices, according to new research from IPG's Universal McCann and AOL.

And with mobile usage expected to grow by 60 percent over the next two years, marketers must devise appropriate ways to communicate about their brands with mobile users or they risk missing out on huge opportunities.

With 63 million mobile Web users in the U.S. -- 19 million of whom access the Internet on a weekly basis -- Stuart Rodnick, senior director of strategic insights at AOL, said that mobile is leading a "social transformation."

The study, which polled 1,800 mobile users over the fourth quarter of last year and first quarter of 2009, found that 80 percent of smart-phone users are satisfied using the quality of the Internet on their mobile devices. Essentially those consumers are saying, "My life is better now," said Rodnick.

Ninety-five percent of the respondents said they used mobile media to fill downtime; 82 percent said they use it at work; 81 percent while shopping; 80 percent at home; and 65 percent while commuting to their jobs.

That usage "creates an unprecedented opportunity for marketers to transition with consumers as they move from activity to activity throughout the day," the study concludes.

Among specific activities, 73 percent of respondents reported searching for maps and directions while 55 percent said they participated in social networking or sought out restaurant and movie listings or reviews. Forty-four percent reported seeking national news and information. "It's basically a guide to leisure life," said Rodnick.

According to Graeme Hutton, director of consumer insights at UM, a key finding of the research was the "media-meshing" nature of mobile. "It's not a stand-alone media source," he said, noting that 77 percent of those polled in the research said they use TV and mobile at the same time to enhance the overall media-consumption experience.

The research also showed that 55 percent of mobile users follow brands across multiple media while 56 percent said they have been driven to mobile from other media. Conversely, 42 percent said they have been driven from mobile to other media.

"Brands have a compelling opportunity to engage consumers in mobile," said Hutton, noting that 27 percent responded that they were "completely focused" when using mobile, slightly lower than the 33 percent who reported being completely focused when surfing the Web on computers, but higher than many traditional media such as TV, newspapers and magazines (all less than 20 percent) and radio (6 percent).

Mobile users are surprisingly accepting of advertising, said Hutton, noting that 38 percent of respondents said they had taken action based on mobile ads. Almost 30 percent said mobile ads had led them to share information, while 22 percent said mobile ads had influenced a purchase decision.

"Mobile is a separate channel" that allows marketers to talk to consumers wherever they go, said Hutton. But it's critical, he said, "to let the consumer lead and place the relationship alongside of it."

Learn about Tickets.com's mobile ticketing solutions >

Mobile Web Addiction Rising, Researchers Say

by John Paczkowski
All Things Digital

Just as the mobile Web and the wired Web are converging, so too are their audiences, which are destined to reach parity in size–and sooner, rather than later. According to the latest metrics from comScore, day-to-day mobile Internet usage in the states doubled over the last year. In January 2008, 10.8 million people visited the mobile Web at least once a day. Now there are some 22.4 million. Most do so looking for news or other basic information, though many are looking for interaction as well. Social networking, for example, saw a massive spike in usage, its audience growing 427 percent year over year.

“Over the course of the past year, we have seen use of mobile Internet evolve from an occasional activity to being a daily part of people’s lives,” said comScore’s Mark Donovan. “This underscores the growing importance of the mobile medium as consumers become more reliant on their mobile devices to access time-sensitive and utilitarian information. Social networking and blogging have emerged as very popular daily uses of the mobile Web and these activities are growing at a torrid pace,” observed Donovan. “We also note that much of the growth in news and information usage is driven by the increased popularity of downloaded applications, such as those offered for the iPhone, and by text-based searches.”

Obviously, the mobile browsing experience hasn’t yet matched its wired counterpart in quality. But clearly it’s getting there. And right now, it’s at the “decent enough” stage to woo the audience that will drive its further and more rapid improvement.