ABI Research polled 2,000 consumer technology users and asked about their mobile shopping habits. The results show that almost 50% of smartphone owners have shopped in the past or intend to shop in the future using their mobile phones. The survey also revealed that 53% of the respondents use their smartphone for mobile banking.
More surprising is the result that 17% of non-smartphone owners are interested in mobile banking, even though their current handset would not easily support it. Couple this rise in mobile shopping and mobile banking with NFC technology and you know why those involved in mobile commerce are doing a happy dance.
Mobile commerce, especially here in the U.S., is a market that’s in its infancy. As recent as 2008, making a retail purchase using your smartphone was nonexistent. Only a handful of sites were mobile-friendly and most did not support payment transactions. I can remember trying to make a purchase on my cell phone via its web browser and it was a hair-pulling experience. The app store was a brand new concept and shopping applications for your handset were few and far between.
Now, we have a bounty of applications on each mobile platform that make shopping from your handset easy .Unlike Europe and Asia where NFC is more common, the wireless technology is finally poised to take off in the US. It seems like everybody is jumping on board the NFC bandwagon. Earlier this year, we saw an Apple patent that hints at a NFC-enabled iPhone. An unlikely trio, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, are collaborating on a NFC-based mobile payment project. Most recently, we have the Google Nexus S, which will debut December 16th and will feature NFC technology.
So what do you think, are buying into this NFC technology and mobile-enabled payments? Are you comfortable with using your mobile phone to check your bank account, make deposits, and transfer money?
[Via Cellular News]