According to estimates by Barclays Corporate, by the year 2021, British consumers will be spending 19.3 billion pounds ($30.5 billion) through the use of their mobile phones as advancements with technology are made at an increasing rate and a growing number of people obtain smartphones.
The current figure is an annual 1.3 billion pounds, which has been driven by new technologies such as faster transmission of mobile data and near field communication (NFC). Barclays Corporate, a Barclays Plc unit based in London, released a report saying that the largest category of mobile sales is in the food and groceries sector, where mobile sales have reached nearly 300 million this year.
In the report, the head of retail and wholesale at Barclays Corporate, Richard Lowe, said that as there isn’t very much new growth in the shopping opportunities themselves, “Those retailers which are prepared to invest will be at a significant advantage to the competition.”
The report indicated that there will be a growth of approximately 55 percent in m-commerce over the next five years. It explained that more than half of all shoppers are already using their mobile phones at some point during their shopping, from decision making to the actual purchase transaction.
In June, wireless operators such as Vodafone Group Plc have decided to develop a common platform to be used for mobile payment transactions so that this and other mobile services will be faster to develop in the United Kingdom.
Telefonica SA, Everything Everywhere, and Vodafone have entered into an agreement with Deutsche Telekom AG and France Telecom SA for a massive joint partnership that will assist advertisers and banks to be better capable of accessing this mobile service, which allows people to use their mobile device to make purchases for everyday items from groceries to clothing.