Mobile commerce grows, but is sluggish in some sectors
Mobile commerce is expanding around the world. As an industry, it has managed to attract the attention and investments of several technology and telecommunications companies as well as financial institutions. The expansion of the mobile commerce industry is poised to bring a number of benefits to a large demographic of consumers, especially those that frequently travel around the world. Travelers, however, may not been keen to the concept of mobile commerce, according to a report from eMarketer, a travel management service provider.
Report indicates that majority of travelers are somewhat unfamiliar with mobile commerce
According to the report, the adoption of new commerce systems, such as mobile wallets and NFC technology, may be slow amongst travelers. The report indicates that approximately 53% of travelers consider themselves to be beginners in terms of new commerce. A large portion of these people claim to have little to no knowledge of how these systems work. Another 41% claimed they had moderate proficiency with mobile commerce, with 6% describing themselves as experts.
Security cited as major reason behind slow adoption
The report shows that mobile security may be one of the major reasons that travelers have shown little interest in mobile commerce. Approximately 92% of those studied considered the security of traditional forms of commerce, such as credit cards and even physical currency, to be more robust that that seen in the mobile commerce industry. Until the security issue can be rectified, mobile commerce adoption may remain sluggish amongst travelers who are often cautious of their finances while abroad.
Time will tell if mobile commerce can find widespread adoption
Though mobile commerce may be experiencing relatively slow adoption amongst travelers, the industry is seeing major growth in other sectors. The growth seen in these sectors may be enough to make mobile commerce commonplace, but only time will tell whether this will be the case for sure.
