eMarketer report paints a bright future for the mobile commerce space
A new report from eMarketer suggests that 2016 will be the “Year of Mobile Payments.” The report highlights the trends that have emerged in the mobile market and how consumers and businesses are reacting to the growing role that mobile technology is playing in the commerce field. Over the past few years, businesses have been somewhat slow to embrace the concept of mobile commerce, but this is beginning to change rapidly and 2016 may be the year in which retailers fully adopt a new form of commerce.
Mobile transactions to reach $27.47 billion by 2016, seeing 200% growth
The report predicts that mobile transactions will increase in value by 200% by 2016, reaching $27.47 billion. By 2018, mobile payments may reach $118 billion in value, with more than 25% of smartphone users in the U.S. participating in mobile commerce in some way. Despite the potential for strong growth, mobile commerce faces significant challenges that will need to be overcome in order for the sector to continue finding success.
There are still many challenges that the mobile commerce space must overcome in order to be successful
According to eMarketer, the mobile commerce space is still heavily fragmented. There are numerous different mobile payment services that have come to crowd the mobile market, which have divided the attention of consumers. Despite the ride availability of these services, there is not a single platform that has yet won the support of most consumers. Consumers are also not convinced that their smartphone is an adequate replacement for a credit or debit card.
Security continues to be one of the greatest concerns that consumers have
There are security concerns that the mobile space is working to overcome as well. Mobile commerce has become a target for malicious groups that seek to exploit financial information because many payment platforms lack robust security features. High-profile data breach incidents that have ties to the mobile payments space have caused many consumers to shy away from mobile transactions for fear that their information will be taken and exploited.
