Nearly one in three consumers intend to use smartphone payments such as Google Wallet and Apple Pay.
A recent poll from Stratos Inc., entitled the 2014 Holiday Mobile Payments Survey indicated that about 30 percent of holiday shoppers intend to use mobile wallets in order to pay for the purchases that they make throughout the holiday shopping season.
Moreover, 17 percent claim that they will be spending more because these mobile payment options are available.
Stratos also discovered that under 5 percent of consumers feel “more comfortable” paying with mobile wallets than through the use of traditional payment cards such as debit and credit cards. Most smartphone users (69 percent) stated that they didn’t know exactly which stores would accept device based transactions. When the respondents were asked about what appealed to them the most with regards to the use of mobile payments while shopping in-store, the lead response (37 percent) was that they don’t have to worry about debit or credit card theft.
Thirty two percent of respondents liked mobile wallets because they found it made spending tracking easier.
Another 31 percent said that mobile payments was not appealing to them and that they would rather use a plastic card such as a debit or credit card in order to pay for their purchases while in store.
The research found that those who were interested in using their smartphones for making purchase payments in store intended to do so at the following types of location:
• Department stores – 66 percent
• Discount retailers and super stores – 48 percent
• Coffee shops – 43 percent
• Fast food restaurants – 42 percent
• Toy stores – 41 percent
• Drug stores – 35 percent
• Hotels – 28 percent
• Upscale restaurants – 28 percent
• Bars – 26 percent
• Boutiques – 23 percent
The CEO of Stratos, Thiago Olson, was quoted in a press release from the company as saying that “It is clear that people are interested in mobile payments but it doesn’t mean they’re going to abandon their cards.” He also added that the research indicated that while device users in the United States would like to buy gifts at department stores using mobile wallets, they aren’t as inclined to use the same type of transaction at upscale restaurants, bars, or hotels.
Great information and stats. It’s pretty cool how 43% of customers would use mobile wallet to pay at a coffee shop, which is what Starbucks has been allowing customers to do for some time. But even if customers don’t want to use their phone for transactions, they can use their smartphone to store loyalty cards such as digital stamp cards. For businesses, this is a great way to get into the smartphone. I found a company that does this and would like to share with all of you: loopyloyalty.com