In a recent study conducted by Forrester,
it has been predicted that in the next 5 years, mCommerce will quadruple to $31
billion. Last year, sales of physical retail goods and services made on
smartphone were around $8 billion in the US. Even though this seems
significant, it was only 3% of all online sales and 1% of total retail sales.
For the average US retailer, mobile only accounts for 1.5% of total online
sales. Although that may not seem to be very powerful now, mobile sales are expected
to increase 33% in the next 5 years, then accounting for 9% of all retail sales
in the year 2017. So, what does this mean for businesses? Whether or not you
are impressed with these number, the fact of the matter is mobile commerce is
growing at a hefty rate. And even if your company does not currently offer any
type of transactions that may involve mobile
payments, its important to know and understand this current trend.
More shopping on smartphones, means more payments being
processed on mobile devices. While this is convenient for consumers, this can
be troublesome for businesses. Companies that offer both online and/or mobile
payment options face an issue with conflicting sides. While they must offer a
safe method of payment processing, they must also make sure its easy and
concise enough to keep customers moving through the checkout process. Often
times if a checkout process is too complex, shoppers will get frustrated and
abandon the transaction. Many companies use secure check out options like
Paypal to make the shopping experience more convenient but that is not always
enough. Having multiple layers of security will strengthen the authentication
process acting as a prerequisite to the checkout process. And by utilizing knowledge
based authentication, this process can be quick, easy, and effective.
There is no doubting that mCommerce will change the industry
in the big way. Just this past year, Paypals mobile payment volume increased
250% and eBays mobile
payment volume increased more than 120%. Many of these retail giants are
working on shopping
apps that will make the shopping process more streamlined for consumers.
Remember that the more convenient businesses make the payment process, the more
they open the gate for mobile fraud. If your company is looking to venture into
the mCommerce realm, be sure to have the conversation about mobile
fraud prevention.
[Contributed by EVS Marketing]
