Service providers that aren't keeping their eye on the mobile transaction market better start paying attention.
A new report from U.K.-based Juniper Research predicts that the value of remote transactions for digital and physical goods bought using a mobile device will be more than $730 billion per year by 2017.
The report says that growth will be driven by the increasing scale of real-world (non-digital) purchases from major brands and retailers, with companies such as Domino’s in the U.S. and Argos in the U.K. already seeing 6-7 percent of all sales occurring via mobile.
The report – "Mobile Payments for Digital & Physical Goods: Opportunity Analysis 2012-2017" – also notes that as the adoption of tablet PCs continues to rise, there will be a significant shift in the number of purchases made via laptop and desktop computers, to tablets. And customers will increasingly engage in online shopping while watching TV. This "couch commerce" trend, as Juniper puts it, will result in mobile devices accounting for 30 percent of eRetail within five years.
“We have already moved towards a multitasking, multimedia environment which offers brands the opportunity for far greater engagement with consumers than was previously the case," said report author, Dr. Windsor Holden. "Mobile is increasingly being deployed at all touch points in the retail process – product discovery, product purchase, customer retention."
The report also predicts digital goods sales will continue to rise in tandem with smartphone/tablet growth, particularly across lifestyle/infotainment applications; and despite the dramatic increase in sales, transaction security remains an issue for consumers.
