Consumer Study Spotlights Unmet M-Commerce Opportunity for Mobile Operators

More than four out of five consumers (82.5 per cent) polled said that they would be prepared to purchase items via their mobile phones but only 12.6 per cent had ever done so satisfactorily. Qpass, surveyed 183 mobile phone users at Waterloo station on 20 September 2004. The survey was undertaken on the eve of Mobile Commerce World in London, UK to examine the potential opportunity for m-commerce in the UK. Mobile phone users identified with the convenience and potential of a mobile phone as a payment mechanism: 78.1 per cent said that they would use a mobile phone to pay for parking, 56.3 per cent for a newspaper or magazine and 53.0 per cent for tickets for public transport. Additionally, 22.4 per cent of mobile users would be prepared to spend more than £2 per month on a mobile subscription for premium services whilst almost half (45.4 per cent) said they would be prepared to pay £1 to £2. More than three times as many phone users have made purchases via the internet versus with their mobile phones, with 61.7 per cent admitting to being internet shoppers versus 20.2 per cent for m-commerce. Ring tones (62.2 per cent) and information services (43.2 per cent) were the most popular mobile purchases. For those mobile phone users who had made a mobile transaction, the user purchasing experience was mixed. Almost two in five reported some form of error in the transaction process: 18.9 per cent said that they failed to receive the product, 16.2 per cent received multiple SMS text messages for a single purchase and 2.7 per cent didnt understand the item when it appeared on their mobile phone bill. The Qpass M-Commerce Consumer Survey recognises the tremendous potential for m-commerce in the UK market. The survey reinforces the key to success: the ability of mobile operators to efficiently launch and manage new mobile offers in the market and deliver them via seamless integration with their existing back office systems.