DUBAI – Around 65 percent of smartphone users have used their phones to make a retail purchase and around 81 percent of them use social media to seek advice before buying, a study released by First Data Corp-ICICI Merchant Services said. It is also found that nearly 79 percent of smartphone users have at least one retailer app on their mobile devices. The study also noted that the number of mobile users is growing faster than web traffic. “Mobile commerce today is a platform to take e-commerce to the masses, something that works for everyone,” it pointed out. In India, in spite of security concerns, online banking is on the rise, the study added. This is evident from the fact that over half the respondents feel that online debit card and credit card purchases are secure (56 and 51 percent, respectively). However, with smartphones flooding the markets, consumers want to access their bank accounts through their banking apps. Around 68 percent of the smartphone/tablet users have downloaded their banks' apps onto their devices. Also, 63 percent of respondents are aware of the mobile wallet concept. Predictably, smartphone users are more likely to be interested in mobile wallets than basic phone users (63 percent versus 37 percent). The study was conducted in April 2013 among 4,000 or so smartphone and social media users across 10 markets – India, China, Singapore, the Middle East (the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt), the US, the UK, Germany, Poland, Mexico and Brazil. The respondents consisted of banked consumers. First Data is a global technology and payments processing leader. — SG/Agencies
