Barriers Affecting Mobile Commerce Adoption

Retail industry is beginning to feel the impact of soaring mobile device penetration across the world. A recent Barclays report suggests that the retail sales made via mobile devices are expected to reach GBP 32 billion by 2019. Another research suggests that the online retail is expected to grow to about $50 billion by 2016 – thanks to the growth in m-Commerce. It is therefore not surprising to see that the large e-tailers like Myntra decided to shut down their websites and decided to go with mobile-only strategy.

That said, on a global scale, despite the convenience and other advantages offered by mobile commerce, its adoption is still relatively small. Based on our experience of working in the area of mobile payments, we understand that following could be some of the most common reasons behind this skepticism –

# Security and Safety

People are familiar with the software and technology to protect their PCs and desktops. However, with mobiles and tablets, they feel little exposed and they lack the understanding of this kind of protection for mobile devices. People are worried about having their phones hacked or infected by viruses. Probably this is the reason the mobile payment providers are spending a lot of time and energy in emphasizing on the security aspect of mobile payments.

Things seem to be changing fast in this though – Biometric technology like fingerprint authentication are making it easier and safer for users to pay with their smartphone.

# Small Screen Sizes

The small screen sizes of the mobile devices, even with the so called large screen devices, can make it difficult to appreciate the look and feel of the products. Therefore, today people prefer to buy through mobile the products where thye know the products or for those products where the look and feel does not matter. Of course, with the right user interface and design, the retailers can look at engaging the audience beyond the screen size issues. Mobile device manufactures are also coming up with large size phones to cater to the increasing demands of mobile consumers.

# Speed and Connectivity

Slow and unreliable internet connection is one of the main barriers for eCommerce activities on mobile. People are worried that something might go in the middle of the transaction. They don’t want to later on worry on whether they have paid or not. But as we move to faster networks, the Internet connection speed and connectivity issue will get resolved. With Wi-Fi enabled phones, people today are also choosing to connect their phones to wi-fi connections at home or offices and make purchases through that.

# Compromized Features

On mobile devices, it can get difficult to see the product images clearly because of which, shoppers don’t get the true feel of the products while shopping. Many eCommerce websites don’t even have the full range of products available on mobile sites. Factors like these are deterring the users from purchasing through mobile devices. It is recommended that the site provides a good zoom in functionality for the products and also offers easier search and navigation.

# Un-optimized Mobile Experience

eTailers need to be remember that the mobile site cannot be the compressed version of the desktop site. They need to do in-depth thinking around providing a unique and engaging experience on the mobile devices. The mobile sites can take advantage of mobile features like geo-location, personalized data, swipe, shake etc. and provide some fun experience to the shoppers. Mobile commerce will see wide adoption only if it lives up to its promise of offering convenient and optimized shopping experience.

It is agreed that the mobile has arrived and people are depending on the device in their pocket for more and more day-to-day things. Mobile eCommerce is also going to mature soon and there are examples to prove that too – Starbucks gets around four million mobile payment transactions every week and mobile accounts for close to 10% of Starbuck’s total U.S. revenue. Good times ahead for sure!