Marketers need to be mindful of mobile web

The next five years will see the gross transaction value of mobile payments to buy physical and digital goods soar, according to recent analysis by Juniper Research.

by Helen Leggatt

In July, 2007, Juniper Research predicted that the mobile payment market would hit $22 billion in 2011. A recent revision of that forecast now puts the figure at nearer $300 billion by 2013, a huge rise.

That sum isn't as surprising when considering data released by IMS Research forecasting that nearly 884 million mobile phone owners will be using contactless and over-the-air payments by 2012.

Ticketing for transport, entertainment and sports events is set to grow to 40% of the total transactional value of mobile payments and several large projects have already been launched, including mobile ordering with McDonald’s in Japan.

In the recent report, entitled ‘Mobile Payment Markets: Digital & Physical Goods 2008 – 2013’ author Howard Wilcox said: "Merchants in North America and Western Europe are just starting to realize the potential of a mobile web presence as a fourth channel to market. Retailers should be evaluating the benefits of the mobile web, and be mindful of the success of regular ecommerce sites in generating sales."

The report’s region-by-region data reveals that two regions, Western Europe and the Far East, will represent over 60% of the forecast $300 billion in global mobile payment gross transaction value by 2013.