Just one-fifth of marketers use mobile for m-commerce

The mobile channel is increasingly being used by retailers, but not to its fullest extent, according to a recent study by mobile marketing agency Sponge.

by Helen Leggatt

Marketers are, on the whole, using mobile to support traditional advertising such as television and press. They also tend towards using mobile primarily as a communication tool rather than a sales channel, despite forecasts that the gross transactional value of mobile payments to buy physical and digital goods is set to soar.

Recent research from Sponge found that 70% of retailers use mobile to communicate with their customers. Of those, 40% use messaging to provide product information, another 40% use SMS to send stock alerts and delivery information and 20% use mobile to inform customers of special offers.

Just one fifth of retailers surveyed used mobile for m-commerce purposes such as enabling sales transactions.

"Our survey shows that the use of mobile among retailers is high but the benefits of having m-commerce capabilities are yet to be recognized," said Jon Beverley, Commercial Director at Sponge.

"Recent research by analyst firm Juniper predicts that more than two billion mobile users globally will have made a purchase via their handsets by 2013. A fifth of retailers that took part in our survey already offer customers this capability - the option to make purchases via mobile phones is keeping them ahead of their competitors."

Tags: m-commerce, messaging, mobile, mobile payments, sales, SMS, Sponge, transactions