The UK currently has the highest number of consumers engaging in mobile commerce, with 19 per cent doing so in the last month, followed by 13 per cent of Germans, and 9 per cent of French. 18-34 year olds represent the primary drivers of mobile commerce across all three markets surveyed, with 29 per cent of British consumers, 21 per cent of German and 15 per cent of French in this age group making transactions in the last month.

These are some of the key findings of the latest UK, French and German Mobile Consumer Briefing reports on mobile commerce from the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and its research partner, Lightspeed Research. Lightspeed surveyed respondents in the UK, Germany and France who owned a mobile phone about their current mobile commerce usage and how likely they were to use mobile commerce in the future.

Respondents used their mobiles to buy mobile content, goods and services, as well as other digital content; with most agreeing that the transactions were quick and easy. The MMA says that consumers surveyed across all age groups demonstrated even stronger market interest in mobile transactions in the future, demonstrating clear market opportunities for mobile as a fast and convenient way for consumers to make transactions.

Key findings were:

• Across all three countries, the most common form of mobile commerce is the purchase of content for mobile phones (e.g. ringtones, applications), with 12 per cent of UK, 8 per cent of German and 5 per cent of French respondents making a mobile content purchase in the last month.
• Purchases were not restricted to mobile content or products available through operator billing. For example, the purchase of goods and services and collection or redemption of loyalty points (like airline miles) were the second most common form of mobile commerce in France, suggesting a growing opportunity to use mobile for CRM and customer loyalty campaigns.
• The mobile web was the medium used most frequently for mobile commerce overall, accounting for roughly half of all transactions.
• This differed slightly in the case of mobile content, with 52 per cent of UK respondents preferring to buy mobile content via the web, compared with 49 per cent of Germans who preferred messaging (SMS, IM, MMS) and 56 per cent of French respondents preferring to buy via mobile applications.
• While most felt transactions were quick and easy, only half of respondents felt they were secure and trustworthy, indicating a need for the industry to educate consumers on the security of mobile payments and address any concerns that may hold back adoption.

“Mobile commerce is beginning to change the mobile retail landscape,” says Dr. Peter A. Johnson, VP of Market Intelligence for the MMA. “Rapid adoption of smartphones and use of app stores has provided fertile ground for mobile commerce growth to date, and this will only accelerate in the coming years. This research provides a clear indication of how the convenience of mobile commerce is gaining traction. As consumers become increasingly comfortable and confident paying for goods and services through their mobile, it is possible to see m-commerce becoming mainstream, or perhaps even the dominant form of transactions.”

The research, which is available free to MMA members and by subscription to non-members, highlighted several other key findings:

• The most popular way for consumers to pay for content on their mobile was to be billed by their mobile operator on their statement. This was the case for 52 per cent of UK respondents, 54 per cent of German and 56 per cent of French respondents
• Digital payment methods such as PayPal appear to be gaining popularity, especially when the transaction does not involve mobile content
• UK residents expressed higher levels of interest in conducting mobile commerce transactions in the future than residents of Germany or France
• Across all three countries, respondents believed they were most likely to make mobile commerce transactions over the next 12 months to use discounts or coupons or to collect or redeem loyalty points

In conjunction with the release of the Mobile Consumer Briefing, the MMA’s Mobile Commerce committee has also released a new definition of m-commerce. It is: “Mobile Commerce is the one- or two-way exchange of value facilitated by a mobile consumer electronic device (e.g. mobile handset), which is enabled by wireless technologies and communication networks.”

The MMA says that an industry-standard definition defines the scope of m-commerce services available, and ensures that terminology is consistent between all parties. MMA’s Mobile Consumer Briefing research for May incorporated this new definition into its survey design.