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India m-commerce can be lifted with more security confidence, low cost content

Providing confidence in mobile security and more low-cost and personalized content and services can be the key to driving even more traction in the already high usage of mobile transactions in India, according to an SAP study.
Written by Abhishek Baxi, Contributor

Consumers in India are among the world leading the demand for mobile commerce services, with 97 percent of consumers asking for more mobile interactions with banks, telcos, retailers, utilities, and other businesses, according to an SAP study.

The findings of the report indicate an impressive traction of mobile commerce in the country with 80 percent of the population making parallel usage of the mobile phones other than just calls and text messages. 63 percent of consumers access the Internet on their mobile phones at least once a day.

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Appetite for Mobile Commerce Services in India. (credit: SAP)

For the research conducted by Loudhouse, an independent research agency based in London, 3,288 interviews were conducted with adults aged 18+ who own a mobile phone (basic or smartphone) in APAC (China n=1000, India n=1050, Japan n=651, Australia n=587) in March-April 2013.

The study found that India scored high in using mobile for banking transactions when compared to other countries in the world. As per the statistics, excluding voice messages, most of the mobile owners turn to their mobile phones for bill payments (78 percent), bank transactions (72 percent), and for setting up a new account (74 percent). Also, more than half of the consumers in India indulge in mobile purchases for entertainment services, games, and music downloads.

The mobile commerce businesses though still needs to address certain critical factors for greater adoption.

In the study, 57 percent of users in the country believe that once they gain confidence in mobile security, they will increase their mobile payment activity. The mobile-based consumption would also gain impetus from low-cost and personalized content and services. As recently suggested in the Mobile Internet Consumer report by Vserv.mobi, consumers in India are driven to buy goods using their mobile phone by exclusive offers and coupons.

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Motivators and Incentives to Help Accelerate Adoption of Mobile Commerce Services. (credit: SAP)

The research shows how mobile-based transactions have gained popularity in India and has become an integral part of the consumer's life. About two-thirds of the user base feel that mobile is a convenient mode of transaction leading to a greater consumer adoption in this segment.
"The dynamic nature of business as well as the freedom to operate from different parts of the world and at odd times has created a need for mobile commerce becoming mainstreamed," said Neeraj Athalye, head of sales at SAP.

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