While a variety of wireless companies, from vendors to carriers, continue to talk about the benefits mobile commerce will bring, many industry observers agree that the explosion won’t happen anytime soon.
Last week Nokia Corp. worked to fan the flames of mobile commerce, releasing the results of a study it commissioned that-unsurprisingly-found mobile-phone users ready and willing to take advantage of mobile-commerce applications.
According to the study, conducted by British research company Mori, in the future eight times more people will use mobile commerce than conduct wired transactions over the Internet. And even more favorably for the wireless industry, the study found that almost 90 percent of respondents would be willing to pay for the added convenience of making purchases using mobile devices.
The study involved more than 11,000 respondents in a variety of countries, including Great Britain, South Korea, Italy and the United States.
According to the report, study participants viewed mobile commerce as a way to avoid carrying cash and waiting in long checkout lines. In the future, mobile users will see certain goods and services as specifically for use with mobile commerce.
“While it is a new concept to many people, they are already expecting to use this method of payment in the future, which makes us feel confident that the potential mass market for m-commerce is huge,” said Reza Chady, Nokia’s global head of market research.
While Nokia worked to raise interest within the industry about mobile commerce, Eurocard customers in Sweden got a taste of how the service will actually work.
Using L.M. Ericsson’s R520m mobile phone with built-in Bluetooth technology, Svenska Eurocard worked to test the technology at a gas station and in four stores in a shopping mall near Stockholm. The company said it wanted to test whether payments using mobile phones were easier, faster and more convenient than standard forms of payment.
The trial was a success, company officials said, and allowed users to pass through the checkout process faster, a benefit to both customers and stores. In addition, users could be informed of special deals through their mobile phones.
The Bluetooth technology allowed payment data to be sent wirelessly over short distances, and purchases were confirmed using PIN codes.
But while Nokia and others work to wave the flag of mobile commerce and the industry holds its breath for the benefits, most observers say there are still significant challenges to overcome.
American Management Systems Inc., a business and information technology consulting firm, found that a variety of obstacles must be crossed before mobile commerce becomes a reality. Untested business models, potentially unfavorable return-on-investment prices, and the technical challenges associated with mobile commerce are factors involved in the holdup, the firm said.
In order to take advantage of mobile commerce, AMS said companies will have to study consumer trends in order to offer the correct products and services. Other factors, such as location-based services and presence management, will also come into play.
The market is huge for mobile commerce-according to the Strategis Group it could grow to $50 billion by 2007. However, the Strategis Group and others said, the wait could be long and involved.
