Consumer Trust in m-Commerce Soars

By Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)

Consumer confidence in mobile commerce is at an all-time high.

Over the past two years, all sorts of companies -- from SingTel and Vodafone to Starbucks and Google -- have rolled out mobile wallets and other types of payment plans.

A number of observers - including those of us here at BuzzCity - thought that the large number and variety of offerings would confuse consumers. We argued that their lack of depth would discourage adoption, as services would work in one store but not another.

We were wrong.

In fact, the opposite has occurred. The publicity surrounding the launch of new m-payment services, the partnerships, the continuing promotions have served to educate the public and put their minds at ease.

According to our latest BuzzCity survey, only 3% of mobile users are worried about the security of mobile payments, down from 27% a year earlier.

The BuzzCity Report - Volume 3 Issue 1

By the start of 2013, our network has grown by another 67% Y-on-Y : over the whole of last year we delivered more than 210 billion ads. Among the top markets in the last quarter :-

1. India : 18,608,919,690 banners served.
2. Indonesia : 6,864,742,844
3. United States : 2,954,184,407
4. Nigeria : 2,383,223,756
5. South Africa : 2,270,907,788
6. Saudi Arabia : 1,838,635,714
7. United Kingdom : 1,568,121,889

Notable among some of the hotspots at the end last year :

• India saw four quarters of double digit growth and closed off with a Year-on-Year growth of 46%.  By Dec 2012, just fewer than 25% of Indian mobile users surfed with smartphones. 
•  Indonesia saw three quarters of positive growth although demand softened in the 4th quarter of 2012. Overall, Indonesian traffic saw a Y-on-Y growth of 39%. By Dec 2012, nearly a third of Indonesian (33%) surfers used smartphones. 
•  Nigeria’s phenomenal growth continues. Three quarters of double digit growth led to a Y-on-Y annual growth of 68%. Nokia phones dominate the market (39%, previously 62%) although White Box (30%) phones continue to gain popularity (previously 24%). Smartphone penetration remains modest (10%) in relation to the rest of the network and advertisers are targeting feature phones users before they migrate to smartphones.
• South Africa saw an overall growth of 57% in 2012 and smartphone penetration has grown to 32% and is rapidly becoming a mainstream device. Usage is expected to grow as many more will enjoy the benefits of reduced bandwidth costs and improved infrastructure. 

 For more details, please download the full report here.

Campaign Planner : Summary Sheet Dec 12

The publicity around m-commerce has got many retailers and advertisers thinking about targeting their audience on mobiles as these become the first point of contact between advertisers and the consumer.

To start planning your campaigns on mobile, download the latest Campaign Planner Summary Sheet of visit our online campaign planner.

The Crystal Ball - Predictions for 2013

By Lai Kok Fung, BuzzCity CEO

What do you think will be the biggest and most important mobile trends in the year ahead?

What if I told you that iPhones were just a big fad and by January 2014, no one will be talking about them anymore? Or how about if I wrote that mobile penetration has peaked and will start to decline?

Yeah, I wouldn't buy it either.

However I do have four trends that I think will define the next twelve months:

1. Smartphone Dominance
2. Marketers become Data Crunchers
3. Mobile becomes the starting point for advertisers, not an after-thought
4. Emerging Markets Responsible for Breakthrough Mobile Innovations

Take a look and let me know what you think! What are your predictions for the year?