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23.7.2010 Mobile commerce at "early stage" in Europe

Mobile commerce is still at an "early stage" in Europe, but the popularity of devices such as Apple's iPhone should encourage a change in habits going forward.

Forrester surveyed 14,000 people across Europe who had previously bought goods online, and found that just 2% had completed a similar transaction via a wireless handset. Moreover, only 5% of contributors to the research firm's study expressed an interest in obtaining products in this way, although some positive trends were also argued to be at work.

For example, 16% of consumers had utilized their mobile for a commercial purpose, like keeping up-to-date with an existing order or finding the address of a bricks-and-mortar store in their local area.

Within this, the most widespread pastime was tracking down information about potential purchases, which registered a score of 7%.

Respondents boasting the greatest digital literacy reported higher levels of uptake, with 28% of iPhone owners employing this gadget to learn more about brands and/or categories on a monthly basis. A third of netizens that logged on to the mobile internet every day had participated in the same activity, while 20% had looked up the address of a nearby store and 18% had compared prices while out shopping.

Retailers such as Tesco, Zara, Marks & Spencer and Albert Heijn have all constructed free-standing m-commerce portals.

Carrefour, the grocery giant, is running this kind of service in France, which provides a 360-degree view of the products it sells, gives details of promotions alongside the ability to buy items. Elsewhere, La Redoute, Fnac and Net-A-Porter have rolled out apps, as has Ocado, which generated 4.4% of its orders in February 2010 from the iPhone, indicating convenience could be a key growth driver in the future.

B.L. 23.7.2010