Holiday Shopping from Mobiles a Hundred-Dollar Prospect

The gradual shift in informational behavior from the desktop/laptop computing paradigm to a more on-the-go, tablet and smartphone focus also means changes for ecommerce. More people using more devices over time will increase the dollars and volume of online sales from those gadgets.

When people do some of their holiday shopping this year. a modest amount per person should come from their easily portable electronic companions. A study from Litle & Co., a payment processing firm, puts the estimated spend per person via mobiles from $20 to $100 each. Their survey of 500 shoppers found 60 percent owned smartphones or tablets, yet only one out of four have bought anything through their devices.

Litle also noted how these shoppers will pay via credit or debit/cash whenever they do their holiday shopping this season. While some efforts have been made to promote the use of mobile wallets, applications that hold one's purchasing information, they don't seem to have gained much mindshare among consumers yet.

Less than nine percent of those surveyed see mobile wallets as major agents of change in the world of payments. Companies like PayPal, Amazon, and Google entertain dreams of gaining a dominant hand in this market. It appears their marketing and education efforts have more to accomplish at this point.

About the Author
David A. Utter is a freelance writer based in Lexington, KY. Find him on Twitter @davidautter and on LinkedIn.