By Chuck Martin
There’s little doubt that mobile commerce is a global phenomenon.
In just the last couple of months, I’ve noticed a barrage of new announcements, trials and stats from around the world regarding various aspects of commerce.
Here, in no particular order, are some tidbits I’ve assembled (with sources), to provide a glimpse of some of what’s going on in the mCommerce world outside the U.S.
- Japan – NHN Japan Corp. seeks to grow from its 100 million users to 1 billion and is spending $223 million to market its Line mobile messenger app as it expands into its secret sales program on mobile. (NHN Japan)
- Australia – Supermarket chain Coles launches trial mobile payment system using MasterCard Mobile Wallet. (Coles)
- Russia – To help drive growth of its mobile wallet, payment provider Oiwi Plc seeks to raise $100 million in an IPO in the U.S. (SEC filing)
- China – The top online stores in China saw purchases made via mobile devices increase 600% from the last year with 300 million mobile visitors, 57 million of whom made a mobile purchase. (Alibaba)
- Pakistan – Mobile phone banking called a game-changer in banking, mCommerce and financial inclusion. (State Bank of Pakistan)
- Europe – Visa signs three-year deal to develop and expand across Europe mobile money solutions that support mobile banking and payments. (Montise)
- Asia Pacific – Luxury fashion brand Gucci announces plans to launch a mobile commerce optimized site in the Asia Pacific market to facilitate mobile shopping. (Gucci)
- Indonesia – More than half (55%) of Indonesian consumers used their smartphone to shop within the last three months. (MasterCard)
- United Kingdom – KFC teams with Airtag launching in-store trials of mobile ordering in 10 restaurants across the UK. (KFC UK). An estimated $1.2 billion will be spent via mobile shopping within a year. (Conlumino). Already this year, 59% of consumers have made a purchase on a mobile device. (Stibo Systems)
- Canada – McDonald’s launches NFC payments trial via BlackBerry smartphones. (McDonald’s)
- Germany – Industry trade group The German Association for Telecoms and Media implements new rules for mobile commerce covering location-based services and payments. (Telecompaper)
- Hong Kong – Visa and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council launch a mobile payment solution with about 100 jewelry retailers agreeing to adopt the service for small transactions. (Global Payments Asia)
- South Africa – Shopping via mobile accounts for more than 5% of the gross value of sales at the top auction site, with projections of that doubling in the next few months. (Bidorbuy)
Commerce is coming to a world gone mobile.
Chuck Martin is editor of mCommerce Daily at MediaPost and writes the daily MobileShopTalk. He is author of “The Third Screen,” “The Smartphone Handbook,” and the soon-to-be-published “Mobile Influence.” He is CEO of Mobile Future Institute and a frequent mobile keynote speaker around the globe.
