Mobile shopping could become the next “online shopping”

Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Thu, May 28 2009 | 39 Comments

More and more Americans are starting to use their cell phones to make purchases. The main users are men and young adults.

A study conducted by Harris Interactive for Billing Revolution, a mobile credit card security firm, indicated that half of those surveyed (of just over 2,000 individuals between April 29th and May 1st) thought buying something using their cell phone was “somewhat safe” and a quarter thought it is “completely safe.”

Nearly half of those surveyed, 46%, would shop using their phones if credit card security was not an issue. Ironically, merchants as well are always looking for online payment solutions that are dependable and secure.

Now this isn’t talking about calling in somewhere like a catalog to shop, it is talking about actually pulling up a browser on your phone and doing “internet shopping” on your phone.

I would be quite likely to buy something using my phone’s browser. I would be more likely to do that than to do some kind of call-in shopping service. The reason for that is I don’t know who is listening to my calls. Yesterday while I was waiting for a class to start, there was a girl booking her plane ticket over the phone in the hall and gave out her credit card number. Everyone in earshot heard her loud and clear. That is why I would not consider ordering something over the phone ever in a public place.

I’m a stickler for credit card security. Even when I go to Wal-Mart (yes, I do shop at Wal-Mart, it is the only place within 30 minutes of my house to do shopping for a reasonable price it seems), I tend to cover my card with my hand when I’m scanning it. I have just heard too many horror stories about people having their credit card numbers taken because when they had their card out, someone took a picture of it with their camera phone.

There is a growing market for mobile shopping according to the survey, but I don’t really see the difference in mobile shopping versus online shopping. You would have to go through the exact same automated process. However, as more and more people spend lots of time on their cell phones, I’m sure mobile companies will find a way to take advantage of the trend.

The idea is to convince consumers that their phones are safe and that they can be used for more than making phone calls, sending text messages, and casual browsing.

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Tags: credit card security, credit card numbers, credit card number