New Zealanders are increasingly using tablets or smartphones to purchase a wide range of goods, content and services, including physical goods, travel, insurance, cinema tickets, music, news and e-books.
Frost & Sullivan’s New Zealand Mobile Commerce Market 2014 reports that 45% of all Kiwi consumers aged between 15 and 65 have made at least one mobile commerce purchase in the last 12 months, estimating total expenditure via mobile devices at $3.9 billion during the past twelve months.
Services, such as travel and financial services, account for the largest category of expenditure at $2.2 billion, followed by purchase of physical goods at around $1.2 billion.
Expenditure on entertainment however is estimated at $0.2 billion and media purchases, such as tickets, e-books and other digital content, is estimated at $0.3 billion.
As a result of the findings, the analyst firm predicts New Zealand's mobile commerce market to grow strongly at a CAGR of 20%, increasing from $3.9 billion in 2014 to $9.6 billion in 2019.
“Entertainment is envisaged to be the fastest growing segment with a CAGR of 26%, with thrust from the strong uptake of paid music, movies and TV shows and games,” says Phil Harpur, Senior Research Manager ANZ ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan.
“Online news, online magazines and e-books will also display very high growth as a significant proportion of consumers move to view written content on mobile devices.
“83% of New Zealanders over 15 years of age currently own a smartphone, up from 73% in 2013 and 64% in 2012. 53% of New Zealanders aged between 15 and 65 now regularly use a tablet.
“Frost & Sullivan expects that expenditure will be propelled more by greater willingness of consumers to transact on mobile devices than by further increases in mobile device penetration, as usage of smartphones and tablets is already approaching saturation.
Harpur believes the “marked increase” in ownership and usage of mobile devices, particularly tablets, is transforming the way New Zealanders shop; be it from home, in a store, or whilst travelling.
“New Zealand’s shoppers are using their mobile devices to research products, check where they can buy products and whether they are in-stock, compare prices whilst in-store, get feedback from friends via social media, and purchase products,” he adds. “21% of consumers frequently conduct research on products and services before coming to a retail store.”
Harpur says mobile devices are becoming an integral part of “omni-channel retailing” as its immediacy allows online retailers opportunities to engage shoppers with relevant offers when and where they are making buying decisions, encouraging impulse purchasing.
Tablets are also a very important tool in assisting retailers with their customer service and selling process, though findings show a large proportion of New Zealand retailers that are not capitalising on the benefits possible from using tablets as a tool this way.