Canadians using phones to shop but wary of mobile payments

Canadian shoppers are increasingly turning to their smartphones while in-store to find bargains, check for coupons and look up product reviews, according to a new study. A report from consumer information company BrandSpark International, released Thursday, showed more than half of Canadians polled say they use their smartphone more often when shopping than they did a year earlier. The study divided respondents into three groups, which it called “mobile personas”: "mobile moms" aged 25 to 54 with a child 18 or younger in the home; "mobile millennials" consisting of men and women aged 18 to 29; and "mobile men" aged 25 to 54. More than 70 per cent of all three cohorts reported using their smartphones while shopping in order to compare prices, or for other related purposes, with the highest usage reported by the millennials at 79 per cent. According to the survey, consumers use their mobile devices most often in “large categories with lots of choice and competition,” such as electronics, food, and goods such as books, movies and music. Finding a deal was the highest-ranked reason for using a smartphone while shopping, followed by looking for coupons and checking out product reviews. Smartphones remain a “two horse race,” the survey said, with Apple Inc.'s iPhones being the most popular choice for the moms and millennials, while smartphones running Google Inc.’s Android platform were most popular among men aged 25 to 54. The two types combined for about nine out of every 10 smartphones in the survey. Mobile payment systems are still rarely used in Canada, according to the survey, with just 10 per cent of the sample having ever used their smartphone to pay for an in-store purchase. Consumers are more comfortable using their phone for banking, with 31 per cent having made a payment using a banking app, the report said. Opinions differed on the security of smartphone payments, with less than a quarter of the moms saying they would trust a phone in place of their credit card compared with 46 per cent of the millennials and 52 per cent of the men aged 25 to 54. Apple announced a new payment system on Sept. 9, although Apple Pay has no launch date in Canada. According to the BrandSpark report, about a quarter of survey respondents were aware of the service. It said 18 per cent of those polled trust Apple to implement a mobile payment system, while 52 per cent of them say they would trust one of Canada’s major banks. At its September event, Apple also announced the upcoming Apple Watch, which will compete with current offerings from Samsung Electronics Co. and smaller rivals in the wearables market. Six per cent of the mothers reporting they owned a wireless-enabled wearable device, compared with 13 per cent of the millennials and 12 per cent in the men's category. The most popular wearable came from FitBit Inc., owned 36 per cent of those who had a wearable device, followed by Samsung, at 28 per cent and Nike Inc. at seven per cent. The wearables market is poised to grow, according to the report, with 16 per cent of the sample overall saying they intend to purchase a wearable device in the next year. The two most popular choices for future purchases were the Apple Watch and the Samsung Gear. BrandSpark conducted the survey of 988 people in September. It has a margin of error of three per cent, 19 times out of 20, the company said. — With reporting by Peter Henderson at phenderson@thewirereport.ca and editing by Derek Abma at dabma@thewirereport.ca

Canadians using phones to shop but wary of mobile payments

News | October 8, 2014

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Canadians using phones to shop but wary of mobile payments

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