Half of all mobile data users will participate in m-commerce

NEW YORK — Commerce over mobile devices such as cell phones is accelerating in the U.S., according to data released today by The Nielsen Company.  Already, 9 million U.S. mobile subscribers say they have used their mobile phone to pay for goods or services, and half of all data users (49 percent) say they expect to participate in mobile commerce in the future.

Nielsen Mobile, a service of The Nielsen Company, presented an overview of the opportunities in mobile commerce at the Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition in Chicago, IL.  Among the findings presented:

• As of Q1 2008, 3.6 percent (9.2 million) of U.S. mobile subscribers use their phone to pay for goods or services
• Men are more likely than women to use their phone for commerce: 4.5 percent (4.9 million) of men and 3.0 percent (4.3 million) of women say they have made a purchase using their phone
• Adults ages 25-34 are the most likely to have made a purchase using their phone: 5.4 percent (3 million) of adults ages 25-34 have made a purchase, compared to 3.6 percent of all mobile subscribers
• 49 percent of mobile data users, those subscribers who have used one or more data features on their phone such as text messaging or the mobile internet within the past 30 days, say that it is likely they will conduct mobile commerce in the future

Mobile Web sites are one popular way consumers make purchases over the mobile phone. Of the 40 million active U.S. users of the mobile web in April 2008, 5 million accessed mobile shopping and auction websites — up 73 percent from April 2007, when just 2.9 million mobile users did so. Auction site eBay.com is the most popular shopping or auction destination on the mobile Web, with 3.4 million unique visitors in April.

Purchasing items via text messaging is another growing form of mobile commerce. Some services allow consumers to send text messages to a phone number or mobile shortcode in order to be charged for goods or services directly on their mobile phone bills. Already, 6.5 million U.S. mobile consumers say they've used text messaging to purchase an item.

"For many of the millions of consumers who are already shopping online or over landline phones, mobile commerce is an obvious and useful extension of that opportunity," said Nic Covey, director of insights at Nielsen Mobile who presented the data at the Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition today. "As more mobile commerce services become available and consumers develop a greater trust for phone-based transactions, we expect commerce to be an increasingly important part of the mobile experience next year and beyond."

The findings come from Nielsen Mobile's monthly Mobile Insights survey of more than 30,000 US wireless subscribers, with similar data available internationally.