What do a bulldozer, a coin collection, two diamond necklaces and a painting have in common?
They rank as the most expensive items purchase via PayPal with a mobile device this year, and they highlight a growing trend: people are spending more, and more often, on their phones.
According to Mobile Commerce Daily, PayPal will not reveal data on the average mobile order size, but has reported significant growth in the terms of volume of mobile transactions. Claudia Lambona, a shopping specialist at PayPal, San Jose, C.A., cited a few reasons why mobile orders are getting bigger and more frequent.
“As consumers increase their use of mobile and become more comfortable on devices, we are seeing that this is leading to higher purchase amounts,” she said.
“It comes down to the flexibility and convenience on mobile, which is unparalleled so people are becoming more comfortable making higher-end purchases.”
And the items PayPal cited are indeed higher-end: all rang in at at least $40,000, with the bulldozer topping the list at $48,000. PayPal’s parent company eBay also noted that it’s selling about 2,000 automobiles weekly through its eBay Motors app, and that it’s even sold a few airplanes as well.
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None of this is to say that mobile commerce is close to perfect. Mobile Commerce Daily also spoke with Joy Liuzzo, president of an mCommerce advising company Wave Commerce, who cited some of mobile payments’ current limitations.
Very few companies are able to link our mobile and online shopping baskets, even when there is registration information,” Liuzzo said. “Shoppers are not always ready or able to make a purchase immediately and by locking them into coming back to the original shopping cart, companies are limiting their ability to complete the sale.”
But that such massive improvements can still be made would seem to point toward continued mCommerce success in the future. As mobile buying becomes easier and consumers become more comfortable with making major purchases through the channel, mobile’s relevance in the payments sphere should only continue in increase.
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