For Many Merchants, Mobile Commerce Is a Challenge

Mobile commerce isn’t always synonymous with user-friendly. And for merchants trying to engage consumers on their devices, that’s a pressing concern.

But it's not the only one. 

In a March 2018 survey by fraud and risk management platform Kount, 600 merchants worldwide—across 29 industries like apparel, entertainment and food—said they faced a plethora of challenges when it comes to mcommerce. 

Of course there's the ease of use for the consumer, cited by 60.0% of merchants, but there's also detecting fraudulent orders (52.0%), security concerns with mobile platforms (46.4%), the cost of new technology (32.8%) and the lack of internal resources to manage (25.6%). 

The challenges merchants are up against align with what consumers feel make a good mobile experience. A November 2017 PacketZoom and Tapjoy survey found that 66% of US mobile app users said reliable performance is an important trait in an app, while 62% said ease of use. Another 70% said that when using an app, security is most important.

And solving these challenges will be critical, especially for retailers. We forecast that US mcommerce sales will reach $208.29 billion in 2018, accounting for nearly 40% of total retail ecommerce sales.