Mastercard: Mobile Payments Now a Quarter of All UK Shopping

We’ve known for some time now that the United Kingdom (UK) is absolutely enamored with mobile shopping and mobile payments as well. A new report recently released from Mastercard, meanwhile, shows us the depth of the UK fondness for mobile payments by revealing that mobile shopping now accounts for just over a quarter of all shopping done in the region.

This includes both smartphone and tablet shopping, the reports note, and also revealed that only 43 percent of shopping is done in a physical store. That’s a significant drop from years past, and likely has any high street merchant in a cold sweat.

The purchases run the gamut, too, so literally no one is safe. Mobile devices were used for clothing in 55 percent of cases, food and drink in 45 percent, books in 43 percent, and healthcare / beauty items in 37 percent.

Mastercard UK’s head of retail Janne Karppinen noted “Technology will have an increasingly important role in helping retailers woo shoppers back to the high street. The most successful stores are always gearing themselves around the overall shopping experience. These shops are becoming places to interact and personalize products rather than simply a place to buy things. We expect to see this trend to grow as smaller retailers realize they can offer something the online world can’t.”

In general, if it can be bought online, it is being bought online. The only way for “high street” businesses to survive is to offer what can’t be had online. Experiences are proving to be winners, as are highly-personalized products that have to be immediately customized. This actually hurts online operations as the combination of long ship times and attempting to individually customize products is directly impacting the customer’s ability to wait, which as we know is shoddy under the best conditions.

Still, the days of opening up a regular commodity store and expecting people to come in appear to be gone. Even South Park is mocking this notion now with its two-parter season finale that only just started. So don’t go “unfulfilled”, retail operations…focus on what can’t be had online to win.