A new report by KPMG, based on a survey of 9,000 consumers in 31 countries, has found that consumers are increasingly willing to share personal data with advertisers, but remain concerned over the security of mobile payments.

‘The Converged Lifestyle’ looks at consumer attitudes to ecommerce, their use of mobile phones in stores and at mobile banking and payments.

“The survey reveals the extent to which smartphones and tablets are changing shopping behaviour,” says KPMG. When shopping at retail outlets, 45% of UK respondents said they now use their mobile devices to locate the nearest store, 32% to research products and services, 30% for online coupons and one in five (19%) scan barcodes for product information. Globally, 41% of respondents now research products and services and almost a quarter make purchases from their mobile devices.

When buying products or services, the survey found that the majority of consumers consult feedback and ratings pages on the internet or get information on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. “Monitoring and managing third party information sources will therefore be a key element of any digital sales strategy,” says KPMG.

The survey also found that:

• Consumers are increasingly willing to allow their online usage pattern and personal profile information to be tracked by advertisers, if it results in lower cost or free content. Almost half of respondents in the UK (49%) said they are ready for such a ‘trade off’, and globally 62% said they were willing to be tracked by advertisers.
• Mobile banking is on the rise but concerns over security and privacy remain. 52% of consumers surveyed said they had used some form of mobile banking in the past six months. But, when using a mobile phone, the majority of respondents in the UK said they were concerned, either over the potential for credit card information to be intercepted by an unauthorised party (66%) or the threat of unauthorised parties accessing personally identifiable information (62%).

“The survey reveals that consumers around the globe adopt new technologies at a rapid pace and at the same time are increasingly willing to accept their data to be tracked if they get something in return,” says Tudor Aw, KPMG’s European head of technology. “This represents a huge opportunity for all players in the digital ecosystem — retailers, advertisers, telecom operators and the financial industry.

“However, the report also shows that consumers’ concerns over privacy and data security have increased over the last few years and companies across all sectors need to take this concern seriously. Whether its retailers or banks, consumers want transparency as to what companies do about data security and they want third parties to certify this security.”

“This new ‘converged lifestyle’ will have huge implication for retailers,” Aw adds. “The integration of various channels will become increasingly important as retailers begin to see many of their consumers move to online and application-based purchases. As the ubiquitous smartphone empowers the consumer retailers will need to understand the opportunities and risks that mobile devices present.”

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