More than 60% of Hong Kong shoppers have used their mobile phones to make purchases online, according to the latest Mastercard Online Shopping Survey.
This is a significant increase from 44.3% during last year's survey, indicating increased adoption of mobile online shopping.
While using desktop or laptop PCs remain the top choice in online purchasers (91.7%), more than two in five (42.1%) of those who have not used their mobile phones or tablets in making online purchases are likely to do so in the next six months.
The top reasons for choosing mobile phones in shopping online include convenience (56.8%), the proliferation of apps that make it easy to shop online (37%), and the ability to shop online while on the go (31.2%).
The survey also shows that 41.5% of respondents are likely to leave behind their physical wallets and pay only with their mobile devices. People in the city are embracing mobile payment methods such as mobile near field communication – also known as contactless payment – (22.8%) and digital wallets (21.3%).
Some respondents also indicated a likelihood of using new technology such as QR Code payments (16.1%), peer-to-peer mobile payments (16.8%) and SMS or text-based or MMS-based payments (13.4%).
First published in Computerworld Hong Kong