Inside Outdoor Winter 2018

Inside Outdoor | Winter 2018 20 “Digital wallet likelihood of use has effectively plateaued since the launch of Apple Pay,” said Jordan McKee, 451 Research principal analyst. By Martin Vilaboy Out of Pocket Digital wallets struggle to gain wider adoption FLOOR SPACE According to 451 Research’s latest ChangeWave survey on the topic, there was a slight increase in demand for digi- tal wallets in September 2017 compared to the same survey in January of last year. A total of 26 percent of smartphone owners said they’re likely to use digital wallets during the next 90 days (16 percent “Very Likely”; 10 percent “Somewhat Likely”) – up 1 point from June. However, 451 typically sees an uptick in demand in Sep- tember, as shoppers move from back-to-school toward holiday shopping, and the increase this year was not as significant as the last two. “Digital wallet likelihood of use has effectively plateaued since the launch of Apple Pay,” said Jordan McKee, 451 Re- search principal analyst covering payment technology. “While mer- chant acceptance continues to broaden, the current digital wallet value proposition has failed to resonate with a wide swath of the population, who are still content with incumbent forms of payment like cash and cards.” Indeed, the primary reason for not adopting a digital wallet service among the reluctant is that they are simply not inter- ested or are completely content with traditional methods of pay- ment, show 451 figures. Appar- ently, pulling out a smartphone to pay at checkout doesn’t seem all that more convenient to large percentages of respondents than pulling out cash or a credit card. Of course, consumers con- tinue to have concerns about the security of digital wallets vs. credit cards, as well, and those concerns remain a key obstacle among those unlikely to use digital wallets, particularly among Android device owners. The most recent survey even showed a slight weakening in the perceptions of digital wal- let security. While a total of 30 percent of smartphone owners believe digital wallets are more secure than traditional credit cards, another 31 percent still say they’re less secure – net 1 point worse than previously re- corded last January. Incidentally, owners of iOS (34 percent) are twice as likely to say they will use digital wallets in the future compared to users of Android- based devices (17 percent). “Card-issuers and wallet providers alike must take it upon themselves to educate the mar- ket on the security advantages of digital wallets,” suggested McKee. “Marketing messages Source: Promocodes Free return shipping Option to return in-store 6.2% 27.8% 11.0% In-Store Digitally Customer Service Training for Associates Source: BRP Consulting Formal training program for new hires On-demand micro-training/education On-demand training/education available via mobile devices Implemented and working well Implemented and needs improvement Plan to implement within 3 years 37% 55% 5% 29% 29% 23% 22% 24% 33% Likelihood of Using Digital Wallets Over Next 90 Days Source: 451 Research 35% D ‘14 M ‘15 J ‘15 S ‘15 D ‘15 M ‘16 J ‘16 S ‘16 D ‘16 M ‘17 J ‘17 S ‘17 30% 24% 25% 22% 25% 25% 24% 24% 28% 29% 26% 25% 26% 25% 20% 15% Percentage of Respondents Who are Very/Somewhat Likely to Use Digital Wallets over Next 90 Days Most Important Factors for Not Using a Digital Wallet What’s the most important reason why you’re unlikely to use digital wallets on your smartp one or tablet? No Need/No Inter sted Security Concerns Prefer Traditional Methods of Payment I Don’t Know How 34% 29% 22% 5%