Mobile technology has caused a leapfrog phenomenon in emerging markets, bolstering the consumer at the center of their daily commerce – enabling them to choose how, when and what to purchase from any location.
Smarter devices and lower data costs have added fuel to the fire, creating a generation that has become accustomed to having their mobile in hand almost all of their life. This group of users will demand more control through their devices to manage their commercial engagements. In commerce, this will cause a shift from a branch centric model to a mobile centric model, forcing financial institutions and retailers to rethink their customer engagement strategies.
In Africa, this shift has been most pronounced in retail banking and, though there have been some big misses during the first few versions of mobile banking offers, this year there will be a clear move to mobile centric banking. Everything is moving towards a mobile centric model that acknowledges the consumer’s needs and models itself around 24/7 availability. Look for changes in design, moving away from websites ‘optimized’ for mobile to mobile apps and more innovative uses of mobile credit as a means to extend mobile’s purchasing power.
Johan de Lange is EVP of Enterprise at Clickatell.
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