Social media ,search engine usage higher among mobile wallet users

eMarketer estimates that just 12.7 percent of US smartphone users will make proximity mobile payments this year by using a mobile device to pay for goods or services at the point of sale.

That’s a tiny slice of a group that’s already more digitally advanced than the average internet user—not to mention the average consumer.

A February survey from AudienceSCAN found that 14.2% of responding US internet users had used a mobile wallet for payment within the six months prior to polling, somewhat higher than eMarketer’s figure—though mobile wallets include more than just proximity payment methods.

And, unsurprisingly, this also-small slice of the population is more tech-savvy than average. AudienceSCAN found that US mobile wallet users were more likely than internet users as a whole to report using every social media site the company asked about—in some cases, more than twice as likely. Notably for retailers, mobile wallet users were especially likely to overindex on usage of Instagram and Pinterest, both of which are making plays to appeal more to retail advertisers. Yelp was also especially popular among mobile wallet users, and likely helping to send them to local brick-and-mortar businesses like fast-casual restaurants.

Mobile wallet users were also more likely to use every search engine AudienceSCAN asked about, favoring Google above all, at 91.4% vs. 79.3% of total internet users. Smartphone and tablet users who have graduated from simply shopping on their devices to actually using them for payment are demonstrating their internet activity is more extensive than average across many dimensions.

Source:eMarketer.com