Australia is one of the leading countries in smartphone adoption, ranking ahead of the US and the UK, according to a survey just released by Deloitte.
The Mobile Consumer Survey 2014 examines emerging trends in mobile usage and notes that using smartphones is becoming one of the most important ways we connect with each other.
The inaugural survey of roughly 2,000 Australian mobile customers is part of a global Deloitte four-year longitudinal study of 37,000 consumers and spanning 22 countries. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 75.
One of the most significant findings is that Australia is the fifth most concentrated smartphone market in the world, only outranked by Singapore, Norway, Spain and Sweden.
The survey reports that, on average, Australians check their phones more than twice every hour and many, particularly those aged 18-24, interact on their phones more than 50 times per day.
On social media, Deloitte says younger users are increasingly using those networks to connect. 54% of Australians update or check their social networks daily and, as smartphone penetration continues to increase in the over 45 age group, a corresponding increase in social media usage is likely.
While it was found that 55% of Australians have used smartphones for mobile banking, deployment and uptake of mobile payments has been slower than anticipated. Though half of Australians surveyed saw benefit in using their smartphones for making payments, 73% would prefer to use their bank for mobile transferring of money.
As the report states, the challenges of responding to mobile and digital consumers’ evolving behaviours and patterns impact all sectors.
Last week, Kevin Gaut, the UK-based Chief Technology Officer of SSP, spoke to us about technologies that can and should be utilised by insurance providers, and talked about the importance of insurance providers being mobile optimised to meet the needs of customers who want to access their content on phones.
Gaut told Insurance Business, “…People (need) to be able to embrace the capabilities that mobile presents because that’s what the customers want to see. They want their experience to be on their phone, on their iPad.”
Gaut emphasised the importance of using technologies customers want to see utilised. “Understand who your customer is and what your customer segment is and then target the appropriate technology to that segment.”
