Mobile commerce and the challenge of consumer identity
By 2021, an estimated $700 billion in annual sales will be directly processed by mobile devices. In Asia alone, 2.7 billion mobile subscribers generated $1.5 trillion in economic activity. Significantly, within the broader Belt and Road region, cross border trade surged to $1.2 trillion.
For businesses looking to tap into the digital retail industry, an accessible mobile shopping site is critical — and consumer identity presents a distinct challenge. The barriers they confront in this regard could significantly restrict their opportunities.
“The stakes are high for online businesses. The burden of regulatory compliance and the costs of non-compliance are increasing. As more people in emerging economies engage in mobile commerce, their challenges will get more difficult. Distributed digital identity offers a solution that lets businesses minimise their risks.” — Katherine Noall, CEO, Sphere Identity.
Regulatory burdens in the online world
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for the European Union, APEC’s Cross Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) and similar regulatory authorities, place consumer information protection squarely on the companies collecting it.
Residents of developing economies do not always have quick and easy access to the documentation required to confirm their identities. Identity theft in these countries has reached epic proportions in recent years.
Know Your Customer (KYC) policies aren’t the answer, especially in an increasingly mobile computing environment. The inconvenience of KYC is known to bring customer mobile shopping sessions to an abrupt end — demonstrated by online shopping cart abandonment, now a major issue impacting businesses globally.
Mobile has the highest abandonment rates among the devices, with 78% of shoppers leaving their purchases incomplete. Website design, navigation, checkout process and registration forms are known common causes. The growth of m-commerce is set to drive an increase in the impact of existing problems.
Why distributed digital identity?
By adopting digital identity procedures in e-commerce transactions, businesses can introduce trust and automation and eliminate such barriers
A digital identity system stores customer information as well as verification from trusted third-party sources. Through system settings, the customer can control information that the business accesses.
Meanwhile, with explicit customer consent, the business’s compliance with GDPR, CBPR and other privacy regulations will systematically take place. Customers then benefit from transparent onboarding and quicker transaction times, with the confidence that their personal information is securely stored.
People expect to have pleasant shopping experiences and companies that can deliver them have much to gain. Sphere Identity offers businesses the resources to make that happen.
At Sphere Identity, we are building a blockchain-based identity solution that streamlines customer sign-ups and simplifies data for business.
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