The movement is launched. With a market that has exceeded 13 billion euros in 2015, the prospects of trade on mobile are more than enticing. One thing is certain: consumers seem ready.

My first is a banking network well installed. My second, a trio of telecom operators biberonnés to dividends. My third, a body of credit cards lurking in the shadows. My fourth, an e-wallet service mostly american. And my fifth, a cloud start-up hungry. My everything is a market that is expected to exceed 13 billion euros in 2015.

Real fantasy of the dealer plugged in the m-commerce (commerce on mobile) would be poised to become an economic reality. However, this additional channel of online commerce is still in its infancy. And it picks up really when all the players have found a way to share the cake. In the meantime, everyone has its solution and its vision on the future of payment by mobile. Leaves to forget the desires and needs of the consumer.

The purchase of virtual goods

there’s m-commerce and m-commerce. In addition to the amounts in the game, there is a structural difference between paying a few euros to “upgrade” their version of Farmville and use his smartphone to make everyday purchases. Applied to virtual goods, the payment by mobile can be accomplished independently of any bank account. It is sufficient to indicate its telephone number on the site in question to receive an SMS confirmation of the order. To respond positively to confirm the transaction. This is then directly charged to the phone bill or the prepaid account of the buyer.

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It is precisely in this niche that is positioning the u.s. Boku (pronounced as you want…). After you have acquired Paymo and MobilCash, this young american company specialized in the services of micro-payment via mobile just signed a partnership agreement in France with SFR and Bouygues Telecom.

Target, simplify and accelerate the payment process, mainly for the followers of online games and other fans of virtual goods on platforms of social networks such as Facebook. “These new modes of transactions are of a revenue and a growth factor important for the operators”, advance Faissal Houhou, director of the international development of Boku. These find their interest in taking a percentage (very) on the transactions that they charge.

There is talk of a commission of more than one-third of the amount of each purchase. With a rate as low competitive, difficult to make payments by mobile on property non-virtual, such as clothing, due to the costs of production that are linked to it. “The average basket is now around 5 euros for a threshold of transaction maximum of € 10, accurate, Faissal Houhou. But it should soon increase to 50 euros. When one raises this limit, we see that the volume of purchases of virtual goods increases mechanically by 30 % in two months.” What whet the appetite of operators which determine this threshold but have been reluctant as yet to open too wide the gates, fearing to increase the number of unpaid invoices.

In Korea, where the payment via mobile for 10 % of transactions on the Net, the threshold of payments reached $ 200 and the operator picks up just 2 %. A rate closer to that practiced by the organizations of bank cards (Visa, Mastercard, etc.) and e-wallets such as Paypal.

A new player

Perfectly suited for impulse purchases, the market of teens who do not necessarily have a bank account, and most of all easy to use, this model of mobile payment for virtual goods allows you to get conversion rates above 50 %, according to Boku. An argument that has something to salivate merchants. And a good way for operators to go cruising those who are not interested yet in m-commerce. It is on these lands that Buyster is introducing its brand.

Launched in the fall of 2011, this structure is equally owned by the three operators (Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom, and Atos intends to become the first alternative payment method to the credit card on the internet. And the process is (almost) as simple and direct as for the purchase of virtual goods. After doing their online shopping, the user clicks on the logo of Buyster to create free account. He enters his mobile phone number and credit card before you will give a confidential code to six digits. Buyster sends a secret code via SMS that it is necessary to re-enter on the merchant site. “No more need for the customer to enter their bank details when they purchase through your computer or smartphone,” said Laurent Bailly, head of marketing at Buyster.

This new mobile channel is for the traders payment method is both fast and secure and a good growth for the sale of products online.

“A system of express checkout allows the customer to create a profile Buyster for not having to re-enter the code during your next purchase,” says Laurent Bailly. Launched with a thirty online retailers (Darty, Brandalley, Rueducommerce…), the new payment platform approved, Bank of France expects to secure 30 000 e-merchants. These latter pass into a contract with the operators and should expect to pay commissions at rates that vary between 1 and 3.5 %, depending on the type of goods or volume of transactions. In Brandalley, this mobile channel weighs a small 5 % of the turnover, and represents over 7 % of the revenues of Ventesprivées.

The wallet

But the actors in “historical” of m-commerce intend to defend their interests. To begin with, banking institutions such as Credit Agricole, which recently launched Banking, a payment service backed by FIA-Net, a direct competitor of Buyster. And the giant Paypal.

With 3 billion transactions through the telephone and 230 million accounts in the world in 2011, Paypal, the leader in electronic wallet services (e-wallet), seducing more and more small merchants thanks to its simple and secure option.

These actors seek to promote the speed of the transaction through the system of “one-click check-out”, which allows you to pay with a single click. “We want to reduce the tunnel of the payment so that the customer can make a purchase without leaving the page on which it is in the process of surfing”, ahead of Olivier Binet, director of development at Paypal.

It is therefore important that e-retailers have sites where the navigation is adapted to the mobile screens. According to the Federation of e-commerce and distance selling (Fevad), 21 % of the purchases on the internet passes through the solutions of e-wallet.

choose Well the timing

Is that all e-merchants should not necessarily fall for the payment by mobile. “It is necessary to first find the right time to jump in, insists Olivier Binet. And then whether it is better to create an application or develop its website in a mobile version, or even separate the content.” It should also be able to absorb the high costs of development – nearly 50 000 euros to launch an iPhone app for integrating a gateway with the web platform.

To Damon Crepin-Burr, creative director of digital agency Fullsix in the United States, m-commerce is not a challenge technological, but cultural. And barriers to its adoption in France are more related to the lack of figures and statistics, and serious in the field.

“payment by mobile is a opportunity for merchants to invest in services for their consumers,” says Damon Crepin-Burr. Thanks to solutions such as Google Wallet, merchants can reason in terms of CRM. By analysing the customer journey, they are able to offer him to make additional purchases.”

The mobile payment solutions should also help to increase traffic in physical store. You can use the smartphone to scan barcodes to add an item to a “wish list” or buy it on the site once back home if the product is not available in the color or size you want. Conversely, it becomes possible to recover a product that has been prepaid online, passing in front of a store.

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