e-commerce
Smartphone becomes popular payment wallet in India: Nielsen
MUMBAI There is no denying the fact that the smartphone has become an incredibly powerful tool of information, content and entertainment. And now it is rapidly growing to become a wallet, especially in India, with Paytm having the highest penetration as of December 2015 as per a Nielsen report.
According to data from Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights, the most popular mobile payment apps in terms of time spent, are those that provide services over and above pure payment like mobile recharging, ability to book movie tickets, shopping and so on. This ability to multitask creates a ‘sticky’ factor with users.
For most marketers, mobile payments have largely been considered a product for developed markets, but based on current trends in India they hold just as much appeal in developing markets. With over 6 billion mobile users, and with 4G entering the market, internet proliferation is expected to reach an all-time high in 2016. Putting the same in perspective with the findings of UK based Juniper Research, the adoption of mobile payment is projected to be strong.
More than one in three mobile wallets and over 50 per cent in developed markets, will feature contactless payment by 2018, says the research. The popularity of such apps has risen from over one-in-five active users last year to over one in every two users this year.
An analysis of real time metered smartphone usage data with Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights reveals how Indian consumers are using mobile payment apps. Overall time spent on mobile payment apps has increased by nearly 1.5x, with users spending an hour and a half on mobile payment apps every month.
The study has also observed certain trends that have emerged in the Indian market:
Males drive the mobile payment category on smartphones
Mobile wallets have made transactions effortless, and more men seem to have embraced this concept than women. Mobile payment apps are 1.2 times more popular among men than women, and men are twice more engaged with these apps than women.
Small Town Buzz
Nielsen’s findings indicate that even though the penetration of mobile payment apps among users is similar across towns of all sizes (60 per cent of those in large towns and 58 per cent in small town use them), usage is higher among tier I and tier II users, with these consumers spending 109 minutes a month on these apps.
Less Is More
As per experts, the key to accelerate mobile payment app adoption is to make the payment process simple for the consumer. The less information the consumer has to manually enter, the better the adoption rate is. The other key factors that limit consumers’ willingness to use mobile payments include trust, convenience and unstable data connectivity.
e-commerce
Flipkart and Uber team up to let users earn Supercoins on rides
New partnership turns everyday commutes into rewarding journeys for millions of Indians.
MUMBAI: Flipkart and Uber have joined forces to give riders a little extra mileage this time, in the form of Supercoins. The two platforms have announced a collaboration that allows Flipkart users to earn 4 per cent of their Uber fare as Supercoins on every eligible ride, up to a maximum of 150 coins per trip, with no cap on total earnings. The coins are credited directly to the user’s Flipkart account and can be redeemed across the Flipkart ecosystem, including Flipkart Minutes, Cleartrip, and partner offerings.
New Uber users or those who haven’t used the app in the last 84 days can earn an additional 150 bonus Supercoins by completing their first ride within 28 days of linking accounts. Users who link their accounts between 15 and 30 April 2026 and complete their first ride within 28 days will receive another 50 bonus SuperCoins.
Flipkart vice president, payments and supercoins Gaurav Arora said, “Supercoins is evolving into a broader rewards layer across everyday use cases. Mobility is a natural extension, and this partnership with Uber allows us to integrate more seamlessly into how customers transact daily.”
Uber director of business development at India and South Asia Arnab Kumar added, “This integration allows us to extend additional benefits to riders in a simple and intuitive way, while building on how users engage with everyday services across platforms.”
The partnership brings together two high-frequency consumer platforms and reflects a growing trend of integrating loyalty rewards into daily mobility and lifestyle experiences.
In a country where commutes are a daily reality, Flipkart and Uber have found a smart way to make every ride a little more rewarding. With Supercoins now earned on the go, users can turn their everyday journeys into opportunities to save and enjoy more across the Flipkart ecosystem. The partnership is a win-win that puts loyalty on the fast lane.
