The proliferation of digital payments has had a significant impact on consumers, not only in their day-to-day activities, but also with the major holidays they celebrate. And this was evident during this year’s Ramadan and Eid festivities, where the use of mobile wallets to shop, book travel, and send gifts was very much prevalent.
In a recent blog post, Ericsson looked into this and delved into the consumer behavior changes its seen. Aamir Ahsan Khan, President and Country Manager of Ericsson Pakistan, noted that “the spirit of Eid shopping hasn’t changed for years, but what has changed is the way to pay. Shoppers are switching from cash to mobile wallets, just tapping their mobile phones on merchants NFC POS or scanning a QR Code to make payments swiftly and seamlessly. All the hassle of carrying cash, counting notes, and waiting for change is gone.”
For consumers, there’s a lot of advantages of using mobile wallets. Many merchants may offer discounts and cashback on those purchases, which makes mobile wallets a popular choice among young people. What’s more, mobile wallets can be used to make donations to charitable organizations, making it easier to spread happiness during the festive season. Many mobile wallet providers offer special promotions and gamification techniques to encourage their customers to use their services more.
Brands Continue to Tap Digital
Many companies have been embracing digital during special occasions, including holidays, for some time now. In 2014, Tencent—China’s multimedia conglomerate—launched its digital hongbao (also known as red envelopes), which encouraged consumers to gift money to friends and family during Chinese New Year. Four years later, the company reported that roughly 758 million people sent and received hongbao over its third-party payments business Weixin Pay. Today, this tradition continues, as more brands leverage digital hongbao into their Chinese New Year marketing efforts.
Similarly, during one of the biggest holiday shopping seasons in the U.S.—which starts around Thanksgiving and goes through Cyber Monday—many brands have encouraged consumers to shop digitally to take advantage of further discounts. Many have even encouraged the purchase of virtual gift cards for those last-minute gifts.
We expect digital and mobile wallets to continue playing a significant role during key festive occasions worldwide, particularly as more consumers—across all generations—lean on their mobile devices for their everyday needs.