Smartphone users are becoming increasingly comfortable with using their phones to shop online. According to new data from Compete , about 37% of smartphone users have purchased something with their handset in the last 6 months. Among the most popular items that these users bought are music, books, DVDs, video games and movie tickets. At the same time, though, Compete also found that smartphone users are very likely to abandon shopping sites that haven't been optimized for mobile usage. Almost 8% of smartphone owners who tried to buy something from their phone were simply unable to do so. Sponsor Most Popular Shopping-Related Activities: Price Comparison and Finding Reviews Researching products is still the most popular shopping-related activity on the smartphones. According to Compete's survey, 41% of iPhone users and 43% of Android owners check sale prices while they are shopping. Surely, the popularity of mobile apps like ShopSavvy and RedLaser - which make checking prices as easy as scanning a barcode - will only drive these numbers up in the coming months. The second most popular shopping-related activity for smartphone owners is finding consumer reviews. 39% of all iPhone users and 31% of all Android users use their devices for this. Big-Ticket Items Only 9% of all iPhone users and 11% of all Android users said that they would buy big-ticket items over $500 from their phone. In general, the majority of smartphone owners is most likely to buy lower-priced items under $10. Discuss

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More Smartphone Users Now Use Their Phones to Shop Online

It's official, money transfer and mobile payment are among the most popular and lucrative mobile applications. In a report released earlier this week, Gartner identified the top 10 consumer mobile applications based on revenue, loyalty, consumer value and market penetration. At today's Under The Radar Mobility Conference four mobile payment players battled for the title of best in show. Sponsor Bling Nation :This service allows users to pay using a chip affixed to the back of their iPhone. Users tap their phone against a point-of-sale code recognition system and receive an SMS confirmation for their purchase. From there you can approve or deny the purchase. The company is currently looking for partnerships with banks, merchants and device manufacturers. m-Via : This service offers international users a chance to transfer money via SMS without owning a bank account. Users can transfer funds across borders and cash out their accounts via ATMs and debit machines. The company currently provides services in more than 25,000 villages in Latin America. Boku : One of last year's presenters, Boku offers users a chance to buy online goods via SMS confirmation. Specializing in virtual goods, the company lets you buy gaming-related products and charge the purchases to your phone bill. The company has already reached more than 200 million new customers across 250 casual games. As of today, the company announces 12 new gaming partners including 6Waves , Snap Interactive and Zoosk via the Facebook platform. Payfone : This service allows app stores and aggregators a chance to bill users through direct operators rather than through separate accounts. The company lets you add purchases to your phone bill with real-time balance query and transactions. Payfone takes a percentage of the purchase and also offers one-touch checkout. Photo Credits: Milica Sekulic Discuss

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Four New Approaches to Mobile Payment