Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984
Adoption of mobile payment shifts consumer spending patterns, habits
Paying for a cup of coffee with a smartphone instead of a credit card is gaining prominence among consumers – and is disrupting their spending patterns and consumption habits, according to new research co-written by a University of Illinois expert who studies operations management.
[...] Using a unique data set from one of the largest banks in China – which contained the transaction data from personal computer, offline and mobile payment channels – Xu and co-authors found that, on average, the total transaction amount increased by 2.4 percent after the adoption of the mobile payment channel, and that the total transaction frequency increased by more than 23 percent.
[...] “Switching to the mobile channel leads to more shopping overall, and it particularly affects more hedonistic shopping such as food, entertainment and travel,” Xu said. “But it doesn’t affect purchases like education or health care. So it’s changing consumer behavior.”
The greatest impact came on less costly items that are purchased frequently, such as beverages and movie tickets.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 02 2018, @12:38PM (6 children)
No, and I won't pay for coffee with it either.
Two reasons.
First is that they really want to break the $5 limit here for a cup of coffee which is IMOHO already excessive. They tried. They went to $5.50 and the backlash was extraordinary. Paying with cash imposes a mental limit. Paying by mobile means they can charge whatever they like without instance buyers remorse.
Second is that my mobile phone is the least secure of the devices I own. I don't have root on it. I can't afford to brick it. There will be no banking apps installed on it. I don't trust it.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 02 2018, @01:55PM (5 children)
How about make your own coffee? For $5, you can buy half a kilo of coffee. That tends to last a while.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday December 02 2018, @02:07PM (1 child)
Half a kilo - alright. In US measure, about $7 gets a can, 1 lb 14 oz of Folger's medium roast, which works fine for me. YMMV depending on your favorite brand, roast, grind, etc. Custom roast/grind stuff can get hella expensive. Cheap generic stuff is considerably less expensive. I'll happily pay a buck and a half for a bottomless cup of coffee at a truck stop or diner, two bucks isn't unreasonable. That five dollar a cup stuff? Utter nonsense. Starbucks is a fad that has outlived it's faddishness.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 02 2018, @06:04PM
Totally worth it and still way cheaper than this $5 per cup nonsense.
(Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Sunday December 02 2018, @03:54PM (2 children)
Or in my case, just drink the free stuff they have at work in the break room :-p
.
Admittedly the Starbucks downstairs tastes significantly better, but $0 cost 'OK' vs. 5$ cost 'Tasty' is a heck of a value proposition for something that is functionally indistinguishable and takes an extra 30 minutes to stand in line and wait for.
.
I'll go to Starbucks as a kind of social event, but on my own basically never.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 2) by black6host on Sunday December 02 2018, @04:54PM (1 child)
The Starbucks coffee tastes better? You poor soul! Must be some pretty damn bad coffee in the break room :)
(Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Sunday December 02 2018, @05:01PM
It's not bad, but it is a bit harsher. I'm no coffee connoisseur.
Also there's a mental model where if you don't pay for it, it doesn't taste as good, and I'm not sure how much that plays into it.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды