• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, August 15, 2013

While mobile commerce is large and global, it still comes down to bite-sized pieces and not every market is yet the same.

For example, consumers in China and Brazil spend more time using mobile devices for shopping and banking while more developed markets use them to search for information.

This is but one nugget of information in the recent global study People's Web Report by Netbiscuits.

The research shows that mobile commerce is growing worldwide, with security more of a concern for developed markets like the U.K., Australia and Germany, with emerging markets more interested in personalized experiences.

People in 8 out of 10 countries said that speed was the most important factor for their mobile Web experience. Leading the list of what would improve mobile Web user experience in the U.S. were faster downloads (59%), an experience closer to the PC Web (39%) and ease of use (36%). Among the findings:

• Consumers in Brazil spend longer than those in any other country for mobile banking, along with India and South Africa, where more than 40% regularly use the service.
• In China, 49% of consumers spend at least 30 minutes a day shopping on their smartphones.
• UK consumers are far more likely to prefer shopping on tablets, with 37% doing it daily.
• 15% of those in the U.S. spend more than 30 minutes a day shopping on their smartphones, with 3% spending more than three hours.

The survey of 5,000 people globally focused on mobile Web usage and found that the two top  shopping times for both smartphones and tablets are when consumers are at home in the evening and at lunch time when on a break.

What also caught my eye in the study is the time consumers spend with mobile commerce.

Smartphone consumers take a bite-sized approach to shopping. About an equal percentage of shoppers glimpse at their phone, spend up to five minutes, spend up to 15 minutes or spend up to 30 minutes a day for shopping.

As you might expect, a smaller percentage spend between 30 and 60 minutes a day and only a tiny percentage spend from an hour to three hours a day smartphone shopping.

Mobile shopping is not only occurring all the time, it is also happening within many small elements of it.