A new study claims that 9.2 million U.S. mobile consumers said that they have used their mobile phone to pay for goods or services, proving that mobile commerce is slowly becoming a reality.

The study, from Nielsen Mobile, indicates that 3.6 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers use the mobile phone as a payment tool. It also showed that 49 percent of those surveyed said they intend to participate in mobile commerce in the future.

"The tremendous growth of mobile Web use presents a big opportunity for mobile commerce," said Nic Covey, Chicago-based director of insights at Nielsen Mobile.

"E-tailers should be thinking carefully about how they're going to engage with the 40 million active mobile Web users here in the U.S.," he said. "It's clear that consumers are warming to text-message-based purchasing, too. Paying for things over the phone isn't a 2009 thing -- it's a 2008 thing for millions of mobile users."

The findings were part of Nielsen Mobile's monthly Mobile Insights survey of more than 30,000 U.S. wireless subscribers.

First Adam, then Eve â?¦
Men are likelier than women to their mobile phone for commerce. Per the findings, 4.5 percent, or 4.9 million, of men said they bought through their mobile phone compared with 3 percent, or 4.3 million mobile phone subscribers, for women.

Adults ages 25-34 are the most likely demographic to have made a purchase using their mobile phone: 5.4 percent, or 3 million, compared with 3.6 percent of all mobile subscribers.

Also, one out of two mobile data users -- subscribers who have texted or used the mobile Web on their mobile phone in the past 30 days -- told Nielsen Mobile that they will likely conduct mobile commerce in the future.

Mobile Web sites enable consumers to buy using the mobile phone.

For example, of the 40 million active U.S. users of the mobile Web in April, 5 million visited mobile shopping and auction sites, up 73 percent from 2.9 million mobile users in the year-ago period.

Auction and retail platform eBay was the No. 1 shopping or auction destination on the mobile Web, attracting 3.4 million unique users in April.

Buying items through text is another mode of mobile commerce. Some retailers or services let consumers send text messages to a phone number or short code to accept charges for goods or services directly on their mobile phone bills.

According to Nielsen Mobile, 6.5 million mobile subscribers said they used text messaging to buy an item.

Security perception
The increasing comfort level can be explained.

"Brand-name retailers have spent several years building consumer confidence and comfort for e-commerce transactions," Mr. Covey said. "That trust-building will now pay dividends as they try to extend that commerce experience to the mobile phone."

That said, security of transactions over the mobile phone is a top concern for most consumers.

Per the Nielsen Mobile findings, 41 percent of data users who don't participate in mobile commerce said that security was their key concern. Twenty-three percent worry about being charged for the airtime and 21 percent said that they don't trust that the transaction will be completed.

"Security is the No. 1 reason some consumers say they don't participate in mcommerce," Mr. Covey said. "The onus is on retailers now to sustain and promote the successful security measures they've put in place to enable mcommerce.

"The challenges for marketers will be to create a complementary mobile commerce experience that is a value-add to customers," he said. "They've indicated that they're interested. It's the retailer's job to meet those interests head-on.

"The opportunity to be available for customers 24 hours a day from wherever they are, with just a few clicks, is a brand and retail relationship opportunity that can't be ignored."

However, retailers must not have unreal expectations of mobile commerce. Just like e-commerce, mobile commerce may be a shift of spending from one channel to another.

"Mobile commerce will largely be about increasing convenience for purchases that would likely have occurred elsewhere," Mr. Covey said.

"For some retailers, though, whose products and services have an immediate need -- 1-800-Flowers.com, for example -- allowing consumers to make purchases over the phone is sure to help them retain more of the would-be customers," he said.