Rewards are a stronger draw for digital wallet users shopping via digital channels than those making purchases in person.
A survey of more than 4,100 United States consumers for the 2023 PYMNTS Intelligence study “Apple Pay @9: The Battle for in-Store Adoption and Usage” found that the factors driving consumers to use mobile wallets vary slightly depending on whether the consumer is shopping digitally or in stores.
Specifically, 33.6% of consumers who made purchases with mobile wallets in the 24 hours before being surveyed cited rewards as an important reason that they used mobile wallets for their most recent online purchase. In contrast, only 29% said the same for their most recent in-store purchase.
However, in-store shoppers were slightly more likely to cite rewards as the most important reason for using mobile wallets, with 5.9% saying as much versus 4.7% of online shoppers.
Conversely, in-store shoppers were more likely to cite fraud and security concerns as an important reason for using mobile wallets than online shoppers (30.1% of the former versus just 27.5% of the latter), but online shoppers were more likely to cite it as the top reason (8.1% versus 6.4%).
Further PYMNTS Intelligence data showed that there is considerable demand for digital wallet rewards. The June report “Digital Wallets Beyond Financial Transactions: A Global Perspective” found that 28% of consumers said they will likely use digital wallets to store and access rewards, discounts or coupons in the next three years. Plus, 22% of consumers cited rewards, discounts or deals for using digital wallets as a key factor positively contributing to their use going forward.
As mobile wallets continue to evolve, the allure of rewards programs remains a factor driving their adoption, particularly in the eCommerce space.
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