JiWire, the location-based interactive media channel that connect advertisers to on-the-go mobile audience, released its latest Mobile Audience Insights Report. The JiWire Q1 2012 Report highlights the latest trends in connected device adoption, location and mobile shopping, as well as public Wi-Fi usage.

According to the report, 70 percent of C-level executives and 73 percent of small business owners are more likely to use location based apps daily or on weekly basis. Business travelers mostly used travel, social networking and weather based apps.  Likewise, mid and small sized business travelers prefer booking reservation apps, followed by finding nearby business services.

Mobile payments on the rise

The report’s highpoint is that mobile wallet services are on rise. More than 37 percent users have used a mobile wallet app within the last quarter. Among the mobile wallet users, PayPal is most preferred app and 46 percent of on-the-go consumers have used it, 29 percent have used Amazon and 18 percent have used Google Wallet.

According to a recent study by Canadian-based provider of market intelligence services, IE Market Research (IEMR), global mobile payment market revenues will rise from $47.2 billion in 2011 to $998.5 billion in 2016. Security research firms are concerned about the issues consumers will face over the cardless trend.

“This rapid adoption of mobile wallets reinforces that the market is ripe for this sort of technological advance. Consumers seem to be both comfortable and curious about using their mobile phones to purchase,” said Dee Dee Paeseler, director of strategic marketing at JiWire. “Brands and retailers should take note: this trend is key in closing the loop, making location context even more important as the peak intersection point for reaching the right consumers at precisely the right time.”

The standards of WiFi

WiFi’s become a standard for most mobile devices these days. Increasing connection speed, avoiding data plans and streaming content are some advantages for consumers adapting to this technology.  Nine out of 10 consumers choose public Wi-Fi instead of 3G/4G on smartphones.  Additionally, almost half of all Wi-Fi traffic is coming from smartphones.  Contrary to WiFi usage, 10 percent travelling users said they don’t use public Wi-Fi, picking instead to connect broadband cards or 3G/4G.

The same survey states that 49 percent of mobile consumers compare prices of in-store shoppers with their devices. Nearly 54 percent of consumers compared prices with other retailers, while tablet owners favor a store’s own website. This trend has been seen in people aged 25 to 44 years, but those younger than 24 are turning to traditional portals.

JiWire’s Mobile Audience Insights Report is based on surveyed results of more than 2,000 U.S. customers and data from January 2012 to March 2012 conducted over 315,000 public Wi-Fi locations.

JiWire tends to release interesting facets of mobility trends every quarter. The last Jiwire Mobile Audience Insights Report tackled location, mobile shopping and marketing trends.

Location Based Mobile Marketing Trends

More than 10 billion internet-connected mobile devices will be shipped over the next four years, according to a recent Cisco study. As mobile technology improves, users will develop more norms around online shopping, and marketers will follow suit. Location-based advertising and marketing are things that a lot of companies hope will pave way to big revenue and even bigger dividends.

Not surprisingly, we’re seeing more location-based tools incorporated into mobile marketing platforms.  Avatar Ventures Corp., a startup in location-based mobile and social media marketing, plans to launch online marketing products centered on mobile location-based marketing areas to allow clients to engage, locate and retain mobile consumers in cost effective way.

And the industry is consolidating efforts around these booming mobile marketing trends as well.  Toronto-based Bee Media recently acquired the location-based media startup Adcentricity to strengthen, capitalize and focus on mobile advertising and shopping platform on recent trends, regarding how consumers shop with their connected devices. The combined platform, ADMobile, will offer tools to plan, target, format and measure location-based digital media.