Application storefronts must offer consumers a host of billing mechanisms to succeed according to a new study conducted by mobile commerce and communications enabler Netsize. Among more than 1,000 mobile professionals spanning 67 countries, 85 percent of respondents cite operator billing as a key component of app stores' mass-market appeal--46 percent indicate a belief that operator billing alone will dominate, 39 percent include credit card billing in the mix, and 15 percent cite credit card billing alone. Another 28 percent of respondents point to in-app building as a crucial component of app store success.
Forty-eight percent of respondents told Netsize that ease of payment is vital to an app store's growth, behind factors like convenience (cited by 65 percent of respondents), software/device compatibility (51 percent) and a large apps inventory (49 percent). Asked to name which app storefronts will be the most successful, 87 percent cited Apple's App Store; Google's Android Market was next at 60 percent, trailed by Nokia's Ovi Store (30 percent), Research In Motion's BlackBerry App World (27 percent), Microsoft's Windows Marketplace for Mobile (15 percent) and all mobile operator stores (also 15 percent).
For more on the Netsize survey:
- read this release
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