When it comes to purchasing and payments, 88 percent of the consumers in the country depend on mobile phones, a new report by PayPal said on Thursday.

According to the ‘The mCommerce Report,' which was commissioned by PayPal, said the country has emerged as the forerunner when it comes to mobile commerce adoption.

The survey, the release said, was conducted across 11 countries. Around 22,000 consumers and 4,000 business respondents were examined as part of the study aimed at finding how people shop and sell online. This included 2000 consumers aged 18-74 and over 300 business influencers from India.

India Leading the Way

As per the report, 70 percent of Indian consumer respondents prefer using mobile phones when it comes to online shopping. Similarly, the study also found that 81 percent of merchants in the country are optimised for mobile shopping.

Among the merchants in the country, 45 percent made mobile optimisation a business priority in the upcoming 12 months.

The rising priority to mcommerce, the release said, is owing to the increased smartphone penetration and internet access in the country. Further, the ease of transacting and the time-saving features of mobile-based transactions have further increased the popularity of mobile commerce. This has particularly influenced the younger generation towards m-commerce.

The report also found that app purchases are most popular for bill payments, purchasing fashion and food tech.