Brazil leads the world in IoT adoption

27th September 2017, São Paulo — From home appliances to industry, the Internet of Things (IoT) is introducing a new era of how people interact with objects, with businesses, and with each other. The concept of the IoT is the capacity to connect machines to the global computer network to allow them to collect and exchange data between these machines – and according to new Worldpay research, Brazilians are most open to new technologies like this.

The findings has revealed Brazilians are the most willing against consumers in Australia, China, Germany, The Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States to embrace automated shopping through connected devices, with an overwhelming majority (81%) saying they would be comfortable using this technology.

Consumers in China are the next most receptive to Internet of Things (IoT)¹ adoption, with 61% saying they would also be comfortable using connected devices. At the opposite end, despite the UK being one of the most IoT-ready countries globally, the country is in last position with only 23% of consumers surveyed in the country stating they would be comfortable for a connected device to order items on their behalf without asking permission.

The research also revealed that Brazilians believe that IoT technology will make their lives easier and more practical, by making it possible for a connected device, like a washing machine or television to automatically order products and services – for example; just 43% said they would want to approve every purchase before the connected device placed an order. However, there were some reservations from consumers in how they spend their money with 78% wanting to retain control of their budgets and wishing to receive a notification prior to an order being made. In addition, Brazilian consumers are most likely to prefer fixed rules such as limiting the amount that may be spent each week (67%).

Despite this openness to connected devices, privacy of personal data remains a concern; 74% of respondents in Brazil are worried that IoT manufacturers would share their personal data while an even higher proportion (82%) worry about the prospect of these devices being hacked by fraudsters.

To help businesses overcome the perceived security barrier, Worldpay is trialing an open source software development kit (SDK) to facilitate payments in the IoT. Worldpay Within is an embeddable payments agent that allows smart devices to make and take payments as quickly and effectively as a physical shopping environment. With the number of connected devices estimated to reach 20 billion by the end of this year² , it is increasingly important for these devices to communicate effectively and securely with each other, including making payments.

Commenting on the findings, Juan D’Antiochia, General Manager for Latin America at Worldpay said: “No matter if done by a human or machine, it is vital for consumers to remain in control when they’re delegating payment tasks. Our research has found that there should always be a conscious ‘act of consent’; be that via a device notification, button press or a pre-set rule like a spending limit, being agreed in advance.

The beauty of technology advancements means that there are many opportunities for virtual assistants and connected devices to make consumers lives easier. If these connected devices can also offer consumers a ‘concierge’ style service that reduces day-to-day life admin and menial tasks then there is no reason why they won’t want to delegate some of their shopping responsibilities – after all, we would all appreciate an extra bit of time to ourselves. In the end, consumers need confidence that machines can be trusted to make the right decisions and keep their owners informed and in control.”

About the data
The research was conducted by Opinium in June 2017 and interviewed 20,000 consumers who have heard about the Internet of Things in Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, The Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, United States of America and United Kingdom. The full Connected Consumer report is available upon request. In Brazil, the study interviewed 2,014 consumers.

About Worldpay
Worldpay is a leading payments company with global reach. We provide an extensive range of technology-led payment products and services to around 400,000 customers, enabling their businesses to grow and prosper. We manage the increasing complexity of the payments landscape for our customers, allowing them to accept the widest range of payment types around the world. Using our network and technology, we are able to process payments from geographies covering 99% of global GDP, across 146 countries and 126 currencies. We help our customers to accept more than 300 different payment types. For more information, visit http://www.worldpay.com/global

For more information, please contact:

Global eCom
Emily Lahey, PR Director
+44 (0) 203 664 5663
emily.lahey@worldpay.com

Golin Brasil
Lucas Rodrigues
+55 11 3531-4984
lrodrigues@golin.com

João Denófrio
+55 11 3531-4983
jdenofrio@golin.com

¹https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2014/05/13/simple-explanation-internet-things-that-anyone-can-understand/#4c378771d091
²Statista: IoT – Number of connected devices worldwide 2015-2025