mCommerce/mShopping
Mobile Wallets are all about the data, not the transaction
While there was much excitement over the idea of being able to pay for things by simply touching a smartphone to a payment terminal, the real value of the mobile wallets is not about the transaction at all, at least not for Google. What the Mountain View mobile giant is really banking on is the vast amount of shopper data that will produced as a result. Essentially, Google knows that transactional data will generate a ton of shopper behavior, which can be leveraged and sold many ways. With this data being real-time, Google would be able to make the information available instantly to retailers, which would allow them to offer shoppers real-time incentives based on their purchasing behavior. And since the mobile wallet doesn’t just hold virtual cash, but also mobile loyalty cards and coupons, everything would instantly be available for the shoppers.
For people that don’t have a Google phone with NFC technology built in, they can add an NFC sticker that goes on the back of the phone, download the Google shopper app and they’re good to go.
How Moms Use Smartphones for Shopping">How Moms Use Smartphones for Shopping
eMarketer smartphone usage stats point out some important behavioral insight. Marketers shouldn’t make the mistake of thinking that just because someone has a smartphone that we will necessarily use the more advanced functionality that the phones provide. Here we see younger moms using their smart phones for inventory checks and downloading coupons. While moms over 45 using only basic level functionality such as store location. Read more.
Which tactics engage shoppers the most
Interesting report from Adobe talking about the most effective campaign tactics and technology that lure shoppers. While many things are online in nature, the majority applies to mobile as well, which should give retailers and an idea of what to focus on for in-store programs. Read more.
Banks team up to allow easy transfer of money using only a customer’s phone number
It seems that Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo have formed a new venture called clearXchange in the realm of digital payments. According to them, customer of those banks will now be able to transfer money more conveniently and safely using a mobile number or email address. Seems like this is the exact type of thing that digital banks like ING, FNBO Direct, Ally and eTrade should have figured out a long time ago. Read more.
Tablet Owners are the Serious Mobile Shoppers
When it comes to mobile shopping, tablet owners buy more and claim to have an overall better shopping experience. Read More.
Younger Audiences More Comfortable with Mobile Payments">Younger Audiences More Comfortable with Mobile Payments
MasterCard released survey results illustrating how comfortable people are using their cell phones to pay for items in retail and shopping environments. While privacy and security are big concerns, regardless of age group, there seems to be a large delta between younger and older audiences willingness to use their mobile phones as a payment device.
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20064657-93.html#ixzz1NHoEBaFP
The Transformational Power of NFC
Source: Andrew Berg, Wireless Week, May 16, 2011
Near field communications (NFC) has been an aspiring hopeful for some time now. Most attention has focused on the technology’s possibilities as the next-generation enabler of mobile payments, allowing users to simply swipe their phones across point of sale (POS) systems, as opposed to lugging out that cumbersome wallet to retrieve the plastic card therein.
NFC generated considerable buzz at this year’s CTIA Wireless conference in Orlando, Fla., with executives finally able to start talking real-world applications, as opposed to theoretical solutions still taking shape on the drawing board. Programs like ISIS, as well as the fact that nearly every major OEM has NFC either on their roadmap or already to market, helps add credence to the argument that sophisticated contactless transactions are on the verge of becoming commonplace.
Lauding as a major catalyst for NFC adoption the major carriers’ decision to bring MasterCard and Visa on board the ISIS joint venture, research company IHS iSuppli said it expects global shipments of handsets embedded with the technology to reach 550 million units by 2015. That’s a lot of NFC-capable handsets; whether they’ll all be immediately put to use for the payment of goods is another matter.
Lead with Non-Payment Applications
While the wholesale realization of the mobile wallet through NFC is undoubtedly the golden egg, it’s those non-payment related applications that will condition consumers to understand and trust the technology.
Rhomobile, which produces an end-to-end application development suite, recently added functionality that will allow developers using its framework to make use of NFC in their applications. In fact, the company just showcased at Google I/O how Rovio is using its framework to integrate NFC in the next iteration of its popular Angry Birds game, Angry Birds Magic.
Adam Blum, CEO of Rhomobile, describes NFC as a more sophisticated technology, more seamless, than say, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, which he says can be “clunky” at times.
“NFC is just very transparent and easy to use and takes it to a different level,” Blum says.
Blum thinks NFC is the first step towards realizing the “Internet of things,” where users will use devices to discover the world around them, rather than going to a centralized repository that can often result in time-consuming searches.
“NFC is incredibly valuable for creating applications where you’re trying to manage objects, such as inventory or tracking scenarios,” Blum says. “It’s going to enable a whole new category of applications.”
Blum isn’t shy about how he feels NFC will change the industry, as well as people’s lives. “In terms of the transformational power, I really think NFC could be one of the biggest transformational technologies since the advent of the smartphone,” Blum says.
Yet Another Way to Advertise
The advertising world is always quick to capitalize on new technologies with broad reach. Dan Trigub, vice president of business development for Blue Bite, a mobile marketing firm, sees no end to the possible uses for NFC in his business.
Trigub describes a world saturated with digital content, where the consumer can pretty much be reached through some form of display at all points during their day (cab, elevator, gym, coffee shop). He says that when combined with what he calls “digital out-of-home” screens, consumers can actually be instructed on how to use their smartphone’s new technology.
Blue Bite is already working on campaigns like this. Imagine you’re standing in line at a coffee shop and a screen mounted next to the register offers you a coupon. An arrow points to the corner of the screen with the instruction to “Touch Phone Here.” That’s the beauty of NFC, Trigub says – it’s just that easy.
“We’re strong believers that NFC has the potential to be a silver bullet,” he says, adding that the technology is also a great solution for content delivery.
What’s most effective about NFC in advertising is the extent to which it is immediate and effortless. In conjunction with out-of-home screens, NFC will allow advertisers to reach their target audience while also asking for a simple call to action in the moment.
“Business travelers can be reached while they’re on a business trip. A company like Nike can reach a runner while they’re on a treadmill,” Trigub says, adding that the power of NFC is driven home when you consider that said runner will someday be able to tap his phone to purchase that pair of Nikes without breaking stride.
Mobile Payments
While non-payment NFC applications certainly will be first out of the gate, ultimately it will be massive, coordinated banking and mobile money rollouts, like the ISIS joint venture is currently undertaking, that will drive economies of scale.
While it initially looked like Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile USA, the three major players in the ISIS joint venture, were going to go it alone, the carriers have been applauded for recently announcing that they would be bringing MasterCard and Visa in the mix.
Dr. Jagdish Rebello, director and principal analyst for communications and consumer electronics with iSuppli, commented in a recent report that by partnering with Visa and Mastercard, the wireless carriers made the right move. “The carriers hope to leverage the dominant position enjoyed by Visa and MasterCard in credit card payments to ensure a seamless consumer experience when customers use their mobile phones to make payments,” Jagdish wrote, adding that such a move will drive shipments globally.
Back in April, ISIS announced that it would launch an NFC trial in Salt Lake City, Utah, in early 2012, but on May 4, the group said it was scaling back its trials of NFC, delaying these programs to the summer of 2012.
It’s trials like the ones in Salt Lake City that will give carriers an idea of the uphill climb involved in truly educating consumers about NFC. Tina Teng, senior analyst of wireless communications for IHS iSuppli, says that to the extent that consumers are already educated about NFC, they associate NFC with mobile payment.
“However, consumers aren’t exposed enough to fully comprehend what NFC applications are capable of,” Teng says. “NFC can be an enabler to a whole world of other applications that are not in the market yet. What players in the value chain need to do is to demonstrate NFC applications starting from what matters to consumers’ day-to-day life as a beginning.”
While Teng is optimistic about NFC, she says there are still some major challenges ahead, including the high cost of implementation. “The device has to have the reading capability at least. The objects being read need to have NFC tags. The hardware requirement will increase the cost to device OEMs, which will also translate to higher device ASP,” she says, adding that updating POS will be a monumental and expensive task.
So there’s definitely a road ahead for NFC, and while we may not see the fabled mobile wallet come to fruition for another year or so, companies like Rhomobile and Blue Bite look poised to teach consumers the ropes in fun and interesting ways.
Text messages: the nearly universal marketing vehicle
Source: Internet Retailer, Kevin Woodward, May 12, 2011
Few marketing channels have the utility and reach of text messaging, industry observers say.
“The appeal of text messaging is that it’s so universal,” says Mark Beccue, senior analyst at ABI Research. Almost any mobile phone can send and receive text messages, he says. This ubiquity means that retailers operating a mobile commerce program do not need to worry about developing mobile apps that run only on certain smartphones, such as an iPhone or Android device, Beccue says.
However, a retailer’s text-messaging program should not consist solely of a list of mobile numbers and sending an occasional short message, he says. There are best practices that can make text message campaigns more effective, Beccue says.
For instance, retailers should personalize the messages as much as possible based on shopper behavior. For example, a retailer might tap into a shopper’s purchase history and note how often the consumer bought a particular product. Then, as the point in that product’s purchase cycle approaches when the consumer is likely to be seeking a replacement, the retailer could send a text offering a coupon for that product, Beccue says.
To keep things simple, smaller merchants especially will want to enlist the help of a third-party vendor, says Nitesh Patel, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics Inc. That’s because many small retailers lack the resources to create a mobile-messaging program, he says.
Retailers also need to ensure their programs comply with laws governing unwanted spam texts, and would rely on vendors for this, says ABI’s Beccue. Spam complaints can lead mobile carriers to block a retailer from using their networks to send consumers text messages, he says.
Retailers drive traffic and sales with text
Up to 35% of consumers who have opted in to receive targeted promotional text messages from a retailer or brand subsequently visit that store or e-retail site, according to research conducted by Placecast Inc., a vendor of text-based marketing services.
And among consumers who visit a store or web site, up to 34% report redeeming the coupon or promotion offered in the text. Placecast surveyed a panel of consumers to understand their actions and also analyzed its clients’ redemption data and analytics to come up with its findings.
Placecast CEO Alistair Goodman says redemption rates can vary, from 11% on the low end to more than 65% depending on how appealing the offer is. “We’ve seen some outliers, as high as 65%, when a retailer delivers a great promotion for an impulse item,” he says.
Placecast clients include outdoor gear retailer The North Face and apparel retailer White House Black Market. The North Face is a unit of VF Corp., No. 138 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide. White House Black Market is a unit of Chicos FAS Inc., which is No. 129.
AT&T also entered a partnership with Placecast earlier this year to provide consumers a way to deliver messages from retailers or brands to AT&T customers when they are near store locations or stores that sell the brand’s products. A consumer within a certain geographic range of a Kmart store, for example, may receive a coupon or other offer to redeem with the retailer. Or the consumer might receive an alert from home cleaning products manufacturer S.C. Johnson about a special on its Pledge furniture cleaner at the nearby Kmart. Up to 90% of consumers surveyed indicate they find the text message alerts useful.
