Mobile Payment transactions to reach $670 Billion by 2015

According to a new study by Juniper Research, the value of NFC purchases or “near-field communications” will reach $670 billion by 2015 for mobile-sourced money transfers, and mobile payments for digital and physical goods.

That’s represents a shift upward from the $240 billion Juniper Research has predicted for the total value of mobile payments in 2011. Juniper finds that during the next 18 months, 20 countries will begin deploying NFC payment systems and services; transactions from those services will be in the ballpark of $50 billion by 2014.

The new Mobile Payments Strategies report revealed that all segments will exhibit 2x to 3x growth over the next five years. This growth will be driven by the rapid adoption of mobile ticketing, NFC contactless payments, physical goods purchases and money transfers as people in both developed and developing countries use their devices for everyday transactions.

Recently, Google announced its Google Wallet and Google Deals services in the U.S., and the search giant has large retail partners on board, including Citi, Subway, Mastercard, Sprint, Macys, and Walgreens. The Far East and China, Western Europe, and North America are the largest mobile payment regions, and those areas “will represent 75% of the global mobile payment gross transaction value by 2015,” the report said. Read on for the full release from Juniper Research.

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July 5, 2011 in Blog   |   No Comments

74% Of Online Retailers Planning Their Mobile Advertising & Mobile Marketing Strategy

Mobile quickly to become important part of Cross-Channel Marketing Efforts

Online retailers have quickly sized up the mobile opportunity and the potential it holds to engaging a mobile advertising strategy to supplement their efforts according to a new report published by Forrester. Focus is on multi-channel marketing efforts including social and mobile marketing.

Nearly three-quarters (74%) of online retailers either already have or are developing a mobile strategy, and one in five boasts having a fully-implemented mobile strategy in place already. The report forecasts $170,000 per online retailer is expected to be spent on mobile sites this year with larger retailers spending much more. This ”mobile investment is modest now, but we see that it will pick up in the future, especially among the biggest brands that have already invested significant amounts in their mobile operations,” said Sucharita Mulpuru, Vice President, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research, and lead author of the “The State of Retailing Online” report.

The survey of 109 companies provides e-business professionals with an annual industry benchmark for marketing and business investment and activities. Earlier this year, Forrester forecast U.S. online retail sales to total $173 billion in 2010. According to the report, Web retailers with mobile strategies are investing in features that support the cross-channel experience: Product and price information, store information and coupons to support the in-store experience are among the most popular features that retailers are offering consumers, the report said.

SOCIAL MARKETING
Forrester noted that search advertising will continue to command the largest portion of US online retail budgets this year, coming in at 40 percent, while email and affiliate marketing will also command large portions, the report notes. The report also found while retailers are finding value in social media marketing, the return on investment (ROI) for driving online sales remains murky. Listening to customers is the most significant objective for social tools according to respondents, with 80 percent of retailers reporting that they are pursuing social strategies to experiment and learn. And while 28 percent noted that social marketing has helped grow their business, direct sales from social tactics are not widely measured. The same can’t be said about mobile advertising, where ROI is easily measurable and obtained.

Digital marketing in general is quickly becoming centered around the art of “integrated communications,” whereby numerous channels are utilized to work off the strengths and weaknesses of one another. With mobile coming to the forefront, Online retailers need to quickly diversify their strategy to maintain relevancy.

“Mobile investment is modest now, but we see that it will pick up in the future, especially among the biggest brands that have already invested significant amounts in their mobile operations,” concluded Sucharita Mulpuru, vice president and principal analyst for Forrester Research and the lead author of the report.

Bottom Line: For most retailers as they make a surge into mobile, don’t forget that it starts with SMS and Text Messaging first, then an App to compliment the strategy. Also, read Mobile Messaging article and other mobile commerce services including interactive sms apps and device apps for iPhone, Droid, Blackberry and more.

June 30, 2010 in Blog   |   No Comments

The Mobile Shopper Unleashed!

Black Friday 2009 was a success for mobile retailers – those who target and offer services for shoppers on the go. And while retailers are reviewing their sales targets and scrambling to hit end of year numbers for Christmas 2009, the holiday shopping season most notably will prove to be the year mobile commerce has arrived.

New Apps like Price Scanning and Deal Alerts are help driving the frenzy across online and traditional brick and mortar stores. While most retailers were hoping for greater consumer spending, some figures early figures on mobile retailing over the three-day Black Friday weekend are sure to raise a few eyebrows:

According to the Yankee Group, some of the surprising news include:
* Mobile Payments are More Popular than ever: The WSJ reports that the number of mobile online payments made through Paypal on Black Friday is 650% higher than it was last year.

* Mobile Product Search has Grown: Siva Kumar, the chief executive of TheFind.com (a product search engine), has stated that the number of searches on mobile devices on Black Friday grew from 5,000 last year to 200,000 this year.

* Price Comparison Shopping Apps are More Popular: ShopSaavy, a comparison-shopping application for the iPhone, has reported that 1 million users scanned at least one product with the App’s barcode scanner over the three-day Black Friday weekend.

It’s no wonder that consumers are using their mobile phones more than ever in the discovery, research, planning and actual shopping. Data from the Yankee Group’s Consumer survey indicates that the holiday shopper of 2009 will not only be far more price sensitive than his 2008 predecessor, but will also increasingly rely on sales and price comparison tools when he does decide to spend his hard earned dollar.

That’s where mobile steps in to solve the challenge of comparison shopping. Today’s Smartphone provides access to pricing and product review information, product availability at the store level. It’s certainly becoming the “emerging as the tool of choice for any holiday shopper” looking to save some dough.

If you’re a retailer looking for mobile commerce solutions, consider many commerce services and applications from QWASI including:

Text Ordering

Using SMS, this service allows customers to order via any cell phone, anytime, anywhere through a few texts.

Mobile Apps

Launching an iPhone App or Blackberry App targeting on-the-go shoppers. However, not all apps are worth building. Consult before building an App.

WAP Site

The place most retailers start – this allows anyone with a data plan to access product information, reviews and checkout. Check out the QWASI PCI compliant shopping cart.

SMS Alerts

Drive sales online or in store with alerts and notifications. Include CTAs (call to action) including click-to-call, trackable WAP site links,  MMS and other push methods.

Mobile Loyalty

Allows companies to offer specials and promotions vis SMS. Track activity and reward/incentivize customer activity.

Mobile Optimized Email

A must for email today. Browser detection can quickly format the message for readability on smartphones.

Store Locators

Utilize SMS or WAP and tapping into Google Maps and other local-based services, let shoppers find you while out and about.

Custom Application and Interactive Programs

Building mobile mash-ups and multi-mobile commerce apps, provide multiple campaigns targeting mobile shoppers.

Check out QWASI’s Mobile Retail methodology and let QWASI take your company mobile and start generating new sales from today’s mobile consumers.

Call QWASI @ 877-747-9274.

December 7, 2009 in Blog   |   No Comments

Working Moms Waiting for Mobile Marketing

MOBILE MOMS
According to Scarbourough Research, Working Moms are among the country’s highest spenders on cellular phone services. They spend on average 21% more than the average wireless user on their monthly bill. The average bill for Working Moms is $94, versus $78.In addition, Working Moms are avid users and frequently download content. They have are 42% more likely to download content to their phone.

Mobile Marketing could be an important platform for reaching her with product announcements, offers and other promotions,” said Howard Goldberg, senior vice president of agency services, Scarborough Research.

Some FACTS about Working Moms:
They also have higher disposable income. The average adult annual HHLD Income is $73,400 while Working Moms is $81,900. Working Moms are in her 30’s and 40’s. They are more likely to be well-educated, having a 4-year college degrees or greater.  They are 13% more likely to be married.

MOBILE COUPONS
When it comes to saving money, they are deal seekers. Two out of three Working Moms use grocery coupons monthly; 28% use them weekly. Working Moms are 46% more likely than the average adult to get coupons from email/text messages. And 49% more likely to get them from the Internet. They are also tech savvy – the opportunity still remains for further integration of digital’s benefits into the
Working Mom’s day: mobile devices, mobile coupons, content for the small screen. The take away there: Find ways to connect with mom’s “me time”: promotions, products, messaging.

The data analysis examined the distinctive consumer patterns and marketing appeal of women who work full‐ time and have one or more children at home, and found insights into their shopping habits, media patterns, demographics and lifestyles.

MOBILE ALERTS
“The Working Mother is the gatekeeper for purchases related to clothing, feeding and making a home for her family. Her high spending on cellular services together with her propensity to download content via her cell phone imply that mobile marketing could be an important platform for reaching her with product announcements, offers and other promotions,” said Howard Goldberg, senior vice president of agency services, Scarborough Research.

Working Moms account for nine percent of the U.S. adult population (21.6 million adults) and 11% of all cellular users – but they also are more likely to utilize certain cellular features such as texting and downloading. Also, Working Moms are 9% more likely than the average adult to have driven 1,000 or more miles during the past month. So they are mobile in more ways than one.

Available for download at Working Moms Research Study

October 2, 2009 in Blog   |   No Comments

Multi-Channel Mobile Campaigns Work

Shedd Aquarium rings up the sales with Mobile Marketing
SMS may lack sizzle to many flashy marketers, but it can deliver the goods if provoking your audience to action is the goal, as Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium recently discovered from its summer test campaigns.

To attract visitors to its new Fantasea aquatic show, Shedd Aquarium put a couple of direct-response tactics to the test to see if consumers preferred SMS or web-based calls to action. At the end of 30-second spots that aired on Chicago’s NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox affiliates, the aquarium announced a contest with prizes that included a hotel stay and VIP seats for the Fantasea premiere. The commercials were identical across the networks except for the calls to action: All the ads directed viewers to a Web site to register for the contest, except one spot, which gave viewers an additional mobile option to enter the contest by sending a text message to a special code.

The SMS call to action generated 325% more entries than the web-based call-to-action, making up 52% of the total entries, though it ran in only 25% of the ads.

According to Jay Geneske, Shedd’s assistant marketing director, the results show that the “phone is always with you, it’s nearby and immediate,” even when you’re watching TV. Shedd also ran a one-day print campaign in a local paper with a text call-to-action, yielding the highest or near highest number of responses for a single-day print piece, Mr. Geneske said.

Additionally, when people are watching TV, they’re more likely to have their cellphones near them than a computer.

Fresh impressions
“The mobile phone gives the consumer the ability to respond to the advertisement in real time, while the impression is still fresh in their heads,” said Aaron Watkins, a former mobile-marketing agency executive turned independent consultant.

Likewise, companies like QVC use Mobile Marketing Alerts and Text Ordering to send out promotions every day, throughout the day, and drive real-time purchases via SMS.

To get consumers to respond via the web, on the other hand, means they not only have to be interested in the ad but need to recall the website address later if they were not near a computer when the ad ran. The likelihood that they will remember the address drops “exponentially,” given the nonstop barrage of messages and media that hit people every day, Mr. Watkins said.

Mobile works best when overlaid with mass media such as TV and radio, because they radiate that much more reach, compared to, say, mobile apps or display banners, Mr. Alpert said.

For consumers to text in, however, the offer has to be compelling and valuable, whether it’s entertainment, information or access to something special. Shedd’s campaign worked well because the short code was part of the narrative and script, rather than an afterthought of just slapping a code at the end of the commercial.

Mr. Alpert said over the hundreds of mobile campaigns his agency has managed, an average 85% of those who opt into a campaign will respond to more requests for information, such as age and ZIP code.

September 21, 2009 in Blog   |   No Comments