Mobile Commerce Minute

A new report from Gartner shows the profound impact that mobile is having on digital commerce. Over the next 2 years, mobile commerce will grow 28% (up from 22% today) and be on even ground with all other digital commerce revenue. Chuck dives into this, and a few other important stats from the report.

Beacons have spent their short existence in the push business. They are installed on walls, API'd in apps and notifications start rolling out. Could those same beacons be used to help understand our needs more ahead of time and be triggered just when the thing we REALLY want is within reach? One company, Taonii, things so. Here's their story on how they are turning the beacon into a personal concierge.

As more and more of us shop using our mobile we tend to use the mobile web more than mobile apps according to a survey by Siteworx. The study reveals a number of key mobile shopping metrics and Chuck highlights the most important ones in this episode including: The thing that would entice shoppers the most to download a retailer's app and how many purchases were made from their smartphone in the last month.

There is no doubt that mobile has influenced every nook and cranny of our daily rituals so why should grocery shopping be any different? Chuck highlights a recent study by Ninth Decimal that highlights the way that mobile has enhanced our shopping habits before, during and after our grocery store visits.

There are rumours floating around that Google is interested in purchasing Softcard - the mobile commerce play put together by American Express, Wells Fargo and Chase. With this in mind, Chuck takes a look at the emergence of Softcard, the potential Google acquisition and where the Merchant Exchange (MCX) fits into this equation now that Apple Pay has taken the lead in the market.

I don't think there was a single person on the planet that thought Starbucks could be the model for mobile payments and yet they are. I'm also pretty sure that no one would have predicted that they would become the most pervasive and most used mobile payments app on the planet either, yet they are. How did they do it? Chuck spells out their strategy - the things they did do and, more importantly, the things they didn't. Starbucks...who'da thunk it?

There are now 3 ways to interact with beacons today: Passive, active and requested. Chuck gives us some examples of each and helps us understand the difference between them all.

Using beacons passively is an incredible way for businesses of all types to bring knock-out service to their truly loyal customers. Chuck details an example of this he saw being demonstrated by Sapient Nitro at NRF. Hopefully this signals a shift that moves beacons beyond just pushing deals.

Will you use your new Apple Watch - or any wrist watch for that matter - to help you shop? Marsh Supermarkets is banking on it. They have equipped their stores with beacons and are eagerly anticipating the arrival of the wrist economy. Chuck highlights their strategy - which is way more sophisticated than just pushing deals.

Chuck takes look at 2 cool new takes on the mobile wallet - the iWallet and Wocket.