Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Uber are teaming up to offer the hotel brand’s Preferred Guest members the ability to earn more rewards points each time they take a ride with an Uber vehicle, displaying that cross-partnerships are imperative for marketers in the transportation and hospitality industries. Starwood is ramping up to bolster its already strong mobile strategy even more with the new partnership, which aims to combine high touch and high tech to provide guests with streamlined transportation modes and more engagement with the loyalty program. Members of the SPG program can now earn one Starpoint for each dollar …

Domino’s Pizza’s virtual ordering assistant Dom, which lets consumers dictate orders via mobile devices while on-the-go, has reached a half-million orders since its 2014 launch, suggesting that more food brands should consider investing in voice ordering technology. The mobile application was created to increase personalization as more consumers turn to digital channels to place orders for food and beverage items. Although Domino’s does also offer customers the ability to order via a mobile Web site or the brand’s app, Dom’s catchphrases have proven to be popular and have contributed to the company’s milestone of 50 percent of sales coming from …

UK consumers are set to spend a staggering £14.95bn (€20.4bn, $23.2bn) through their mobile devices in 2015, according to a new survey. The m-commerce trend continues to gather pace as figures from research group RetailMeNot show that spend via a mobile platform will increase by a massive 77.8% this year – up from £8.41bn in 2014. It will mean that more than a quarter of all online transactions will be completed through mobile devices if the figures are to be believed. Smartphones will be leading the charge in this regard with RetailMeNot predicting that spend will reach £8.63bn via this platform, …

An ever increasing number of consumers in the United Kingdom are choosing to do their shopping via a mobile device. In 2013 sales via smartphones and tablets grew by 138% according to IMRG & Capgemini and in fact, 27% of all online sales, worth £3 billion, were placed on a mobile device. Mobile commerce has huge potential so no wonder it's changing the face of the retail industry. Traditional bricks and mortar retailers have begun embracing mobile and are developing integrated business strategies to draw on the benefits of the mobiles in our pockets. However, a whole new breed of …

Consumers around the globe continue to use mobile devices rather than dip or swipe payments cards for more of their MasterCard purchases. In less than a year since announcing support for Host Card Emulation (HCE) and cloud-based software for both secure contactless and remote payment transactions, MasterCard has recently announced that new projects are underway in more than 15 countries. These projects provide consumers with more options for payment experiences across their Android devices. In offering an alternative to the secure element (SE)-based approach to digitizing card credentials into mobile devices, MasterCard Cloud Based Payments creates a foundation for rapid …

Last fall, a mall in Helsinki offered shoppers targeted deals if they agreed to tote a key fob with them. Some 14,000 customers tried out the plastic RFID device, which is called a "Physical Cookie." Shoppers who toted the Physical Cookies were offered individually targeted deals on electric signs in the stores and in the mall. As the video above explains, Physical Cookies work just like their online counterparts. That is, they study the shopper's preferences and tailor deals and messages accordingly. Instead of logging user's history though, Physical Cookies just look at the time spent during mall shopping. Property …

As new systems and digital capability continue to evolve the way retailers run their businesses, Essential Retail is gauging the views of the sector's main figureheads, via a series of exclusive interviews. This week, it's the turn of PayPal's head of mobile commerce, Rob Harper. A new generation of consumers is driving growth in mobile commerce across the world and it means retailers and hospitality companies must position their businesses accordingly, says PayPal's director of mobile commerce, Rob Harper. Mobile payment volume at PayPal grew by 68% between 2013 and 2014 to represent $46 million worth of transactions, and Harper told Essential Retail that …

Visa Europe has announced its plan to launch a network tokenization service customized for the needs of the European market. Tokenization is one of the key technologies that drives Apple Pay. Earlier, we had reported that Apple Pay was preparing to enter the European market, with the U.K. being the first targeted nation. The tokenization service protects customer data, substituting the payment account information found on a plastic card with a series of numbers that can be used to authorize payment without exposing the actual account details. The network-level tokenization is currently part of the EMV payment specification. Apple Pay was …

Harper Reed, the former CTO of both the 2012 'Obama for America' campaign and Threadless, is one of the most influential, accomplished, and well-known members of the Chicago tech community. And - with his thick, black specs, long red hair and big beard - he's also one of the most recognizable. Now, after this week's Fireside Chat, you can add 'wisest' to this already long list of titles. At 1871 on Monday, Reed was on-hand to share advice and stories with fellow Chicago entrepreneurs and discuss his new startup, Modest. Below are our favorite 'Life Lessons' from one of the city's best tech …

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and Coca-Cola are teaming up in a mobile contest that will let the winner design a $25,000 sports fan’s dream experience, whether it is courtside seats, season’s tickets or a championship trip anywhere in the world. In the Sprite Popeyes Ultimate Sports Fan Experience, customers who buy a 32 ounce or 44 ounce Coca-Cola beverage at a participating Popeyes find a code on the cup then visit ultimatesportsx.com for a chance to win. The program is an example of how the natural relationship between the immediacy of mobile and the dynamic nature of live sporting events can be leveraged to …