by Chuck Martin on Nov 28, 10:00 AM
The mobile holiday shopping season has begun. Yes, the overall holiday shopping is underway as well, with the kickoff of Black Friday today. All eyes will be on today's sales as well as those on the coming Cyber Monday as the shopping season starts its trajectory.
by Chuck Martin on Nov 26, 12:49 PM
While many holiday shoppers will be heads-down on their phones as they shop their favorite retailers, it likely won't be apps they're looking at. Retailers have consistently told me that most of their commerce traffic comes from their mobile websites, not their apps. This is despite that many retailers have poured considerable resource into app development.
by Chuck Martin on Nov 25, 1:43 PM
Shoppers who receive beacon-triggered messages appear to be OK with getting them. And in-store beacon campaigns also are impacting shopper behavior, based on a new analysis of tens of thousands of beacon-triggered interactions at a number of retailers.
by Chuck Martin on Nov 24, 12:59 PM
The flow of research studies around holiday shopping behaviors and patterns is nearing a fever pitch, with new tracking results coming out on a daily basis. As we near two of the most-watched shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, various projections are coming from countless entities.
by Chuck Martin on Nov 21, 12:47 PM
It has taken quite some time, but some large-scale and usable mobile implementations at retail are starting to be deployed. Over the weekend, I decided to do some mobile-armed shopping at retail as a start for prep for winter here in the northeast. I needed a tarp to cover some outside things and a snowbrush, expected to be needed relatively soon.
by Chuck Martin on Nov 20, 2:36 PM
While mobile has changed how people shop, it doesn't mean retailers have kept up with the transformation. And shoppers aren't stopping there, with ever increasing desires for more mobile services from retailers. The majority (60%) of smartphone owners say having a mobile device has changed how they shop, according to a new study.
by Chuck Martin on Nov 19, 1:24 PM
There are mobile payments and then there are mobile payments. One of the main drags on using a phone to pay, at least in the U.S., has been the issue of what problem it solves. Anyone who has used a credit card or cash and then compared that ease use to any mobile payment method has likely found there is no great improvement.
by Chuck Martin on Nov 18, 1:27 PM
While beaconing is still in its infancy and slowly developing into what it might be when it grows up, there are some substantial numbers starting to be associated with it. As in beaconing itself, the numbers and metrics around it are still a work in progress. For example, at the recent MediaPost IoT: Beacons conference in New York, an executive from Lord & Taylor and Hudson's Bay, one of the earliest large-scale beacon deployments, said they were looking at linking with mobile apps that can reach in the vicinity of 50 million people.
by Chuck Martin on Nov 17, 12:20 PM
More mothers are using mobile to shop. Not necessarily in the store, but pretty much every step along the way. Mobile moms are using their smartphones to compare prices, look for coupons and deals and receive recommendations, according to a new study.
by Chuck Martin on Nov 14, 1:16 PM
Samsung says it is getting into beaconing in a big way. The innovative concept behind Samsung's announcement this week that it will be launching its own beacon approach called Proximity is that an app would not be required for a beacon to trigger messaging onto a Samsung phone. "This is a big, huge move by Samsung," said Scott Varland, creative director at the IPG Media Lab. "This has been one of the biggest pain points with people looking to do beacon work."