MobileWebsiteWatch

Brick and mortar “giants” such as Wal-Mart and Sears and click and mortar stores like Amazon and Zappos are developing their m-commerce sales channels in various ways.

Wal-Mart is focusing on promotions and specials being delivered to handsets, whereas Sears has embraced m-commerce with their launch of Sears2Go.com, where shoppers can shop on their phone in a view optimized for their device and pick up their order without waiting on line.

Amazon has a new iPhone app that allows users to take a photo of a product and Amazon will scan their database of products to try to find a match, an addition to it’s first offering, TextBuyIt.  And, in this article in Retail Industry/About.com, Zappos is said to be embracing m-commerce through socialization, which may or may not be relevant.

This article goes on to say that “m-commerce” is here to stay…I agree.

Papa John’s Pizza, the country’s #3 pizza chain reported that its mobile web pizza ordering service had boosted sales by a staggering $1,000,000 since its launch only a half a year ago!  Considering that its online sales have grown in total 75% over year end 2007, it is not surprising that mobile is such a big boost and that it is growing fast.  Just another example of how mobile web is paramount to contining sales growth in a shrinking economy.  Your customers are already mobile, if you cannot serve them in that space, a competitor will.

This is just a guilty favorite of mine.  Gamefly, the online service that rents video games through the mail, in the same way that Netflix rents DVDs, has launched a full mobile version of its web site.  This is a really great example of best practices for mobile web.  The user has access to almost 100% of the features and functionality available on the regular site and it is presented in a view that is specialized for mobile.  The interface is sleek and easy to use,  Users can add games to their queue, organize the list of games they have coming, look up games and get info an cheats, even purchase games right from their phones.  Another best practice point: no new URL.  All you have to do is go to gamefly.com on any phone and you get the specialized view automatically.  It even detects what kind of device you have and sets it up especially for that.  I have tried it on both a Nokia and an iPhone and got a custom interface.  Pretty slick.

The benefit here is that a service like Gamefly needs to keep it users engaged to keep them paying their subscriptions month after month.  Allowing gamers to add a game to their queue wherver they may be (at a store or on the schoolbus getting a reccomendation from a friend) increases the level of interaction customers have with the service, and makes it personal since the interaction is occuring on their personal device.

According to a study realeased on the 4th by the Kelesy Group, about 19% of cellphone-owning

Americans now have a smartphone and, shockingly, 49.2% plan on getting one within one year. The study goes on to disect the things people use the mobiel web for which include: searching for products, getting maps and directions, getting info about movies and entertainment and accessing social networking sites.  All of these areas clocked in double digit growth year over year and with half the cell phone owners out there who plan on upgrading to a smartphone in 1 year, that should accellerate more in 2009.

As this surge of mobile users comes online, you can be almost certain that once they are shelling out for new phones with advanced data services, a seamless and successful mobile web experience on any company’s web site will pretty much be a basic customer expectation.  As we’ve posted here, smart companies like Sears, Gamefly, American Airlines, and Victoria’s Secret have already implemented an optimized mobile web view of thier sites and are building up market share.  Getting mobile should be top priority for anyone not yet there as everyday customers who try and interact with you on mobile are frustrated and lost.

In the Sears Mobile press release (from Women’s Wear Daily here), Sears mobile innovations team leader Thomas Emmons says it best:

“If you’re marketing to people who read 85 percent of their e-mails on a BlackBerry, and you don’t have a good mobile site, you’re losing that customer,”

Sears is a great example of mobile best practices and others will have to either follow suit or get out of the way.

While m-commerce continues to grow in many areas, tickets is probably the fastest moving and the easiest

for people to grasp and adopt.  In the USA, tickets for movies, travel and performances are more and more commonplace on mobile.  On Nov 12th, Tickets.com made a major step that gives it a serious competitive edge over even big competitors like Ticketmaster by offering it new service, ProVenueMobile.

ProVenueMobile is really the mobile version of tickets.com regular site.  It is the 1st full complete mobile web commerce solution of its kind, that allows the user to fully complete the ticket purchase transaction from the mobile web, and does not require any click-to-call or telephone use.  This is not only a major convenience and time saver for the user, but also a big cost saver for tickets.com, relieveing the need for 24/7 phone sales staff.  Tickets.com notes to the press:

“We are excited about this technology, and view it as a major breakthrough for our company and for our clients,” said Larry Witherspoon, CEO, Tickets.com. “Staying ahead of the curve through industry-leading innovation, as well as delivering unparalleled customer support, is our chief mission. Offering this versatile and convenient mobile platform gives Tickets.com the opportunity to reach new milestones in both areas. We are delighted to be able to introduce a green, paperless technology into the marketplace. In early 2009 we look forward to offering website mobilization services to our clients.”

By extending the functionality and services of Tickets.com — including full e-commerce — to the mobile web platform http://mobile.tickets.com, full- circle ticket purchases can be made 24/7 on any handheld mobile device. Missing an on-sale time, waiting in line and being put on hold will be things of the past. The Usablenet Mobile-supported site integrates seamlessly with all web-enabled devices from smart phones (Blackberry, iPhone, Treo, etc.) to basic cell phones with web access. It supports all browsers, file formats, carriers and other technologies, so that Tickets.com customers can shop for and purchase tickets from anywhere, anytime.

The ticketing boom is not only limited to concert and movie tickets.  Most major airlines now not only offer full mobile sites, but are extending mobile boarding pass functionality to thier passengers.  This technology, being implemented at airlines like American Airlines and Northwest Airlines allows mobile users to use their phone as their boarding pass without any special software or hardware and regardless of what carrier they are using.

With mobile on the rise to buy more and more things, any company not allowing its customers to access them on the device they have on them at all times and look at the most for both personal and business purposes is outright loosing ground.

In a June press release by Cisco, the company talks about the results of its third annual e-commerce study.  The results?  Mobile commerce is charging to the forefront and is, in fact, already a large revenue driver with massive upside potential. Dick Cantwell, vice president of IBSG’s Retail / CPG Practice said of the findings

“Mobile presents a revenue opportunity for retailers and opens up a new era of multichannel retail.  Multichannel retailing has morphed into a web of shopper touchpoints across stores, catalogs, mobile devices, and the Internet. Retailers must start offering shoppers an ‘interconnected shop’ if they are to take advantage of the mobile opportunity.”

The study notes that companies that are already executing the basics of e-commerce well can gain the trust, and the repeat business, of customers who want a fast, reliable and hassle-free and seamless mobile experience. Adding a mobile channel will be a key aspect in allowing customers to execute their transactions whenever they are so inclined and wherever they may be.

What this means in practice

As retailers already well know, customer loyalty and product familiarity are key factors in driving sales.  Let’s consider a hypothetical example: a shrewd but longtime customer in the current economy will be comparing prices online and in brick and mortar stores across retailers.  Imagine a customer shopping for a kitchen table.  She looks at prices online.  Then goes to Store A to see the product up close.  She gets back into the car and drives to Store B to see if there is anything there that might be a better value or that she likes better.  While in Store B, she pulls out her mobile device and goes to the mobile web site of Store A and calls up the product information of the first table.  She decides the Store A’s table is superior, and now can complete the transaction right on the phone and either pick up the product or have it delivered.  If Store A did not have a mobile site, they would be betting that that customer would actually return to the store, or return home and order the product from the Web site.  But the time to close the sale may be lost.  When the shopper return home to the internet, she may look for another product before completing the purchase.  She may change her mind about buying a table at all.  The ability to allow the customer a transactional experience on demand is paramount.

This major revenue expanding opportunity is made evident in the study results.

Mobile access can help retailers provide a unique, satisfying e-commerce experience. Customers expect to use their mobile devices to find stores, research products, make purchases and manage their accounts. In anticipation of this market opportunity, retailers should allow customers to access retail product information anytime, from any device. In addition, with the rise of social networking, web-based multimedia, and mobile commerce, retailers can now select from a broad range of technologies to reach customers. Monitoring what innovative companies are doing in retail and in related industries will help retailers adapt best practices to their own circumstances and strategies.

Revenue is driven in multiple areas by mobile commerce channel

Let’s recall our previous scenario and consider it from a slightly different angle.  This time, our table buyer goes to her her favorite store, Store A.  She sees some tables and is close to deciding on one, but then thinks to herself, “Store B across town sells tables too, but do I want to go all the way over there, or is this one OK?”  She is not at home in front of the computer where she could check the retailers Web site and see what products they offered but she figures she still might be able to let her fingers do the walking by trying the retailer’s web site on her phone.  Store B has a mobile web site.  It loads up quickly and allows her to easily navigate to the product she is looking for.  Now our shopper sees a table she likes while standing in a competitors store.  Being the shrewd shopper she is, she is not going to buy it before seeing it in real life, so she goes to the store locator feature

on Store B’s mobile site and sees that a new location has opened up not so far away.  She drives to Store B, sees the table, likes it and buys it.

Conclusion: Simply by providing the customer access to your web site at their convenience, on the screen they look at the most, their mobile phone, traffic and and revenue in all areas: on the regular web site, on the mobile web site, and in brick and mortar locations will experience a positive lift.

The more your customer can interact with your brand, the more likely and often they are to purchase your products.

Below is a great article from Geek.com.  Feature writer Brian Osborne took upon himself the challenge of taking a trip using only his trusty Blackberry 8330 Curve to make ALL travel arrangements.

Challenge
Fly to Dallas by booking my airline ticket, checking in for my flight, reserving my hotel room, and checking-in for my hotel room using only my BlackBerry 8330 Curve by Verizon Wireless. 

Participants
Volunteering themselves as guinea pigs were American Airlines and Omni Hotels. Thanks to Brian Conway for helping to set this up.

Task 1: Find and book an American Airlines Flight using BlackBerry
Time: Under 5 minutes

I went to AA.com and was happy to see the website was actually setup to be used for a mobile device. I especially liked how options were split into sections including Day of Travel and Reservations. It made it really easy to find what I needed.

I searched for flights by clicking on Change Flights under the Reservations section. After inputting my departure airport, destination and travel dates, it quickly brought up my options. One nice feature was that I could even view the seats that were available on each flight. If the flight was nose-to-nose with passengers I then had the option to choose another flight.

After finding my flight I inputted my credit card information and soon received a confirmation via email confirming my flight was booked. Overall, performance of the website was very good. The only sense of information overload I had on the small BlackBerry screen was when I was browsing flights, but there is only so much the American Airlines folks can do.

Task 2: Reserve A Room With Omni Hotels
Time: Under 5 minutes

Much like the American Airlines website, I was happy to see that the Omni Hotels mobile website didn’t have a lot of fluff and got right to the options the typical traveler would need to quickly find a hotel, get a room, and get it reserved. After clicking on Make A Reservation I was able to find a local hotel and saw that luckily there was a room available.

I was able to quickly reserve the room and also later got an email confirming the reservation. I wanted to keep this email confirmation handy for when I did my check-in online as well.

Task 3: Check-In For American Airlines Flight
Time: Under 3 minutes

24 hours before my flight I just about went to my PC to get my boarding pass when I remembered that for this trip I was performing all tasks on the Blackberry. So I grabbed it and quickly got on the AA.com website to check-in for my flight. I looked at moving seats, but unfortunately it was a full flight.

Reluctantly, I went ahead and completed my check-in. Naturally, I was a little concerned that I didn’t have a piece of paper in front of me confirming my check-in, but when I went to the airport I simply printed out my passes at the American Airlines kiosk in less than a minute.

By checking-in online I saved a lot of time in front of the kiosk even if I ended up having to print my boarding pass. Hopefully one day I’ll just be able to show the electronic boarding pass on my phone.

Before completing the booking process I was also able to sign-up for a mobile alert which would send me flight status and gate information two hours before my flight’s departure. There’s nothing better than being on your way to the airport, knowing what gate your flight is at and appreciating the fact that it is still on time.

Task 4: Check-In For Omni Hotels Room
Time: Under 3 minutes

So what’s the advantage of checking in for your hotel through your mobile phone? Well, the beautiful thing is that you won’t have to worry about your room being given to someone else. Also, when you get to the hotel the key will be waiting for you since you’ve already given the hotel all of your personal information.

When you have been on a plane for over two hours, trust me when I say that the sooner you get to your room the better. Sure enough, when I got to the hotel the room keys were waiting for me.

Summary
It’s amazing to think we have reached the point at which we no longer need to sit in front of a computer to make travel arrangements. That’s got to be some pretty sobering news for travel agents since it empowers people to book an itinerary on their own. Naturally I don’t expect Ma or Pa who travels once a year to use their mobile phone to book reservations, but you can bet the business traveler will appreciate it and that’s exactly why American Airlines and Omni Hotels have made the investment to support the mobile traveler.

Absolutely terriffic footwork, Brian!  Thanks a million!

A new study released by research firm Juniper Research reveals that the market for gambling and betting via mobile internet is not only healthy, but growing faster than many other sectors when stacked up year over year.

The study, entitled “Mobile Gambling - a Good Bet for the Future” has highlighted sections on variou areas including casino style games, lotteries and sports betting.

Taking all kinds of mobile gambling service together, Juniper Research estimates that total wager in mobile gambling with total nearly $1.3bn in 2007, rising to more than $26bn in 2012. Gross wager in 2012 includes more than $3.6bn derived from the North American region and primarily in the US, where we are confident that existing legislation will be amended or replaced by 2010 at the latest, and that the increasing use of location-based application will allow state use of various gambling services.

Like any growth market that is this explosive, getting loyal user involved right away and building a presence and market share now will have a big impact on the revenues in two years.  2012 is only 3.5 years away.  Those who implement a robust mobile web solution that allows them to take even a few points of market share today strand to see it pay off many many times over when you consider the market ballooning to $3,600,000,000+ in the US alone.

You can’t even get those odds at the tracks!

All retailers take note: Ralph Lauren is leading the way in innovation of more than just clothes. The visionary luxury brand has taken some big and bold steps into the mobile realm, including a new mobile e-commerce site. The site, (http://m.ralphlauren.com or just ralphlauren.com if you’re on a mobile device) allows you to do a number of things including shop for, and buy apparel right from your phone. There are also sections about tennis and style and about the brand in general.

One oddity that was noted was the rendering of different site sections. The home pages and informational pages about tennis and other stuff seem to just be plain old CSS and, although heavily designed a and well put together still a little dumb. When the home page renders on a hi res screen (like an iPhone) the entire site is crammed into the upper left-hand corner of the screen, forcing the user to zoom and peck and basically defeating the purpose of the mobile site.

The shopping area, on the other hand, has a much more robust interface. We tested it on 3 different devices and it resizes for all of them perfectly with zero distortion. On an iPhone, the pictures even resize when you rotate the view. Strange why they didn’t do this for the rest of the site.

Another big move is the major push for the QR code campaign. MobileWebsiteWatch caught this clip on Good Morning America on Wednesday. In the video you can see how easy it is to get to a product right from the camera on the phone. While this application is not yet widespread here in the US, the idea is very solid and it seems that Polo is making big strides to get out in front of the market which I expect will pay off pretty big. According to a Reuters interview with David Lauren, SVP of Advertising:

The apparel maker will begin placing special codes in print ads, mailings and store windows along with its sponsorship of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, which begins later this month.

Shoppers can download special software to camera-phones to scan the codes and be directed to a phone-friendly version of a Ralph Lauren website, where they can shop, watch tennis videos and read company content…

Cell phones with preinstalled code-readers should come to market within a year, Lauren said.

Polo Ralph Lauren is a sponsor of the US Tennis Open Tennis Championship and is expected to release the marketing blitz with the commencement of the tournament on August 25th, 2008. Lots of print material is already floating around, like the full back cover of New York Magazine this month (the issue with “Race” on the front)

The phone carrier cash cow that is SMS is still booming reports ABI Research. What’s more, the uses of SMS to increase the marketing and transactional reach of companies is going right through the roof with it. According to the study:

• SMS will continue to maintain its lead as the highest revenue generator across all messaging categories, providing global service revenues of $177 billion in 2013(projection)
• SMS to garner 83% of All Mobile Messaging Revenues through 2013(projection)

“Innovative companies are exploring opportunities for expanding mobile messaging access to Web sites as well as targeting customers with content and ads,” says principal analyst Dan Shey.

With more than half the world using mobile phones, mobile messaging is growing at an explosive pace and will continue to do so in the near future. Both entrenched companies and new entrants are providing applications that blur the lines between the traditional mobile messaging applications. New and improved hardware, software, and services are increasing customer choices while bringing down costs. Players in this market are constantly challenged to evolve and look for new revenue streams. The ABI study explores both supply and demand drivers pushing the use and functionality of mobile messaging applications . It examines demographic-specific drivers, and delves into the rising use of social networking sites, blogs, and Web 2.0 applications that are expanding to mobile phones.

Of course, SMS and the mobile web are heavily intertwined, and in a world of ever increasing customer mobility, overall productivity and sales boosts to companies will be achieved best by allowing the customer to interact with the service in anyway that suits them.