Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0143 Retailers and Omnichannel

Brick and mortar retailers still have a long way to go in their omnichannel ambitions, according to a report by L2 research.

Here is a great write-up at CMO.com:

http://www.cmo.com/articles/2014/7/30/retailers_still_not_.html

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Some brick-and-mortar retailers “get” e-commerce and are holding their own against Web-only retailers. However, most merchants are still behind—even as customers race ahead of them in embracing “channel-blind shopping,” according to a new report by digital marketing think tank L2.

...

The report tagged Saks, Guess, Walgreens, and Walmart as “role models” for balancing investments and incentives for online and offline consumer behaviors. Other brands, such as Gap, Sephora, Coach, and Neiman Marcus, came close.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Mobile Gift Cards - Amazon and First Data

A bit of news worth capturing.

Amazon and First Data are emphasizing the non-payments side of the mobile wallet.  Seems a few players have figured out the payments piece is the least important part of the puzzle.

Here is the write-up:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/amazon-first-data-enter-quickly-expanding-mobile-gift-cards-space

Here is a snippet from that piece:

The gift card portion of mobile wallets is growing quickly, with both Amazon and payment processor First Data entering the market, following closely on the heels of Google Wallet.

Gyft – which is being acquired by First Data – claims to have pioneered the use mobile to manage gift cards but it was Apple’s Passbook that really popularized the idea. In the past few years, numerous merchants have jumped on board, recognizing the potential to drive ongoing engagements with mobile users via gift cards.

“While it’s early days for Amazon, it is clear they believe enough in wallet to invest in it – specifically the non-payment side of mobile wallet,” said Yoni Solomon, product marketing manager at Vibes.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

iPhone 8 to Have GREAT Battery Life!

Wait.  Aren't we currently using the iPhone 5s and waiting for the 6?

What is this iPhone 8 business then?

News out a few days ago should have all of us mobile junkies a bit excited, even though we will have to wait quite a while for it to be realized. Maybe by the time the iPhone 8 is sitting at 10% market share we'll have the battery life we all are dreaming of.

The short of it is Stanford researchers have made an enormous step forward to stable lithium anode batteries, the 'holy grail' of batteries. Here is a piece that tells the whole story:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140727165708.htm

Here is a snippet from that piece:

"In practical terms, if we can improve the capacity of batteries to, say, four times today's, that would be exciting. You might be able to have cell phone with double or triple the battery life or an electric car with a range of 300 miles that cost only $25,000 -- competitive with an internal combustion engine getting 40 mpg," Chu said.

...

The Stanford team's new lithium metal anode achieves 99 percent efficiency even at 150 cycles.

"The difference between 99 percent and 96 percent, in battery terms, is huge. So, while we're not quite to that 99.9 percent threshold, where we need to be, we're close and this is a significant improvement over any previous design," Cui said. "With some additional engineering and new electrolytes, we believe we can realize a practical and stable lithium metal anode that could power the next generation of rechargeable batteries."

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Starbucks Payments and Walmart Acquisitions

A couple items of news today are worthwhile.

First up is news of the continuing success of the Starbucks mobile app for mobile payments.  15% of all payments at Starbucks stores go through the app making it the most successful mobile wallet in history.  Now a new milestone has been reached:

http://www.mobilepaymentsinsider.com/2014/07/29/starbucks-hits-six-million-mobile-payments-a-week-and-new-projects-are-in-the-pipeline-says-ceo/

Next is news of Walmart continuing to acquire companies that can assist with its eCommerce plans:

http://www.internetretailer.com/2014/07/29/wal-mart-makes-another-e-commerce-acquisition

Several companies were acquired last year has been followed by acquisition of a product search firm and a recipes firm so far this year along with this latest.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Comcast Customer Retention - Part 2

Ready for more?

Following the most recent internet sensation caused by Comcast retention processes news organizations and websites have been following up for more.  The testimony has come in as a landslide.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/28/5936959/comcast-confessions-when-every-call-is-a-sales-call

Here is a snippet from that piece:

...The Verge put out a call and sought out current and former Comcast employees, hoping to shed light on the inner workings of the largest broadcasting and cable company in the country. More than 100 employees responded, including one who works in the same call center as the rep in Block’s recording.

These employees told us the same stories over and over again: customer service has been replaced by an obsession with sales, technicians are understaffed and tech support is poorly trained, and the massive company is hobbled by internal fragmentation.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

PS  Much has been written and continues to be written about Comcast due to this.  Here are a couple more.

First a Forbes.com piece listing 5 reasons you should admire Comcast:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/quickerbettertech/2014/07/28/5-reasons-why-you-should-admire-comcast/

Then a Consumerist piece that tears apart the Forbes piece:

http://consumerist.com/2014/07/29/lets-break-down-forbes-laughable-5-reasons-to-admire-comcast/

Enjoy!

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0142 Beacons Everywhere

The year of the beacon continues.

iPhone controlled room keys have been coming out in small hotel chains.  This story talks a bit about that:

http://9to5mac.com/2014/01/27/iphone-controlled-hotel-door-locks-will-allow-guests-to-bypass-check-in/

Hilton Hotels is now planning to join the masses moving towards mobile for everything and beacons for personalization.  I hadn't even started to think about using a beacon as my room key (technically the phone is the key and the beacon is the 'key hole' I guess).

http://9to5mac.com/2014/07/28/hilton-hotels-to-let-you-use-your-iphone-as-your-hotel-key-from-next-year/

Lord & Taylor is jumping in as well:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/lord-taylor-unites-beacons-popular-apps-and-brands-for-in-store-appeal

Yet is all of this really going the direction it should?  This article questions that:

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/230847/beacon-fatiguealready.html?edition=74820

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Much like mobile alerts and SMS before it, the rise of Beacon technology will initiate another round of internal discussion among marketers about how much is too much. The push components possible in proximity marketing and sensor-based broadcasting are promising precisely for the same reasons they risk being annoying: their disruptive potential. We all know that getting shoppers to use specific shopping or retail apps in-store is itself a heavy lift. They are there to shop, after all. And as much as we would like to believe we can channel people’s mobile behaviors into channels that benefit your brand, the fact is that people use their devices in personal and idiosyncratic ways they prefer to control.

In other words, beacons are going to be no easier to sell to mobile users than anything else has been -- in fact, they may be tougher.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

3D Printed Products from Amazon

Every once in a while you see or hear something and it strikes you.  "This is likely going to be seen as a big deal some day."

I've just had that feeling.

3D printing is still in its infancy but it is already being commercialized, with printers ready to buy now, and even products made through the process are being commercialized.  Amazon has thrown its weight in to this and I think that is the start of something.

Imagine the retail store of the future where you walk in and the store only has one of every item.  You don't buy the actual product at the store, you merely get the tactile sensations associated with shopping, make your selection, and pay for it.  The actual item is then printed for you and sent to your home, or picked up at a central printing station.  Retail stores would need less than a quarter of their current space to perform the same task.

Folks, this isn't science fiction.

Here is the article on Amazon's efforts:

http://www.internetretailer.com/2014/07/28/amazon-launches-online-store-3-d-printed-wares

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Amazon.com Inc. has introduced an online store featuring toys, earrings, customizable bobble heads and other products made by 3-D printers. The store offers more than 200 products that consumers can customize and print on demand.

“The introduction of our 3-D Printed Products store suggests the beginnings of a shift in online retail—that manufacturing can be more nimble to provide an immersive customer experience,” says Petra Schindler-Carter, director for Amazon marketplace sales.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE** Looks like I'm not the only blogger interested in 3D printing.  Good writing here:
https://econsultancy.com/blog/65263-3d-printing-check-me-out

**UPDATE #2** Not directly related to 3D printing but fits perfectly with the imaginary store of the future I described.  Here is a story about the "mall of the future".
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101876655

Check out this part:
One company at the forefront of this thinking is Seattle-based Hointer, which licenses its technology to retailers and operates its own apparel store. Its eponymous store keeps only one version of each item on the selling floor, and shoppers use a smartphone app to scan the tags attached to the pieces they want to try on. The items are then dispensed into a dressing room.

Geofencing, Shopping Lists, Something Cool, and Deep Linking

This entry will be a catch-all of good reads.

First up is a very good read on geofencing:

https://econsultancy.com/blog/65223-eight-more-examples-of-geofencing-you-should-know-about

Next is the evolution of Shopping Lists and what these might look like in the future.  By the way this is exactly how I shop on Amazon today.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/230757/mobile-meets-the-master-shopping-list.html?edition=74784

Another entry from eConsultancy is well worth reading.  This contains a list of 5 new concepts that may change the way businesses make content.

https://econsultancy.com/blog/65249-five-technologies-that-are-changing-the-way-brands-make-content-2

Finally is an interesting research on the current state of Deep Linking between apps and websites.  Read the article if you don't know what that is.

http://www.internetretailer.com/2014/07/24/missing-link-mobile-marketing

Here is a link to the actual study:

http://www.pureoxygenmobile.com/research-as-many-as-95-percent-of-top-50-retailers-lack-deeplink-support-in-their-mobile-apps/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0141 AT Kearney Study on Omnichannel

A very solid study has been released late last week by A.T. Kearney dealing with Brick & Mortar retail stores and multi-channel challenges.

Their conclusion is omnichannel relies on a core of brick & mortar stores and always will.  Customers like the experience of shopping.

http://www.atkearney.com/consumer-products-retail/on-solid-ground

Here is a snippet from the website entry:

According to the Omnichannel Shopping Preferences study—the latest addition to A.T. Kearney’s ongoing study of the evolution of omnichannel commerce—physical stores are clearly customers’ preferred shopping channel and a place where the most significant consumer and retailer value continues, and will continue, to be created.

Digital retailing is capturing headlines and inspiring spirited debate as retailers plan how best to invest for future success. But beyond the headlines, physical stores remain the foundation of retailing, evidenced by the fact that 90 percent of all retail sales are transacted in stores and 95 percent of all retail sales are captured by retailers with a brick-and-mortar presence.

The entire study can be downloaded for free and is linked to in the URL provided above.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

A Simple Question

I'm just going to ask this.  Not certain of the answer but I want to post this anyway.

If A equals B and B equals C then A also equals C right?

For the more mathematical:

If A=B
And B=C
Then A=C

Well if Apple is working with IBM and IBM is working with Monitise then is it possible Apple is also working with Monitise?  What would that mean for retail, mobile payments, wallet, and more?

I don't know if any of that is happening but I wanted to ask the question.  The public statement around the IBM and Apple relationship is a focus on Enterprise solutions and that made quite a stir.  What if there is more going on behind the scenes?

Here is an article on Apple's link to IBM:

http://www.networkworld.com/article/2456690/uc-voip/apple-ibm-agreement-shows-progress-for-enterprise-mobility.html

Here is an article on IBM's link to Monitise:

http://www.itproportal.com/2014/07/23/ibm-and-monitise-cloud-based-mobile-payment-solution-ready-to-trigger-retail-revolution/

What will happen next?  I don't know.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Apple Passbook Usage, Beacons, and Mobile Intersection with Retail Stores

Three quick hits that are worth capturing for your reading.

First is a story on the opportunities mobile presents for traditional retail, the brick & mortar experience:

http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/three-ways-expanding-capabilities-mobile-devices-will-impact-retail

Here is a snippet from that piece:

...mobile devices are continuing to evolve. Increasingly, mobile devices are offering features that make it easier for retailers to position advanced computational and analytical power at the point of customer contact. Here are three ways upcoming changes in the capabilities of mobile devices will affect retail.

Next is usage data on mobile wallets that shows Apple's Passbook is the most used wallet out there, though no payments have been enabled within it yet:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/apple-passbook-used-more-frequently-than-other-digital-wallets-report

Finally is a story on one usage of BLE Beacons/iBeacons and the success they are having:

http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/hillshire-brands-sees-20-jump-purchase-intent-beacons-159042

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Hillshire Brands and IPG Mediabrands-owned agency BPN are announcing an interesting case study today about how beacons (the devices set up in brick-and-mortar stores to trigger location-based offers) increased purchase intent and sales for American Craft link sausages. While marketers have hyped beacons for a while now, Hillshire’s campaign is one of the first proof points that back up the use of the in-store technology.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0140 Third World Model for Payments

This story, the entire article, transported me away to a very different world with very different possibilities and forced me to ask a number of questions.

What could we be doing if we were starting with a blank slate?

Is the weight of our world, and the offerings in that world, going to ultimately keep us from achieving the potential breaking through during the Information Revolution?

Read this story:

http://recode.net/2014/07/24/disrupting-payments-africa-style/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Spending time in the developing world, one can always marvel at the resourcefulness of people living in often extraordinarily difficult conditions. The challenges of living in many parts of the world certainly cause one to reflect on what we see from day to day. Here in the U.S., we’re all familiar with the transformative nature of mobile phones in our lives. And for those in extreme poverty, the mobile phone has been equally, if not more, transformative.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0139 Geomarketing

I'll post two articles today under the "Best Reading of the Day" moniker as I was travelling this week and have some catching up to do.

This story on what is happening to marketing with location-based technologies beginning to take off is well worth the reading investment:

http://www.cmo.com/articles/2014/7/18/location_based_marke.html

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Digital marketing has made clear that getting the right message to the right person at the right time is paramount. Yet somewhere at the intersection of technology and opportunity lies the very real world of putting an effective plan into place. At the center of this concept: geomarketing.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

How NOT to Use Social Media

Southwest Airlines is in the news for all the wrong reasons this week after a gate attendant forced a passenger to delete a tweet critical of the service he had received.

Here is the article I found was the best presentation of the story:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/minnesota-family-ordered-off-southwest-flight

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Minnesota man Duff Watson didn’t fare so well, however, after a tweet he wrote commenting on what he perceived to be poor service from a Southwest Airlines agent led to him being ordered off a plane and told to delete the offending post.

The incident occurred on Sunday when Watson, together with his two children aged six and nine, prepared to board an aircraft for a flight from Denver to Minneapolis.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0139 Grocery Mobile

A very good read today comes to us from Canadian Grocer.  While this is less applicable to those of us in the United States it still tells a good story about the transformation being seen in retail and now grocery supermarkets.

http://www.canadiangrocer.com/top-stories/planet-of-the-apps-42964

Here is a snippet from the piece:

ABOUT A YEAR AGO, ALMOST NO grocery chain in Canada had an app. But now apps are fast becoming must-haves as big grocers try to personalize the shopping experience in a mobile world.

There’s good reason chains are turning to apps. Shoppers are virtually living on their phones, says Ron Welke, associate vice-president of food at Federated Co-operatives in Saskatoon.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Target, Facebook, and Quiznos Gamification

A few pieces of news today and they each make for excellent reading.

First is news on the Target app:

http://chainstoreage.com/article/target-launches-image-recognition-app-mobile-shopping

Next is Facebook testing a 'buy' button:

http://chainstoreage.com/article/facebook-tests-%E2%80%98buy%E2%80%99-button-help-companies-drive-sales?ad=technology

Finally we see how QSR is playing with gamification:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/how-quiznos-used-gamification-to-strengthen-brand-loyalty-with-consumers

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Starbucks and eBay do Order Ahead

Two stories stand out today and both are worth reading.

First, the folks over at Re/Code have an excellent story about what Starbucks is doing with their mobile app.  Next up will be ordering ahead in some test locations.

http://recode.net/2014/07/17/starbucks-has-bigger-plans-in-mobile-payments-than-most-people-realize/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

A decade after the idea was first sketched on the proverbial drawing broad, Starbucks is poised to finally let its customers order their coffees from their phones. And the company’s plans for building on its wildly successful mobile app don’t stop there.

The Seattle-based coffee giant, which said in March that more than 14 percent of purchases in its U.S. stores are paid for through its app, will allow customers in one undisclosed geographic test market to start placing pickup orders from the Starbucks app later this year, according to the company’s Chief Digital Officer Adam Brotman. This should not be confused as an experiment, Brotman made clear. Starbucks is determined to eventually roll out the technology nationwide, no matter how long it takes.

Next is a story on eBay's success with same-day order and pickup and how much greater that has been adopted than the order for same-day delivery:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/ebay-says-in-store-pickup-gains-traction-faster-than-same-day-delivery

Here is a snippet from that piece:

EBay is doubling down on its shop-anywhere Click & Collect service in Britain because of how quickly it is gaining traction but says that same-day delivery service eBay Now is not experiencing the same level of enthusiasm.

Have a great weekend.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0138 3D Printing of Ice Cream

What a great idea!

3D printing is the printing of physical objects.  Just like printing out a picture on a piece of paper except in three dimensions ... and a lot more complicated.

MIT students have created the ability to perform 3D printing using ice cream as the material.  What better way to help people visualize what 3D printing actually is?  Pictures, diagrams, and more explain the process.

Read this story:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/16/mit-students-create-an-ice-cream-printer/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Comcast Customer Retention

This one is all over the news but maybe you've missed it.  I've gathered together a few stories that add it all up.

The essentials of the story revolve around a woman attempting to cancel her family's service from Comcast.  Eventually the husband got on the call, an executive at AOL, and he recorded the last half or so of the call and popped it on the internet creating a firestorm.

How is nearly 20 minutes of nearly abusive behavior by the Comcast representative attempting to retain the account?  Sound like fun?

Here is the core story:

http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/15/5901057/comcast-call-cancel-service-ryan-block

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Almost anyone that has tried to cancel cable service, wireless service, or a gym membership knows how difficult it can be to do over the phone, but a recent call to Comcast by one customer might take the cake for the worst of them all. Ryan Block, formerly of Engadget and now at AOL, called Comcast to cancel his service, but instead of politely obliging and going ahead with his request, the representative on the line insisted on taking him through a circular argument to find out the reason why he was canceling service.

Block was able to capture about eight minutes of the call and has posted the audio...

Here is a follow-up with credentialed testimony from a Comcast employee who knows these matters:

http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/16/5909591/here-s-why-your-comcast-rep-is-yelling-at-you

Here is a bit about the proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner (that sound great for improved customer service across the country right?):

http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/13/5407704/comcast-confirms-45-billion-acquisition-of-time-warner-cable

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Apple in the News - Payments and Enterprise with IBM

A couple of big stories involving Apple came to light over the last 24 hours.

First up is a very interesting move in to digital payments, currently exclusively in Japan.

http://www.paymentssource.com/news/emerging-payments/apple-lays-foundation-for-digital-payments-in-japan-3018532-1.html

Here is a snippet from that piece:

ITunes Pass is the latest of many small steps Apple has made that could be combined to enable mobile commerce, contactless payments and a mobile wallet. And the company boasted in April that most of its 800 million iTunes accounts have credit cards already attached. But its Passbook app, a wallet that houses other apps, has mostly been a sandbox for third parties.

"It would seem with this move Apple is boiling the proverbial frog. It's a small, yet significant move that slowly transitions Passbook from a digital storage container to a digital wallet," says Jordan McKee, a senior analyst covering mobile payments at 451 Research Mobility Team.

Next is the announcement of a close partnership between Apple and IBM for the Enterprise.

http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/15/apple-teams-up-with-ibm-for-huge-expansive-enterprise-push/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Apple has announced a strategic partnership with IBM that will see the enterprise giant transfer over 150 of their enterprise and IT apps and tools to Apple platforms natively, and will also have IBM selling Apple iPhones and iPads to its business clients all over the world. In an interview with CNBC, Apple CEO Tim Cook and IBM CEO Virginia Rometty both told the network that Apple and IBM are like “puzzle pieces” that fit perfectly together.

“We knew that we needed to have a partner that deeply understood each of the verticals,” Cook told CNBC. “That had scale, that had a lot of dirt under their fingernails so to speak from really understanding each of these verticals and we found a kindred spirit in IBM.”

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE** iTunes Pass is now available in the USA and UK.
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/itunes-pass-mobile-payments-japan/#!bg2GTN

**UPDATE #2** A bit more analysis on Apple's moves towards a mobile wallet
http://www.pymnts.com/news/acquiring/2014/coming-this-fall-apples-mwallet/#.U9ELS-NdX9Y

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0137 MIT Study on Retail

Excellent read from MIT Technologies courtesy of SAP (they might want to sell you something).

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/528956/evolving-beyond-coupons-and-mobile-apps-retail-technologies-in-the-sensor-economy/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Today, consumers don’t just walk in and buy. They stand in stores, use their smartphones to comparison-shop, read opinionated reviews online, and solicit social input from their families and friends. Finally, when they’re ready to purchase, they go online, often to different stores than where they did their research. Therein lies the challenge: how can retailers remain profitable when consumers expect commoditized pricing, rich product assortments, and superior levels of service, all at the same time?

They are spot on with much of their writing here.  Retail is undergoing a sea change as a result of the mobile internet.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0136 Driving Adoption

I am no stranger to concepts related to driving adoption and usage of your digital platform.  However, a new story on The Next Web is worth reading:

http://thenextweb.com/dd/2014/07/13/increased-activation-rate-2-30-10-steps/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

I’d like to share with you the tips, tricks and tools we used to develop a kick-ass customer feedback loop – even though we were still in private beta and we didn’t have huge amounts of traffic (around 200 unique visits per day).

The feedback we have collected has greatly helped us increase our activation rate and engage with our users. It has also given us great insight into what features we should be building for our early customers.

They've done a great job with their effort and the article tells a great story.  This is the best reading of the day so enjoy!

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

More Beacon News and Mobile Usage Data

A bit of news around iBeacons/Beacons or Bluetooth Low Energy.

For mobile payments:

http://www.digitaltransactions.net/news/story/How-Bluetooth-Beacons-Are-Central-to-GoPago-And-Slyde-Mobile-Payment-And-Offers-App

For Marriott:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/marriott-expands-mobile-platform-to-integrate-with-ibeacons

Next up is some mobile usage data that won't surprise anyone.  People are increasingly reliant on their smart phones for their in-store experience:

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/229888/mobile-apps-used-in-store-to-confirm-or-find-alter.html?edition=74407

Here is a snippet from that piece:

According to the CFI Group’s Retail Satisfaction Barometer, the use of mobile applications for shopping purposes doubled in the past year, with 41% of consumers actively using mobile apps to hunt for information while shopping. Mobile provides an additional channel for shoppers looking for the most convenient avenue to purchase relative to their lifestyle. Furthermore, the study found that checkout is the most impactful driver of the customer experience.

The information in that study on the impact of mobile may be the most interesting.  We are seeing a huge impact across the board, from channel to channel, by mobile usage.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0135 Boston vs. San Francisco

Where is start-up central in the United States?  Everyone thinks of Silicon Valley without batting an eye (not really in San Francisco is it?).

How about Boston?

Yes.  Boston is a tremendous hub of technology activity and start-up activity.

This article compares the two:

http://www.xconomy.com/national/2014/07/11/boston-vs-san-francisco-two-cultures-of-innovation/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Let’s say you’re an ambitious, creative professional or entrepreneur working in the United States. You’re interested in technology, you have the luxury of mobility, and you want to be close to the center of things. Which city should you choose as your home?

If you’re attracted to a specific sub-field, the answer may be obvious. For finance, advertising, traditional media, or fashion, it’s New York. For government, it’s Washington, DC. For entertainment, it’s Los Angeles.

But for almost any other area of technology or its related industries, Boston and San Francisco should be high on your list. Both are top-tier innovation hubs. How are you supposed to choose between them?

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Misc. Apps, News, Stories, iBeacons, etc.

I found a number of good stories today including some news and some great reads.  I'll clump it all together in this post and you can choose which stories interest you the most.  The tags for this post should cover all of the stories to make this post searchable.

First up is ASO or App Store Optimization.

http://www.yodelmobile.com/yodelblog/index.php/2014/07/us-and-uk-approach-to-app-store-optimisation-differs-but-theres-room-for-improvement-across-the-board/

They found pretty poor ASO at too many of the leading retailers.  For example one retailer only used 3 of the 20 available key words and one of those words was 'in'.  Ridiculous.

Next is Digital Trends' listing of the best apps.  They list by category so it is a great entry to bookmark:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/best-iphone-apps/#!bcZh0h

Next is a story about a web-only retailer that has opened its first brick and mortar store, in New York City.  Wow.  The blurring of the online and 'real' worlds continues.

http://www.internetretailer.com/2014/07/11/web-retailer-birchbox-opens-its-first-bricks-and-mortar-store

One more on omnichannel focuses on the efforts by Sears / Kmart:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/sears-kmart-expands-store-pick-up-to-either-locations

Finally is another story this year on the use of iBeacons.  The year of the beacon continues....

http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/easyjet-pilots-ibeacon-scheme

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Shameless PayPal Plug

Have been having discussions about the capabilities of BLE and Beacon/iBeacon technology and thought it was a good time to capture a couple very illuminating spots created by PayPal.

Reality is different, so far, from what is being shown here but it sure gets the wires clicking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8h_i8qv1FY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBLdOIRSvQU

Enjoy!

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0134 ACH and How it Works

Do you lay up late at night wondering how payments systems in the United States operate?  Wonder what makes them tick?

I thought so.

Here are three articles that tell a pretty good story about ACH and a little company trying to enable digital payroll for small to mid-sized companies.

http://engineering.zenpayroll.com/how-ach-works-a-developer-perspective-part-1/

http://engineering.zenpayroll.com/how-ach-works-a-developer-perspective-part-2/

http://engineering.zenpayroll.com/how-ach-works-a-developer-perspective-part-3/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0133 Tablet Sales and Online Groceries

A couple of very good stories are worth your time.

First up is a story on the implication of rising Tablet Sales:

http://www.pymnts.com/in-depth/2014/what-rising-tablet-sales

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Apple released the first version of the iPad in 2010 and since about 2012 analysts, journalists and technology enthusiasts have been predicting the day that tablet would dethrone the traditional computer in all major use categories and ring in the new era of eCommerce.

So far, this has not exactly happened. From the vantage point of mid-2014, a lot of tablets have been sold and the technology has certainly improved, but on the surface not much as changed. Traditional computers still represent the majority of computing devices sold, and when it comes to using the Internet for a determined purpose like shopping —the desktop (or laptop) remains go-to tool of choice.

Next is a story about online groceries:

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/07/08/retail-profit-online-grocery-sales

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Big retailers are taking a calculated hit to margins to invest in online grocery operations, in the hope they can persuade consumers to add more profitable items such as clothes and computers to their orders of fruit and vegetables.

Food has been one of the last things to move online because complex logistics for fresh, chilled and frozen products make it an expensive business. Retailers are also reluctant to lose the potential for the lucrative impulse buys that occur in-store.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0132 The Modern CMO

CMO.com has a great read on the modern Chief Marketing Officer:

http://www.cmo.com/articles/2014/7/1/todays_cmo_renaissance.html

Here is a snippet from that piece:

No question about it: The role of the chief marketing officer has dramatically changed over the past few years. On one front, the digital marketing landscape is taking over. On the other is a growing corporate accountability and shift toward the age of the customer.

Layer in management, staffing, planning, and, of course, the business of creativity itself, and the makeup of a modern CMO resembles more of a Renaissance man than a character from Mad Men.

What is a Renaissance man?  Let's look to WikiPedia for an answer to that one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymath

It has been said Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, came in at the end of times where a single man could know all that the studies of the world could reveal.  He worked furiously to learn, reading everything, in an attempt to be one last man who could know all there was to know.  Ultimately his mark is still being felt to this day though he failed at Waterloo.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

General Harmonics Out of Dark Mode

This should be a very interesting company to follow, especially since it is already gaining comparisons to a fictional company in a very successful new HBO series titled 'Silicon Valley'.

http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/07/general-harmonics-is-basically-pied-piper-from-silicon-valley/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

General Harmonics is a small startup from Canada that’s looking to revolutionize the way we stream media. And rather than risk sounding like I’m writing some kind of self-parody, I’ll be blunt about it: they’re basically Pied Piper from HBO’s Silicon Valley, only with a few decades more experience and technology that’s way farther along.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

MCX and ISIS in the News

A couple of contrasting stories were published recently regarding mobile payments providers MCX and ISIS.

First up is the pending re-branding of ISIS now that a terrorist group in Iraq has been dubbed the same name by western journalists.  Ouch.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/nfc-payment-service-isis-rebranded-distance-middle-eastern-militant-group/#!baN9rx

Next is a short piece on MCX.

http://paymentsviews.com/2014/07/07/mcx-now-i-get-it/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

...it dawned on me yesterday, MCX makes perfect sense if you think of it as enabling merchants to better exchange customer spending habits with manufacturers, consumer packaged good manufacturers (CPGs) and others to create more timely, relevant and compelling offers to those merchants’ customers!

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0131 YouTube Recipes

First Pinterest, now YouTube for recipes.

Yes.  Recipes.

Google is out with a self-serving piece about engagement with Generation Y, "Millenials", and their eating habits.

http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/millennials-eat-up-youtube-food-videos.html

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Whether consumers are looking for a flatbread recipe or watching their favorite foodie celebrity, food is thriving on YouTube. New research from Millward Brown Digital, Firefly and Google delves into how YouTube is fueling the foodie fan culture, with insights into the audiences who devour food videos. They’re tuning in to watch videos that inspire, educate or entertain. They’re loyal, passionate and highly engaged, powering a 280% growth in food channel subscriptions over the past year.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Kroger Increases Omnichannel Presence

Pretty significant news in grocery retail.  Kroger has acquired a strong eCommerce player.  This move seems obvious to allow Kroger to acquire a skill-set it was missing.

Here is one article on the news:

http://www.pymnts.com/news/2014/krogers-ecommerce-buy-puts-them-into-the-grocery-delivery-fray/#.U7rAxZRdX9Y

Here is a snippet from that piece:

With the purchase of online Vitamin seller Vitacost.com, supermarket chain Kroger is ready to enter the big leagues of grocery-delivery competition with such marquee players as Google and Amazon.

“(Kroger) now has companies like Google competing against them because I can order the same stuff,” Forrester Research Inc. analyst Adam Silverman told CIO Journal.

Here is another article:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/kroger-augments-mobile-expertise-with-vitacost-buy

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE** Excellent write-up on the implications of this move:
http://www.progressivegrocer.com/viewpoints-blogs/guest-viewpoints/expert-column-kroger%E2%80%99s-vitacostcom-acquisition-%E2%80%93-what-does-it-mean

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0130 Coupons and Product Idea Savers

Two stories I found today grabbed my attention.

The first is a story about coupon redemption after the purchase.  Sounds paradigm breaking right?  Makes a lot of sense in many ways.  Here is the article:

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/229101/mobile-coupon-redemption-after-the-shopping-trip.html

Here is a snippet from that piece:

A couple of years ago, a California startup named Endorse created what seemed to be a path of least consumer resistance for mobile coupons.

The well-funded startup challenged the age-old concept of coupons by creating an app that allowed consumers to take a photo of their grocery shopping receipt, upload it to Endorse and receive credit that could be redeemed for cash, which was sent by check or via PayPal.

The offers, from brands including Kraft, General Mills and PepsiCo, were refreshed one day each week...

Next up is an app that is in limited availability at the moment that lets you use the pictures on your phone to identify items for purchase.  The kicker is what comes after.  The app then tracks the price of the items in your shopping list and can notify you of savings events.  These third party aggregaters are the real killers of brick & mortar retail.  They'll all be forced to be "honest" now because the consumer will have too much information.  Only the luxury brands will be able to get away with large markups even on a day to day basis.

Here is the article:

http://appadvice.com/appnn/2014/07/snapup-app-automagically-turns-your-screenshots-into-shopping-lists

The app is named 'SnapUp'.  Here is a snippet from that piece:

Basically, SnapUp lets you shop simply by taking screenshots of products you want from any app or mobile-optimized website, be it on Amazon, Best Buy, Target, or any of your favorite shopping apps and sites. The app then “automagically” turns your “snaps” into easily viewable and manageable shopping lists.

Pretty neat, right? But perhaps the neatest feature of SnapUp is its ability to monitor the prices of the items in your shopping lists and notify you whenever any of the items undergoes a price drop.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0129 Payments

This is the best reading I've found this week and shouldn't be missed if you are in retail and payments.

http://www.pymnts.com/news/acquiring/2014/merchant-surcharging

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Recent changes in U.S. law and lawsuit settlements have removed network bans on offering price discounts and other incentives designed to help merchants steer customers to less costly payment alternatives. However, only a small fraction of transactions receive a cash or debit card discount, and even fewer are subject to credit card surcharges, new research suggests.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

PayPal Apps for Wearable Devices

Google is standardizing their systems that support wearable devices such as watches.  This is the Android Wear release that we saw a few months ago.  The first devices are beginning to arrive using this new Android OS add-on as you can read about here:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8228/inside-the-first-android-wear-devices-lg-g-watch-samsung-gear-live-teardown

PayPal has jumped in as well with an app:

http://www.finextra.com/news/fullstory.aspx?newsitemid=26213&topic=innovation

Here is a snippet from that piece:

The new app, which is initially only available to PayPal's beta community, follows the recent release of the Android Wear OS and SDK by Google at its I/O developer conference. The Google APIs are constructed to help developers build new applications and user interfaces specifically designed for reading on tiny device screens.

Will wearable devices trigger disruptive capability in retail and in payments?  Time will tell.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE** Just a bit more.  This article covers 7 new wearable payment innovations:
http://www.paymentssource.com/gallery/7-new-wearable-payment-innovations

Cloud Television Dead, for Now

Back in April I wrote about the Supreme Court case that would decide the fate of a little company named Aereo.

If you haven't been reading the news the last week or so the decision has been made and Aereo, in its current form, is dead.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/06/30/how-to-get-broadcast-tv-for-free-even-without-aereo/

Here is a snippet from that one story:

Last Wednesday, the United States Supreme Court effectively drove a stake through the heart of Aereo, a company that allowed users to stream network television over the Internet. Aereo also functions as a DVR service, letting its customers watch local programming they had recorded and stored on the company’s cloud-based servers. Aereo’s CEO has pledged to keep the the company going, but the demise of its current service is all but assured.

Broadcasters didn’t like Aereo, which charges customers a $8 monthly fee, because the New York-based, Barry Diller-backed startup consciously avoided paying them the billions of dollars in retransmission fees cable and satellite providers always ponied up to carry their content. The broadcasters viewed the Aereo case as an existential threat—so much so that a top News Corp executive said Fox might move to cable if the decision didn’t go its way—and, as such, successfully sued to get Aereo shut down on copyright infringement grounds.

Here is a portion of the letter posted on Aereo.com:

The spectrum that the broadcasters use to transmit over the air programming belongs to the American public and we believe you should have a right to access that live programming whether your antenna sits on the roof of your home, on top of your television or in the cloud.

On behalf of the entire team at Aereo, thank you for the outpouring of support. It has been staggering and we are so grateful for your emails, Tweets and Facebook posts.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant