Happy New Year's Eve!`

Just about time to say goodbye to 2014.  I truly hope it has been a good one for you and your families.

Here's to 2015!

Hope you've enjoyed the reading.

J.W. Gant

In-Store Pickup Issues, Walmart Gift Card Program, and Macy's Award

Hello Everyone,

I hope 2014 has been a great year for you.  This will be my final research post of the year.

First up is an interesting study on in-store pickup issues.  Seems the checkout process is considerably longer when performing in-store pickup, vs. store shoppers who've done their own picking.  This matches my own experience recently at Best Buy.  After waiting more than the requested time to come to the store my order still wasn't ready so they sent the picker off to find and fulfill my order.  He couldn't locate the product.  After watching him wander around for a few minutes I went directly to the location I expected it would be at and found it on the shelf.  Seems the real problem for pickers is the lack of familiarity with products, each store having tens of thousands of SKUs. Whereas the customer knows exactly what they are looking for.

Here is the story:

http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/study-store-pickup-offers-slower-checkout

Next up is a Walmart gift card trade-in program they've recently launched.  Trade in cards from other retailers for Walmart credit.

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/departments/technology/walmart-launches-gift-card-exchange

Finally is the award to Macy's for best in mobile 2014.  They've earned it in my estimation.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/macys-is-2014-mobile-retailer-of-the-year

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Misc News - Hershey SMS, Dunnhumby Predictions, and Chevron with Apple Pay

A few stories are worth your time today.

First is the use of SMS messaging by Hershey's to enable in-store interaction with consumers.  This is in preference, for now, over bluetooth beacons.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/why-hershey-co-chose-sms-not-beacons-for-in-store-engagement

Next is a very good story by Dunnhumby predicting what 2015 will contain.  This is the best reading of the day really.

http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/2015-predictions-Dunnhumby-use-data

Finally is news on Chevron signing up for Apple Pay at the pump.

http://appadvice.com/appnn/2014/12/chevron-working-to-integrate-apple-pay-at-its-gas-pumps-by-early-2015

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Instacart Valuation at $2USB

Wow!

Just 6 months ago this little Silicon Valley startup company that delivers groceries was valued at $400 million.  They just wrapped up a new $220 million funding round that values the company at $2 billion.  They've been busy.

Re/Code has the story:

http://recode.net/2014/12/30/grocery-delivery-startup-instacart-scores-220-million-investment/

Looks like private equity believes Instacart has legs and grocery delivery is real.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Apple Pay, CurrentC, and Amazon

A few good articles I've found today, though one is a few days old.  These are good reads overall.

First up is the beginning of what is sure to be series of articles we'll see that summarize the year.  This year-end tradition is a bit annoying to me overall but has its worth I guess.  This one is good if you haven't followed along closely with events in mobile payments:

http://www.mobilepaymentstoday.com/articles/2014-in-review-part-i-apple-pay-mcx-the-uk-and-beacons/

Next is an article on ComputerWorld about Apple Pay and the issues we've seen with various forms of mobile payments.  This is worthy of the read just for the part on McDonalds and Apple Pay:

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2862227/hold-the-phone-mcdonald-s.html

Finally is news from Mobile Commerce Daily about Amazon.  Seems mobile is a huge part of their eCommerce business now, thanks to both smart phones and tablets I'm sure.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/amazon-com-sees-nearly-60pc-of-consumers-shop-via-mobile-devices

I hope your holiday season is going well.  Best Regards to all.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Happy Holidays!

I hope you and your family are enjoying a wonderful holiday season!

A quick google search of holiday images resulted in this one that I hope you'll enjoy (and I hope isn't copyrighted in some way).

See you later,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0179 Amazon Showing Cracks?

Very good article over on the New York Times regarding Amazon.

Internally I've been saying since early summer after a decade of hearing about nothing but eCommerce conquering traditional retail the new mobile-centric world is enabling retailers to strike back.
















This article seems to take that idea to heart:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/technology/personaltech/amazon-not-as-unstoppable-as-it-may-appear.html?ref=business&_r=0

Here is a snippet from the piece:

“I’m seeing the first big cracks in Amazon at this point, and it will be interesting to see how they handle it,” said Venky Harinarayan, a tech investor and entrepreneur who worked closely with Mr. Bezos in the early 2000s, after selling a company he helped start, Junglee.com, to Amazon.

...

“Wall Street has given them a lot of leeway in prioritizing growth over profitability, and they’ve taken full advantage of that,” he said. “But it’s going to get harder and harder to get that license, and when that happens, we’ll see how their business starts to look, and how they respond to challenges.”

What will 2015 bring?

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Samsung Mobile Payments and M&M's Crispy

News, news, news.

Mobile payments is in the news again, this time from Samsung's corner.  The news began to break late yesterday afternoon but I couldn't find anything in writing that told the story.  Here is a story from Mobile Payments Insider:

http://www.mobilepaymentsinsider.com/2014/12/17/samsung-in-talks-to-launch-apple-pay-competitor/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Samsung is in discussions over a possible deal with payments start-up LoopPay that might see the smartphone maker launch its own mobile payments system to challenge Apple Pay in 2015.

Samasung’s new smartphone is due for release in early 2015, and the negotiations with LoopPay may mean that those with newer Samsung models will be able to pay for goods in-store using their phones rather than card or cash.

A source told Re/code that the deal has not yet been finalised, but a prototype of the payments system on a Samsung phone has been created.

Looks like the folks over at Re/Code have much of the news:

https://recode.net/2014/12/16/samsung-in-talks-to-launch-apple-pay-competitor/

Next up is a tiny piece of news that brought a smile to my face just in time for the holiday season.  Do you remember Crispy M&M's??  No?  Well you'll soon have a chance to try them all over again.

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/departments/center-store/actress-vanessa-williams-heralds-return-mms-crispy

Here is a brief piece on the news:

After a decade-long absence, Mars Inc. reintroduced M&M's Crispy Chocolate Candies to store shelves this month, with a nationwide rollout planned for January 2015.

In celebration of the candies' return, Vanessa Williams, actress and voice of M&M's character Ms. Brown, joined the brand at M&M's World New York to give fans a first taste. Williams cut a ribbon across a special shelf stocked with M&M’s Crispy, and handed out samples to store guests.

January is the national launch.  Look for them on store shelves and let me know what you think.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0178 Beacons at Banks

I hope your holiday season is going along smashingly as we approach the winter solstice.  Shortest day of the year is right around the corner, then the days start getting longer again.

Mobile Commerce Daily has the piece:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/us-bank-mitek-predict-takeoff-of-beacons-mobile-deposit-in-2015

Here is a snippet from it:

U.S. Bank, working with mobile capture software company Mitek, predicts that banks and financial institutions will see beacon usage take off in 2015, helping deliver more personalized experiences.

The commerce institutions believe that more consumers will be gravitating towards mobile imaging in banking and deposits, as those functionalities enable users to take a photo with their mobile device’s camera to participate in a loyalty program or snap a photo of a credit card to automatically populate the information. Enhanced smartphone capabilities, in addition to the increasing adoption of beacons and other proximity-based targeting efforts, are set to provide customers with more personalization than ever in the financial sector.

The year of the beacon is coming to a close.  Will we have any more news on this front prior to 2015?  I'm betting we will.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Amazon, Krispy Kreme, Waze and State Driver's Licenses in the News

Some very interesting and cool news has come out the last couple of days and I've decided to capture a few of those here.

First up are a couple posts about Amazon.

This one is mobile gift cards through Facebook via Amazon, a very exciting space to follow:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/amazon-joins-growing-number-of-brands-leveraging-mgift-cards

This details that Amazon's app has been pulled from Google Play due to it enabling the ability to download apps from Amazon's own app store:

http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/google-amazon-app-store-non-compete-play

Now we move over to Krispy Kreme's jump in to mobile payments ala Dunkin' Brands and Starbucks with two article worth your time.  Both mobile payments and loyalty are covered:

http://www.pymnts.com/news/2014/krispy-kreme-launches-into-mobile-payments/#.VIr0EtLF_9Y

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/krispy-kreme-swirls-up-donut-rewards-with-new-loyalty-app

Here is a little piece on the impact the crowd-sourced traffic navigation app Waze is having on communities around Los Angeles:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102261534

Finally is news about the State of Iowa working on a mobile app version of its driver's license.  First I've heard of this from a State.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/iowa-will-let-drivers-use-smartphone-drivers-license/

Tons of great stories there.  Hope you enjoy them before starting a great weekend.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0177 Google and Apple Smartphones

If you are looking for one, concise, article to sum up what is happening in the smartphone wars between Google and Apple look no further.  The folks over at Re/Code have it:

http://recode.net/2014/12/11/how-to-understand-the-google-apple-smartphone-war/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

When thinking about smartphones — the most important digital devices today — it’s customary to think of the business as a simple market-share contest. The conventional wisdom is that, of the two players who count, Google, via its Android platform, has soundly trounced Apple, via its iOS platform. So, game over.

But, as with most conventional wisdom, this example is oversimplified and ignores many nuances. The game is not over. In fact, the two contestants are playing different games, in which success isn’t mutually exclusive. Both have been very successful, but by different metrics and different skills.

And each of these heavyweights is facing serious challenges, though rather different ones.

Notice Windows Phone isn't mentioned at all as it lingers in the single digit market share range, and Blackberry is just a blip on the radar.

The reason this is the best read of the day is due to both the excellent groundwork the article does and the very recent news captured there such as the quotes from the Apple iPhone product team.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Papa John's Pizza Digital Orders Now 50% of Sales

This number really hit me.  One half of all sales of Papa John's pizzas are now digital orders.  The company cites mobile (likely including both tablet and smart phones) as the reason for the dramatic rise.

Wow!

This article tells the story:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/papa-johns-hits-mobile-milestone-with-50pc-digital-sales

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Papa John’s claims to be the first brand in its industry to surpass the digital and mobile sales milestone. The company, which was the first U.S.-based pizza chain to introduce digital ordering to its delivery restaurants in 2001, continues to streamline the payment process by accepting Google Wallet Instant Buy for delivery and take-out orders placed via its Android mobile application.

The article appears to incorrectly report the Papa John's app is only available on Android.  A quick look at the mobile website on my iPhone and I was prompted to download the app, in the store since 2011.

Regardless this is a huge statement.  Mobile first is increasingly becoming the avenue of choice for major brands.  QSR is definitely all over this.  Who will come next?

I find the portion on the mobile loyalty program at Papa John's to be particularly interesting.  Good read and worth taking the time.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0176 Starbucks iBeacons and more

Very interesting news coming out of Starbucks and well worth the time to read.

Here is the best read of the day showcases iBeacons in use at some Starbucks locations:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/starbucks-cooks-up-ibeacon-strategy-to-support-premium-coffee-emphasis

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Starbucks said it would bring out iBeacon technology in the coming year to allow customers at its premium-coffee Roastery and Tasting Rooms to access information about freshly brewed coffee via smartphones. The move further advances Starbucks’ mobile strategy, in which it is already a leader in mobile payments, at a time of stagnant sales and intense competition.

“Beacons can be a boon for brands, but they can also work negatively if they don’t create a positive experience for the consumer,” said Vanessa Horwell, principal and chief strategy officer with ThinkInk, Miami.

The year of the beacon rolls on.

Here is one more, also from Mobile Commerce Daily, about location based marketing at some Starbucks locations:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/starbucks-asda-use-proximity-targeting-on-mobile-to-drive-in-store-traffic

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Starbucks and Asda are leveraging proximity targeting on mobile devices to raise brand awareness of new products, drive consumer traffic and enhance the in-store experience as part of their ongoing efforts to dominate the mobile space.

With Starbucks mobile ordering officially rolling out for Portland customers this week, the beverage brand is continuing to bolster its growing mcommerce strategy and loyalty platform. A recent mobile advertisement campaign in Britain leveraged location data and Store Visitation Lift for Starbucks and supermarket chain Asda, resulting in a more than 60 percent lift in store visits after the campaign was completed.

Very cool work going on at Starbucks, a brand worth following.  I hear they are also pretty good at mobile payments....

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

PS  One more story about Starbucks came out yesterday that I failed to include here, this one regarding mobile ordering and pickup.
http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/starbucks-mobile-order-and-pay

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Starbucks has launched its Mobile Order & Pay system in Portland, Oregon ahead of the solution being rolled out across the US in 2015.

The system enables customers to place orders in advance of their visit and pick them up at their chosen Starbucks store, and is integrated into the popular Starbucks app and mobile loyalty scheme.

Starbucks is making moves.

Apple Pay Not Igniting

I've seen a few stories on Apple Pay since Thanksgiving Day so I'm revisiting the subject once more this year.

Here is my previous post on the data coming out of Black Friday (the news wasn't good for Apple Pay):

http://thagent.blogspot.com/2014/12/black-friday-news-apple-pay-google-and.html

This is the story that finally pushed me to put out another blog entry on the subject:

http://appadvice.com/appnn/2014/12/my-apple-pay-experience-at-bloomingdales-left-me-feeling-ugg

I'd like to quote one portion of that piece I find to be extremely interesting:

Last week, a MacRumors forum member said that a recent McDonald’s visit ended in disaster because employees didn’t know how to use Apple Pay. My experience at Bloomingdale’s, though different, lead me to the same conclusion. Retailers aren’t training their employees on how to use Apple Pay.

The pin pad message that I saw on Saturday clearly suggests that Bloomingdale’s is about to begin accepting Apple Pay, at least at [this] location. Unfortunately, it’s also clear that when the service does go online, sales associates may have little clue on how to use it.

For Apple Pay to succeed, Cupertino needs to do a lot more than sign up new banks and retailers. They also need to make sure that these partners train their staff on how to use it. Otherwise, one bad experience may convince a user to never try the service again.

The sales associates at retail stores might need training on a completely new payment method?  Wow.  I think the author is on to something.

Finally is one more write-up from the folks at PYMTS.com:

http://www.pymnts.com/news/2014/why-apple-pay-is-fizzling/#.VIXDwNLF_9Y

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Unless a large proportion of [iPhone 6] users are evangelizing Apple Pay, asking about whether they could use it, and putting pressure on merchants to accept it or else lose their business, merchants have very little incentive to make any effort to accept it.

And effort is needed—they need to educate their cashiers and most importantly install NFC terminals if they don’t have them. As it turns out a small fraction of a small fraction of customers are using Apple Pay at merchant locations that take Apple Pay. There is just no evidence that there is a groundswell of consumers demanding that other merchants take Apple Pay, or that merchants risk losing sales [if] they don’t take it.

I've stated previously this move by Apple seems much more targeted towards the Asian phone market than towards payments in the United States.  If you are an Apple executive you better hope that was the thinking.  It could be many years before Apple Pay becomes a force, if at all, and that will give the banks and the retailers a whole lot of breathing room to get their own products to market.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Updates on Facebook Ads and Target's Game

A couple of stories came out that tie to recent posts on this blog.  Excellent follow-up pieces.

First up is an analysis of Facebook's new advertising:

https://econsultancy.com/blog/65841-four-recent-improvements-to-the-facebook-ad-platform

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Do you advertise on Facebook? Or plan to? If so, then you should know that there have been some big changes lately.

To help you navigate these, here are 4 recent improvements which will help you advertise on Facebook more effectively.

Facebook is changing how brands deliver content on the platform. Unpaid, or 'organic', reach has declined dramatically and Facebook has made it clear that this trend will continue. This is bad news for companies who have built their business on reaching customers on Facebook at no cost.

But for those who are willing to pay, Facebook has been much kinder. They are now regularly updating their ad tools to make it easier for businesses to advertise on the platform and reach those who might be interested in what they have to offer.

Next is a story from Google Think about Target's Mobile Game:

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/target-mobile-game-provides-fun-in-store-experience.html

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Holiday shoppers use their mobile devices for all kinds of things. They might see a product on a shelf, use their phone to conduct research and price comparison, examine the product in person and then decide whether to buy it in-store, online or not at all. What if that phone could also offer a fun shopping experience that supports the retail brand? And what if that experience could be used to attract more shoppers to your store? That's what Target is aiming for with the new Bullseye's Playground in-store gaming experience, built in partnership with Google's Art, Copy & Code team.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Cyber Monday News and Other Stories

Quite a number of stories caught my eye today and a lot of news has been made.

Here are a few good reads.

First is Target with a mobile interactive game for both in-store and out of store.  Cool!

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/target-boosts-in-store-experience-with-mobile-game-during-holiday-season

Next is Nielsen stating brands will need a stronger mobile presence in 2015.  Ya think?

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/nielsen-and-mobile-majority-execs-2015-forecast-requires-heavier-brand-investment-into-mobile

Cyber Monday news is coming in including this story showing the records falling in 2014:

http://multichannelmerchant.com/news/cyber-monday-caps-record-5-day-cyber-weekend-03122014/

Continuing the Cyber Monday news is a story on Walmart breaking its old record for traffic during this time.  They are clearing seeing rewards from their efforts in mobile.

http://multichannelmerchant.com/news/walmart-breaks-online-records-cyber-monday-2014-02122014/

Finally is a story on CMO.com stating retailers have lengthened the shopping season:

http://www.cmo.com/articles/2014/12/2/adi_retailers_succee.html

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0175 Beacons, Beacons Everywhere

The Associated Press has a very good read about the impact beacons/iBeacons are having on this holiday shopping season.

The year of the beacon continues.

Here is the story:

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/3af61653dd3247a89869cda3ea3e0b36/beacons-pop-stores-ahead-holidays

Here is a snippet from that piece:

The vast majority of shopping is still done in stores. E-commerce is fast-growing but accounts for only about 9 percent of total retail sales, according to Forrester Research. Beacons merge in-store shopping with mobile access to information — and data shows they work.

Between July and September, 30 percent of shoppers who received a "push-ad" from an in-store beacon used that offer to buy something, according to a survey by Swirl, a marketing company that has created beacon plans for retailers such as Lord & Taylor, Hudson's Bay, Alex and Ani, Kenneth Cole and Timberland. Sixty percent of shoppers opened beacon-sent messages, and over half of those surveyed said they would do more holiday shopping at the stores as a result of their beacon experience.

I've already written quite a bit about beacons in these pages this year so I'll let that story speak for itself.  If you wish to see earlier posts about beacons or iBeacons look to the bottom left of this site for my tags and click on the relevant item.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0174 Social Media Nightly News

Does that title make any sense?

Social Media Nightly News

Didn't think so.  Yet, it does.

ABC is kicking off a Facebook version, supplement, or enhancement (call it whatever you like) to its World News Tonight.  Interesting new approach.

http://adage.com/article/digital/abc-kicks-social-media-version-world-news-tonight/296024/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

The 1-minute-long news summaries will appear every weekday, starting today, on the show's Facebook page. In what the company said was a first for a network anchor, "Facecast: The One Thing" will be hosted by David Muir, who took over the evening newscast from Diane Sawyer in September.

Three other stories caught my eye, finally, and are worth noting.  Digital coupons are catching fire in the Supermarket vertical.

First is the Golub Corporation promoting the new Groupon app:
http://supermarketnews.com/marketing/price-chopper-promotes-new-grocery-app

Next is Meijer with their new mPerks rewards campaign:
http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/meijer-readies-digital-coupon-promotion

Finally is SpartanNash with their digital coupons:
http://www.progressivegrocer.com/industry-news-trends/wholesalers-distributers/spartannash-digital-coupons-hit-15-redemption-rate

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE** Corrected a typo stating the three stories are worth "noting" vs. "nothing".

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0173 Facebook

Some excellent reading on social media in general and a number of spots on Facebook.  All of these are worth reading.

The best read of the day is this piece on the science behind the numbers in social media:

http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/12/making-social-media-research-more-reliable-and-reproducible/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

For researchers interested in studying human behavior, the explosion of social media data provides incredible opportunities. The result has been an explosion of research using this data...

However, despite the potential of these data sets to provide insights into human behavior, “mounting evidence suggests that many of the forecasts and analyses being produced misrepresent the real world,” Pfeffer and Ruths caution. The use of this data is rife with problems, many of which have already been addressed by other disciplines and are not insurmountable, but which must be dealt with to improve accuracy in the field.

Here are a few on Facebook in particular:

Facebook moves to the Enterprise
http://www.cio.com/article/2853015/facebook/how-facebook-at-work-could-alter-the-social-enterprise-landscape.html

How to Master Facebook marketing
http://www.mycustomer.com/feature/marketing-social-crm/how-master-facebook-marketing-age-pay-play/168589

Response to Facebook's latest Cuts
http://adage.com/article/digital/advertisers-shake-facebook-s-latest-reach-cuts/295913/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Black Friday News - Apple Pay, Google, and the Evolution of the Day

Hello Everyone,

I hope the turkey was good to you last week.  On with the news.

First up is news on Apple Pay and how usage data has played out this holiday season.  Overall the churn rate seems to be ... not good.  People try it in small numbers and largely do not return. Looks like they need a more compelling reason for people to use this.  Check out the numbers on the survey.  Very interesting responses.

http://www.pymnts.com/in-depth/2014/apple-pay-a-bust-on-black-friday-new-data-shows/#.VHynXtLF_9Y

Next is a story on the evolution of Black Friday.  Times are a changin' folks.

https://nrf.com/news/three-factors-influencing-the-evolution-of-black-friday-shopping

Next is a pair of stories about shoppers and Black Friday, headlined by Google's analysis:

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/shoppers-go-mobile-black-friday-weekend.html

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/238928/in-weaker-black-friday-weekend-mobile-is-the-big.html

That second story is worth quoting the headline:

In Weaker Black Friday Weekend, Mobile Is The Big Winner

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

PS  One item of note should be included here.  Best Buy's website went down on Black Friday.  The good news here is the reason why and there is nuance to it that is very interesting.  We've seen retail websites crash before but for all the wrong reasons.  On this day the site went down due to huge traffic and much of that traffic came from mobile devices.  Wow!  That is a great problem to have.  Here is one story on this:
http://fortune.com/2014/11/28/best-buys-website-down/
Welcome to December folks.  Ready to do your shopping?