Mobile and Omnichannel for Retailers

Three stories around mobile have caught my eye today and are worth reading. If you are a retailer in the United States and don't have a mobile strategy you are falling behind faster than ever.

First up is the evolution of mobile devices and how that impacts retailers:

https://www.internetretailer.com/2015/02/05/are-slowing-sales-tablets-harbinger-mobile-changes-co

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Tablet sales are slowing, tablets and PCs are converging, and smartphones are getting bigger. How will these changes, and the ones to come, impact how retailers measure mobile results and set their strategies?

In the fourth quarter of 2013, global shipments of tablets from manufacturers to retailers were still speeding along at 20% year-over-year growth, according to mobile and emerging technologies research and consulting firm Strategy Analytics Inc. In the fourth quarter of 2014, however, growth in tablet shipments worldwide just about came to a screeching halt, a mere 1%, the research firm says.

Next up is a Shop.org/Forrester piece stating retailers are making all things mobile their #1 priority for 2015:

http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/mobile-top-retailer-priority-2015-according-shoporgforrester

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Mobile is the top priority for retailers in 2015, according to the 2015 Shop.org/Forrester Research Inc., State of Retailing Online, with 58% of surveyed retailers placing it at the top of their list, up from 53% last year.

The survey found smartphone sales as a percentage of online sales grew from 8% in 2013 to 12% in 2014, an increase of 50%. Tablets’ share of the pie also grew from 13% of online sales in 2013 to 16% in 2014.

At the same time, digital marketing budgets remain modest.

Finally is MultiChannelMerchant with a piece stating consumers demand an omnichannel experience:

http://multichannelmerchant.com/executive-summary/2015-forecast-customers-demand-an-omnichannel-experience-25112014/?lc=1

Here is a snippet from that piece:

The message in 2015 for merchants is simple: if you haven’t developed an omnichannel strategy, develop one now. And if you have an omnichannel strategy in place, continue to refine it.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Apple Signals Start of a New Era

Good Morning Everyone,

If you are in the mobile space, technology, payments, etc. then you were likely blown away yesterday.  Wow.  What a day.

I'm at the 2014 CTIA Super Mobility Week in Las Vegas this week but the biggest news came from Cupertino.  Apple doesn't need the world's largest conference on mobile products.  It just takes all the air out of the room with its own announcements and, as only Apple can do (for now), everyone is talking about Apple's products.

New Era

We have been hearing about "i-stuff" for many years now.  We've come to expect everything to be an "i-something".  No more.  Apple under Tim Cook has entered a new era and has signaled that in their product naming. We didn't get the iWatch yesterday.  Instead we were delivered the Apple Watch.  Also announced was Apple Pay. This is a new era as the tremendous lineup of new products showed and it has been signaled even further by the naming conventions used.  The iPhone has not seen such a radical change since its initial launch and this in itself is a huge departure from the previous era.  The new Apple Era has begun, and it looks pretty healthy so far.

By using the Apple logo in their naming they are tying everything much closer to their ownership and their ecosystem.  This works exceptionally well with Apple's move in to accessories.  Want that logo?  You'll have to pay for it.

So, what did Apple deliver yesterday.

Apple Pay

Payments have been a bit of a mess over the last decade or so as an aging infrastructure struggles to deliver newer, more modern and more secure, payments methods.  The average consumer in the U.S. doesn't see anything wrong with swiping a card and therefore isn't pushing for change.  Mobile payments has been viewed for many years as the next big thing but hasn't taken off.  NFC has been the de-facto standard for mobile pay but also hasn't taken off, partly because Apple refused to embrace it.  Has all of that changed now?  Maybe.

Here is an article on Apple Pay:

http://www.cnet.com/products/apple-pay-ios/

Apple has signed with a number of the larger banks, the issuers of credit cards, and the major credit card companies including American Express, MasterCard, and VISA.  Clearly this is a sustaining move by these companies.  They want the gravy train to continue in the new format.  This is not a revolutionary move by Apple or these companies.  Nor is it disruptive.  It is safe and comfortable and focused on luxury brands (though, McDonalds was listed explicitly by Apple).  These are all reasons why this might actually work.  I for one will by trying out Apple Pay with my new iPhone when it arrives.

Did I mention the Apple Watch will have NFC built in as well?  Thus the owners of older iPhones (apparently limited to 5 or 5S phones, nothing older) will also be able to use Apple Pay by getting an Apple Watch.

Apple Watch

Wearable devices is a category that has seen slow growth to-date but the biggest names have been entering this space for the last year or more including Samsung and Android Wear by Google.  Now Apple has joined in.

The price starts at $349 and likely will move up quite high for the gold version.  Details are sparse at the moment but this article has quite a bit:

http://www.cnet.com/products/apple-watch/

Clearly this will not be a huge seller after the initial wave of Apple fans has picked one up.  The price is just too steep for this to be an enormous seller, unless the consumer sees some value they can't already get from their iPhone or iPad.  Did I mention the Watch must be tethered to an iPhone?  That limits the market to the install base of iPhone owners and limits it further to only the newer phones.  Still, that is a large base so sales could be robust initially.  Will this have legs?

Finally, is the new set of iPhones.

iPhone 6 and 6 Plus

We get two new phones this year and bother are larger than any iPhone before it.  The expected size really has grown quite a bit since the launch of the iPhone in 2007.  Remember, back then the iPhone was considered to be HUGE.  The paradigm has changed thanks to the competition such as Samsung's devices and Apple has responded with its first Phablet.

The biggest news other than screen size is regarding the new camera and video capability.  This is a dramatic improvement.  For more information see this article:

http://www.cnet.com/products/apple-iphone-6/

What a day huh?  Does Apple have its mojo back?  Walking around the CTIA yesterday I overheard someone deriding Apple's announcement.  "They announced a watch?  So what?  We've been hearing about that for years now.  Surprise me please."  Interesting take.

The sum of the announcements, including U2's announcement releasing their new album for free on iTunes, really was quite big.  The new era of Apple has begun.  Will it be as meaningful as the last era?  Pretty hard to match that but they are off to a good start.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE** CNet has a story that speaks of the shift to a new era of Apple that echos what I wrote about above:
http://www.cnet.com/news/theres-no-i-in-apples-team-cook/

Microsoft Tablets - Surface Pro 3 and ????

Microsoft is frantically trying to either catch up in the tablet space or leapfrog the competition, depending on who you listen to, by creating a device that is both a laptop and a tablet.

The announcement of the new Surface Pro 3 comes about a half a year after the Surface Pro 2.

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/products/surface-pro-3

Here is a pretty good review of the device:

http://www.cnet.com/products/microsoft-surface-pro-3/

The biggest news might be what was missing.  Rumors were heavily inclined towards a Surface Mini and it did not appear.  Most revealing, however, was the lack of a Windows RT version in this announcement breaking the pattern established through the first two iterations of the Surface line.  Version 1 included the Surface and the Surface Pro.  Version 2 included the Surface 2 and the Surface Pro 2.  However, version 3 only included the Surface Pro 3.

What happened to Windows RT?

The current theory dominating the waves is this signals the death of Windows RT.  Left out of the discussion though is the recent acquisition of Nokia Devices by Microsoft and the Lumia line of products including the excellent Lumia 2520 Windows RT devices.

One criticism of the Surface line is a lack of clarity.  What are you getting and why would I get "less" of a Windows device in RT when I can get the "full" version?

My prediction is Microsoft is solving this problem by utilizing the existing Nokia line for Windows RT and will now target Surface exclusively to the high-end 'ultrabook' demographic.

Time will tell.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Misc. News - Mobile Statistics, Gift Cards, & Shopping Delivery

Several pieces of news caught my eye this week as I have caught up with my reading today.

First up is the adoption and success of mobile gift cards:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/mobile-gift-cards-break-into-tech-savvy-districts

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Mobile gift cards are experiencing a major growth spurt, especially in the most digital and cultural cities of North America, where several restaurants and bars in San Francisco including Dosa, Yank Sing, St. Vincent, Nice Ventures’ Terzo, Rose’s Café, Rose Pistola and Michael Chiarello’s Coqueta have all developed relationships with mobile gifting service Gratafy.

Next is a new set of mobile usage data:

http://www.internetretailer.com/2014/05/15/tablets-convert-better-smartphones-uk

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Tablet conversion rates beat smartphone conversion rates in the United Kingdom. Of the 21,400 sales originating across both devices per day in the country in April, tablets had a conversion rate of 5.88%—down from 6.05% in March—while smartphones had a conversion rate of 2.76%—up slightly from 2.75% in March, according to web marketing firm Affiliate Window. The overall mobile conversion rate last month was 3.83%, compared with 3.92% the month prior.

Finally, news on Tesco's effort called 'Shop&Go' where consumers complete their shopping then hand their carriage full of goods over to an attendant who bags it and delivers it to the consumer's home.

http://retailanalysis.igd.com/Hub.aspx?id=23&tid=3&nid=12510

Here is a snippet from that piece:

The new concept is called 'Shop&Go' and it is believed that the service could be extended to other stores in the future. Customers who spend over £35 have the option to leave their groceries at the store and choose a free one-hour slot for them to be delivered to their home. Customers must live within three miles and can currently choose five delivery slots per day between 15:00-22:00. This is just the latest in a number of piloted or new initiatives by Tesco in the capital city, where Tesco has a dedicated team looking at delivering a stronger and more tailored proposition to cater for London's unique challenges.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

eCommerce, tCommerce, and mCommerce Data

Some new data is out on internet enabled commerce.  Here is the article:

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/223399/us-m-commerce-sales-to-hit-578-billion-in-2014.html

Notice the use of the generic 'm-Commerce' for this article, incorrectly grouping tablets and smart phones together as 'mobile'.  That article references the study that can be found here:

http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Total-US-Retail-Sales-Top

Here is a snippet from that first piece:

A new eMarketer industry forecast projects retail m-commerce will increase 37.2% to $57.8 billion this year from $42.1 billion in 2013, and reach $132.7 billion in 2018. This year, it will make up about one-fifth of all retail e-commerce but just 1.2% of total retail sales.

One-fifth of all retail e-Commerce is happening on either tablets or smart phones (or phablets) through 2014 (projected).  Of that, currently two-thirds is on a tablet, sometimes called tCommerce.  That means roughly 13% of all eCommerce is happening on a tablet, 6.5% on a smart phone, and 80% on other devices such as desktops or laptops.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0098 Tablet Usage

I missed this article for a couple of weeks but am glad I finally caught it.  Here is a snippet from that piece:

Tablets are increasingly becoming the preferred device for high-value mobile commerce purchases, according to transaction data from payment processor Adyen. The Amsterdam-based company tracks mobile payments through its quarterly Adyen Mobile Payments Index, which analyzes transactions on its global processing platform.

Here is the complete article:

http://www.mobilepaymentstoday.com/article/229429/Study-Tablets-see-higher-value-purchases-than-smartphones

I've written about the difference between Tablets and Smart phones before in this entry:

http://thagent.blogspot.com/2013/06/is-it-truly-mobile.html

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Android Tablets Sold More Than iPads

Let's go back in time briefly.

The year is 2007.  Google is working on a phone idea that will put the internet in your pocket.  Apple is working on the same thing.  The keynote announcing the iPhone hits like a bombshell and the world is changed.  Google re-gears the entire Android concept and is playing catchup.

Just a few years later Android smart phones are outselling iPhones.  Yet the usage data shows Apple customers are typically more affluent, browse more on their iPhones, and spend more than their Android using counterparts.

The year is 2010 and the iPad is announced.  Google soon follows with Android tablets and the battle is on yet again.

Today we learned that Android tablets have surpassed sales of iPads for the first time.

http://www.internetretailer.com/2014/03/05/android-tablets-outsell-ipads-so-what

What should we take from this news?  The analysis above states it is more of the same.  More Androids, but much more usage (and sales) through Apple devices.  Here is a snippet from that piece:

So what does this shift in tablet market share mean for retailers and mobile commerce? Not much, retailers and mobile experts say, because consumers who use iPads browse and buy far more than those using other tablets. This follows the exact same pattern that’s developed with smartphones: Android phones have a significant lead in market share, yet Apple iPhone users account for a gigantic majority of browsing and buying.

In my personal repertoire of devices I have a few to choose from at any given moment of any day:

• Windows 7 Tablet
• 2 HP TouchPads
• Google Nexus 7
• iPad Air
• Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2

My go to device is the Windows 8 platform.  Love it.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0091 Walmart Mobile

The Atlantic has an interview with Gibu Thomas, SVP of Mobile and Digital for Walmart.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/03/get-ready-to-roboshop/357569/

Here is a snippet from the article:

Shopping at Walmart is one of the world’s most common activities. Each week, more than 245 million people visit a Walmart store. By comparison, Apple stores receive fewer than 400 million visits a year. More and more, Walmart has found, the hands attached to that foot traffic are thumbing smartphones as they pass through the door. Gibu Thomas, Walmart’s senior vice president of mobile and digital, is in charge of harmonizing the in-store and digital experiences. He leads a team of 1,500 people in Silicon Valley working to define the online future of in-store retail.

There is one very questionable statement in the piece around the definition of "mobile".  As I have written about in these pages previously a mobile device may be a smart phone or a tablet or something in between such as a "phablet" but is it truly mobile?  The interviewer jumps to the conclusion that all "mobile" devices are phones.  That is likely not the case.  See if you can spot the error.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

News From 2013 and What Will Make News in 2014

If you are in the Boston, MA area as I am you are starting off the New Year with a pretty decent winter storm.  About a foot of snow expected and it is gusting up pretty well right now.

Happy Holidays, Happy Winter Solstice, and Happy New Year to everyone.

First I want to cover a few articles that recap 2013.  There are always quite a few as the year ends and I've found a few that are worth sharing.  Then I'll take a moment to put down a few of my thoughts for what to expect in 2014.

2013

Payments.com has been a go-to site for me and Karen Webster's writings are the best.  This recap of 2013 is a good one for payments:

http://www.pymnts.com/briefing-room/consumer-engagement/Loyalty/2013/looking-ahead-at-the-close-of-2013/

Here are a couple of lines from that one I want to share to help us look forward to 2014:

The payments and commerce space over the next year will be the most interesting we've seen in at least the last five and unleash even more innovation. 

This one from TechCrunch says goodbye to 2013 and welcomes the rest of the world to the mobile internet:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/02/the-late-adopters/

User Experience is important to product management in the technology space.  This article from a blog is a good one:

milestones-and-missteps-in-ux-design-for-2013-winners-and-losers-not-the-usual-suspects/

Last one from 2013 deals with the advent of the "mobile internet" during the holiday shopping season.  The title of the article says quite a lot:

http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/2013/1227/Santa-leaves-smart-phone-steps-in-Mobile-sales-soar-on-Christmas-Day

Here is a bit from that article:

Overall, online shopping continues to make a bigger dent in holiday shopping than previous years. IBM reports that online sales on Christmas Day were up 16.5 percent from last year, and mobile sales made up for 29 percent of all online sales, which is up 40 percent from 2012.

We will use that to segue to 2014...

2014

...speaking of mobile.  IBM is now declaring we must differentiate our data between smart phones and tablets.

http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240211774/Retailers-must-distinguish-between-smartphones-and-tablets-says-IBM

This is, of course, old news in this blog.  I wrote a white paper about this subject early in 2013.

Now how about a few thoughts on what 2014 might bring?

• Apple will attempt to make a splash in some arena, wearable devices maybe, maybe TV, maybe payments.  Meanwhile incremental changes will continue in their mature offerings but a move towards the now proven 2 in 1 laptop/tablet style by Microsoft will likely be forthcoming as well.
• This will be the year of the beacon.  Bluetooth 4.1 and Bluetooth Low Energy solutions will finally enable many of the brightest ideas around mobile internet interactions with people.
• Mobile wallets will have a breakout year.  The security breach at Target just might give EMV a push over the finish line and that could save ISIS.  Meanwhile MCX is on its way and PayPal isn't sitting around.
• Facebook will see big declines.  The "services" provided by Facebook have been chipped away at by a variety of other solutions such as Vine and Snapchat.  Overall the next generation of users has no interest in Facebook and this will begin to show itself this year.  Maybe the company will be mostly flat, maybe they'll find incremental ways to monetize their current offering, but the decline will be noticeable this year.
• Samsung will come out with yet another not-yet-ready product and declare itself the first to the top of the mountain once more ... and nobody will care.
• The biggest news I can't yet predict will likely involve a cloud-based solution for something.  I don't know what, but something.  The "internet of things" will take off in some way.  Will it be related to a cloud-based solution?  I don't know. 

Hope your new year brings you much happiness.

Happy reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0064 Holiday Shopping

An enormous amount is being written about the current holiday shopping cycle.  The short of it goes like this:

• More shoppers went to stores than last year
• They spent less money than last year
• Online and mobile sales grew tremendously over last year
• Sales overall are up over last year

CMO.com has the best article on this:

http://www.cmo.com/content/cmo-com/home/articles/2013/12/3/15_stats_Black_Friday_Cyber_Monday_Thanksgiving.html

Here is one piece from that:

Thanksgiving once marked a day of gratitude, spending time with loved ones, and, of course, a big turkey dinner. 

But that has clearly taken a back seat to what now kicks off the busiest shopping time of the year. This year marked the first time retailers opened their doors to customers on Thanksgiving Day, with big-box stores including Target and Walmart hoping to make up for the shorter holiday shopping season. What we're finding is that while in-store sales were lower than usual for the holiday weekend, online revenue for the period was up, further cementing the notion that online shopping is becoming the norm. 

Several more articles are relevant in their own way:

News on how Victoria's Secret is using mobile:

http://risnews.edgl.com/retail-news/Victoria-s-Secret-Is-Mobility89200

Cyber Monday is the biggest ever:

http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/cyber-monday-biggest-ever-day-for-online-shopping-says-ibm/

Small form factor tablets, or large smart phones, known as "Phablets" are taking a growing share of the market:

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9244526/_Phablets_are_eating_into_the_tablet_market_IDC_says

That last one I find particularly interesting as I've been predicting growth in that form factor for some time now.

Happy reading,

J.W. Gant