Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0105 Loyalty Programs?

Karen Webster on PYMTS.com has a good write-up that is worth your time.

http://www.pymnts.com/news/2014/so-you-want-to-do-a-loyalty-program-why/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

You’re the CMO of a major retailer trying to make some decisions about a new customer retention (aka loyalty) strategy that the CEO has been on your case about for the last couple of months. There are all sorts of sales pitches being tossed your direction – third parties that leverage mobile devices and apps and offer compelling data-driven campaigns. Some even come wrapped around payment options and include spiffy stuff like Beacon technologies and other location-based targeting triggers.

Your team has been vetting these programs and has come into your office this morning armed with a Powerpoint deck that you expect will narrow the field to a few relevant choices.

...

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Apple iPhone Predictions

Rumors are swirling and supposed photos from the Apple supply chain are just beginning to come in to view.  The iPhone 6 is beginning to come in to focus, but it is only the beginning.

I'm not one to speculate on the nuances of every Apple release but one piece of prognostication has spurred my desire to post here.  An analyst is saying Apple will include Near Field Communication (NFC) hardware in the iPhone 6.

I think this is complete hogwash.

Here is the story in question, merely citing a well known analyst of Apple products so don't hold that against the website:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/11/apple-could-finally-adopt-nfc-on-iphone

You get the main point of the story just from the URL.  That analyst is well known because he "has a solid track record of actually getting things right."

Here is another story that speaks to Google's moves on payments and how it has withdrawn from NFC:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/google-mobile-payments

Here is a pretty good story that tries to predict what Apple is up to in payments:

http://www.mobilepaymentstoday.com/article/230545/What-is-Apple-up-to-in-payments

With BLE having been such a strong play by Apple, and what I've seen companies do with those 'beacons' to make them emulate near field communications, I predict Apple has already made its play in this space and it is BLE.

NFC is dead.

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 0104 The Digital Charge

I'm catching up on a bit of reading and writing.

CMO.com has a very good read warning about the pitfalls of letting technology lead your company's digital transformation.

Should you go where the technology leads you or focus on your customers first?  This seems obvious but it hasn't been so far.

Here is the article:

http://www.cmo.com/articles/2014/4/4/altimeter_group_don_.html

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Companies that allow technology to drive their digital transformation are making a big mistake, according to a new Altimeter Group study, "Digital Transformation." Instead, digital transformation should be driven by the expectations of digital customers.

People, process, technology.  Seems like the correct order to me.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0103 Brick & Mortar Apps

Very good article on the relative strengths of mobile apps created by traditional brick & mortar retailers vs. companies that got their start through their mobile app:

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/223172/traditional-apps-still-trail-mobile-natives.html

Here is a snippet from that piece:

One takeaway that quickly emerges from a new Forrester report on the best and worst of mobile is that retailers and brick-and-mortar companies are clueless about mobile compared to their digital- or mobile-only counterparts.

The former are often used in the study authored by analyst Deanna Laufer as examples of what NOT to do in mobile, while the mobile natives represent the best of what’s out there. This is pretty much what you’d expect, given that companies like Flipboard and Shazam were built from the ground up as mobile experiences. If their apps fail, they fail.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0102 Tesco and iBeacons

The folks over on Mobile Commerce Daily have another excellent read.

Tesco has introduced a new approach to the use of iBeacon technology in stores.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/tesco-pivots-focus-of-ibeacon-towards-customer-service-will-others-follow

Here is a snippet from the article:

While much of the buzz about beacons has been around pushing offers to shoppers, a new pilot program at Tesco gives marketers a better understanding of the full scope of the location-based technology’s capabilities.

The British retailer is piloting iBeacon in its Chelmsford location with a stand-alone iPhone application specific to the store’s location. Tesco’s pilot indicates that retailers solely focusing on beacon-triggered sales are missing out on a bigger opportunity with in-store customer service.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0101 Mobile App Usage

Great data coming to us courtesy of a couple locations.

TechCrunch has a write-up that is a good read:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/01/mobile-app-usage-increases-in-2014-as-mobile-web-surfing-declines/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

New data from app analytics provider Flurry released today states that native app usage on smartphones is continuing to grow at the expense of the mobile web. The company claims that users are now spending 2 hours and 42 minutes per day on mobile devices as of March 2014, up from 2 hours, 38 minutes as of a year ago. Meanwhile, mobile app usage accounts for 2 hours and 19 minutes of that time spent, while mobile web usage has dropped from 20% of the U.S. consumer’s time in 2013 to just 14% – or 22 minutes per day – as of last month.

That data is coming from Flurry as is cited in the article.  Here is their write-up from last year:

http://blog.flurry.com/bid/95723/Flurry-Five-Year-Report-It-s-an-App-World-The-Web-Just-Lives-in-It

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Today, the U.S. consumer spends an average of 2 hours and 38 minutes per day on smartphones and tablets. 80% of that time (2 hours and 7 minutes) is spent inside apps and 20% (31 minutes) is spent on the mobile web. Studying the chart shows that apps (and Facebook) are commanding a meaningful amount of consumers' time. All mobile browsers combined, which we now consider apps, control 20% of consumers' time. Gaming apps remain the largest category of all apps with 32% of time spent. Facebook is second with 18%, and Safari is 3rd with 12% Worth noting is that a lot of people are consuming web content from inside the Facebook app. For example, when a Facebook user clicks on a friend’s link or article, that content is shown inside its web view without launching a native web browser (e.g., Safari, Android or Chrome), which keeps the user in the app. So if we return to the chart and consider the proportion of Facebook app usage that is within their web view (aka browser), then we can assert that Facebook has become the most adopted browser in terms of consumer time spent.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant