Editorial Articles

With the news that Tesco is to launch its first transactional mobile app it’s got me thinking that we may now at long last be ready for the era of m-commerce. It seems that mobile has had a couple of false starts, and although admittedly apps have done rather well, overall we haven’t yet grasped how best to use this channel. 

Perhaps - what with the iPad and other tablet technology coming to the fore - you might be forgiven for thinking that m-commerce has now missed its chance for glory, but you’d be wrong. There is a plethora of mobile technology that has been unleashed over the last 12 months and I suspect there is still more to come.

Potentially the most exciting thing to happen to mobile ecommerce is the arrival of geo-location applications like Foursquare and Gowalla, which allow mobiles to pinpoint where you are and allow your friends to see that information. This sort of technology could have huge implications for ecommerce; just imagine how much influence brands can have now they have the ability to entice a consumer by practically dangling their friends in front of them?

So far these applications have been making money from brand sponsorship and advertising, such as Domino's Pizza announcing it has a special offer minutes away from your current location. As an endorsement of how big some brands think this is going to be, Nike are currently investing more money into this tool than they are in their Nike Town bricks and mortar shops. It looks increasingly likely that mobile location-based marketing tools will make a huge impact this year.

Another technology that could well be set to change the face of ecommerce is Google Shopper. Although currently only available as a Beta on the Android phone in the US, it allows users to take pictures of products, scan barcodes or speak products names and details into their phones, before being presented with everything from reviews to the cheapest online prices for that specific product. Used in conjunction with geo location technology it can also direct you to a physical store where you can buy a product cheaper.

There are certain perceived (and real) limitations with mobile that some retailers have found it hard to overcome, for example how you present brand information with such a reduced screen space. But with technology such as this, we’re seeing that mobile is, rather than a small and inferior version of the computer or laptop, a separate marketing tool in its own right. We’re finally starting to understand the potential of mobile and how it can be used effectively and the smart brands are already tapping into it.

Fadi Shuman
Co-Founder of Pod1