Imagine the following: Matthew Tractenberg… was recently shopping in a Silicon Valley bookstore, where he picked out five books for a total of US$80. Before taking them to the counter, he typed the titles into the Amazon app on his BlackBerry Curve. Amazon had the books for US$50 and would not charge sales tax or shipping. He placed the order on the spot and left his small pile of books in the store.
Heather Reed, a mother in Cypress, Tex., is one of those mobile power-shoppers. She uses several apps on her Samsung Moment phone to whittle down her spending. She was recently considering a US$29.99 Hot Wheels video game for her son at Wal-Mart. With a quick scan of the bar code, an application called ShopSavvy found it at Target, just across the freeway, for US$19.99. Another app from MyCoupons.com provided a Target coupon that sliced off US$10 more. [NYT, Dec. 17, 2009]
Now surely it will not only be the price that will play a major role in the future. But both examples show the way we are heading. The decisive factor will be to make one’s own brand, own offers and communication services exportable and embeddable. Basically to be wherever the user is. And it is here the mobile phone offers enormous potential: It becomes a modern shopping aid. In the long run, companies must also let go of the idea of centrally controlling the entire purchase decision from one website. An outstanding website is no longer enough to keep consumers as customers.
If 2008 was the year for mCommerce pioneers such as Ralph Lauren, now a series of new apps are closing the gap between online shopping and purchases from the store. Virtual information and the real world are being linked in such a way that they are available for real interactions. In doing so, the principle is very similar: The user takes a picture of an object or barcode with his cell phone, the software on the cell phone recognises it and provides the corresponding information or enables him to buy the product. Here is a selection of interesting examples:
- Mobile Shopping Apps: Amazon Memo This new shopping app enables the user to buy books on Amazon from anywhere, and all the functions that can be used online (such as 1-Click payment or prime shipping) are also supported by mobile devices. But the highlight of the app is the integrated (beta) function Amazon Memo, which allows pictures of products to be compared with offers available on the Amazon product database. This way a suitable product can also be ordered by cell phone immediately. This is how it works:
- Mobile Visual Search Technologies: Google Goggles
A similar principle is found at Google’s search by mobile-phone camera. Hold the phone in front of a bottle of wine, take a picture of the label, and all the relevant information will be instantly shown on the phone, including price, growing area and nuances of flavour. It works by Google Goggles comparing a part of your picture with those on Google Images Search. If a match is found, then the application provides search terms and further information that applies to the found image. Currently, Goggle recognises several million objects (including places, famous works of art, local business information or company logos) as well as the corresponding information. Image recognition via mobile phone is still in its infancy, but this does show its potential.
- Barcode Scanning: ShopSavvy
- Established for years in Korea and Japan, the scanning of barcodes with a mobile phone is becoming increasingly popular in Germany, be it EAN, QR or other codes. While QR codes are primarily used to create a connection between an advertising medium / printing medium and digital information, scanners such as ShopSavvy, RedLaser or Avit! enable the price comparison to occur right in the supermarket or store. Reading a barcode with a mobile phone creates more transparency with regard to prices, making products more comparable. Since it was launched in 2008, ShopSavvy has been downloaded more than 600,000 times in the USA; on average about 100,000 barcodes are scanned daily (!). A challenge for every storeowner! A similar application in Germany is barcoo, for example, which provides test reports as well as health and eco information.
Our Evaluation: Even though some technological applications are still immature, mobile will become THE topic in the retail sector. So it is crucial for companies to define their own goals in the mobile market and to develop a corresponding mobile business strategy.
