According to a new report from BIA/Kelsey, mobile payment options are rapidly picking up steam with 40% of small businesses surveyed reporting they are now using mobile point of sale options. PayPal and Square are two of the top mobile payment options that brands are embracing. Beyond the 40% who report they are now using mobile point of sale, 16% say they will add the option within the next year.
Steve Marshall, director of research at BIA/Kelsey, states “A closer look at the data shows adoption of mobile and social varies across SMB industry sectors. The LCM data reveals professional and home and trade services are embracing mobile in a big way, with service providers essentially becoming walking POS terminals.”
Steve goes on to point out how mobile and social media are working together to transform small business, “Together, mobile and social tools are transforming the way SMBs acquire and retain customers,” said Marshall. “With the heavy use of social media, SMB marketing is quickly becoming a two-way engagement rather than a one-way promotion.”
As for how small businesses are engaging in social media, BIA/Kelsey’s report found that those that responded say they are ‘responding’ to comments, blogging, Tweeting/Updating social pages and pushing a loyalty program.
Clearly accepting mobile payments is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to utilizing mobile with small businesses as great opportunities exist for virtual displays and other ingenious ways to market products and inform customers. Augmented reality options will soon become the norm in retail rather than hovering out there as the next big thing.
comScore recently released a new report highlighting several key trends in the U.S. smartphone industry that companies considering developing mobile applications should consider.
Apple is ranked as the top smartphone manufacturer with 39% of the market share. Samsung follows in second place with a 23% of the market share, HTC is in third with 8.7%, Motorola follows with 7.8% and LG comes in with 6.7%.
Android continues to led as the top smartphone platform with 52% of the market share. Clearly neither of these platforms can be ignored when it comes to mobile application development.
The most interesting point from the new comScore report is the growth of the U.S. smartphone market itself. 141 million people in the U.S. alone now own smartphones (59% of the market, as of the end of May 2013). This number is up 6% since February 2013 making for some incredible growth numbers.
While we see that digital coupon redemption rates are climbing right now, they may not provide the biggest bang for the buck. Mobile coupons may be the area where retailers are going to find the best return for their advertising dollars at the moment. We find that modern consumers are typically looking for business locations and deals for immediate use, and are not saving offers as much as they used to do, which opens the door for mobile delivered coupons to be highly successful.
In fact we are seeing research from some sources that indicates mobile coupons have 10 times higher redemption rates than non-mobile coupons. Which is not surprise since we now live in a mobile society. Right around 85 percent of the world’s population have a subscription to a mobile service, which works out to just under 6 billion people. Annual mobile application downloads are expected to increase from 10.7 billion in 2010 to nearly 183 billion by 2015 (IDC forecast) and the growth of mobile is not seeing any signs of slowing in the near future.
The great thing about mobile marketing is that it allows a customer’s location to be a factor in determining which promotion they will see. Therefore ads can be tailored to a customer’s location, which increases open and redemption rates. Mobile coupons can be tailored to your customer as well. Lets say your consumers utilize a loyalty membership program with your establishment that is tied to a mobile app on their phone. You can then offer mobile coupons on products they already buy or that you think they may like based on their purchase history. This is like the suggestions based on your browsing history that Amazon has on their web site and app.
One way to make sure that your mobile marketing program succeeds is to offer things the customer needs. Don’t just pitch your self on a smaller screen like its an advertisement, be relevant and provide something of value to your consumer base. Knowing the location of your customers is an additional piece of information that can help you carefully target the information you deliver so that it is as relevant as possible.