Hold on to your hats, er, smartphones: the value of mobile commerce transactions is expected to top $3.2 trillion by 2017, compared to $1.5 trillion in 2013, according to a recent report from Juniper Research which tracks mobile market data.
For retailers shuddering at the thought of showrooming, data from RetailMeNot.com, a digital coupon website, found that nearly 8 in 10 respondents are using their mobile devices to do some sort of research online in the most recent month. More than half of consumers surveyed (54%) used their mobile device while buying something in the month prior to taking the survey in April 2013.
Thumbing through catalogs is beginning to seem quaint in comparison to thumbs flying over the qwerty to purchase goods. M-commerce may still be in its nascent stage, but here are some companies to watch as they lead the charge from bricks to thumb clicks.
Snap to Buy with Mobile Image Recognition
Imagine: you see a great pair or shoes on some stylish person walking down the street. You snap a pic and voila, your phone takes you to a site where you can buy them for yourself. That tech isn’t quite here yet but mobile image recognition (MIR) is gaining traction.
Stephen Shepherd, general manager of LTU Technologies tells FORBES it won’t be long. "Already, mobile visual search is being used by retailers in Asia and Europe for targeted m-commerce applications, and within three years, we will see rapid adoption of this technology by U.S. retailers.” He predicts that in it will be commonplace to snap a photo of someone's shoes or handbag within a retailer's m-commerce app to immediately find the same or similar product to buy.
As such, LTU Technologies recently launched LTU Mobile to help brands embed MIR technology into their mobile apps. French housewares retailer Legallais deployed the technology to allow customers to take photos of any of the 40,000 items in its catalog and buy them immediately. LTU’s already working with
Shepherd says there are are two challenges to solve before mobile visual search becomes mainstream. One is to build out image recognition technology capable of accurately recognizing 3D objects. The other: “do so in a way that respects people's privacy,” he adds.
Apps That Go Beyond Simple Online Shopping
To capitalize on the trend instead of cowering in the corner, brick and mortar stores can capture customers as they browse in store or elsewhere. Last year I reported that global beauty chain Sephora gave itself a digital makeover to bridge the gap between bricks and clicks. That paid off in 150% growth in mobile shopping, which outpaced the industry average.
To that end, Sephora’s boosted its mobile quotient by making every product (more than 14,000) in-store scannable for more information on prices, ratings and reviews. More functional check out was also built in to its mobile app that lets customers scan their credit card and save it to their profile along with a record of past purchases.
Better Engagement with Brands
Customers love to review products, like pages on
Brands do get to approve content before it goes live and the pages can be customized according to the company’s guidelines. For the consumer, it’s a simple as clicking a call to action button from their phone to view already available content or to upload their own.
