Amazon proves why they have retail stores RUNNING SCARED.

Amazon.com, the world's largest on-line retailer,  has devised a way to increase downloads of it's new Price Check App this Holiday season by offering an additional 5% discount to consumers who download the App to their mobile devices.

In my opinion, the people running Amazon are GENIUSES!  Imagine; You're at Wal-Mart (or Target, Sears, Best-Buy, Macy's WHEREVER) and, while you are in the store, you can scan the bar-code of any item you want and check to see if Amazon has a better price on that exact item!  Talk about on the spot, up to date info that you can really use!

GENIUS!!

December 10 is the day that Amazon has picked to give away the 5% discount and, unsurprisingly, they anticipate it to be one of the biggest days of the year for the new Price Check App.

The discount is an incentive for consumers to download the App, another genius move.  Amazon, for obvious reasons, wants you to have the App and is willing to take a small loss to do it.  This is what we in the biz call an 'ethical bribe'.  Why?  Because the more people that have the App on their phones the better for Amazon. For them, 5% is a very small loss that will lead to a very big gain; lots of people using the App to check prices and make purchases on Amazon.com.

“Price Check is a great way for customers to ensure they’re getting a good price on the items they’re buying,” said Sally Fouts, a spokeswoman for Amazon.com, Seattle.

Yeah, that's the understatement of the year.  It's a GREAT way to check and see if Amazon has a better price and, in doing so, buy from Amazon instead of the retailer where you are actually standing!

The Price Check app is available for iPhone and Android devices. In order to receive the 5% discount consumers will need the newest version of he App on their devices. Once downloaded, they will need to enable the geolocation feature on Price Check which will then give them the additional 5 percent discount off Amazon’s price for qualifying products.

Ms Fouts additionally had this to say; “We want to make it as easy and convenient for customers to find the information they’re looking for, whether it’s price, product details or customer reviews. We want our customers to be able to make informed purchasing decisions.”

I have to call BS on that.  Amazon wants 1 thing, and 1 thing only.  They want consumers to purchase from them. I mean let's face it, once you're in the store you have already done your research (if you're relatively intelligent), read reviews and know what you want.  The only thing left is PRICE.

Amazon knows this (did I mention they are Geniuses?) and has given the consumers what they want; An App that let's them compare prices, instantly and in real time, and allows them to see whose price is best.

Genius.

That's what I call a great Custom Mobile App.

Cheers.
Mobile App Man

Convenience leads to nearly 40% purchases on Smart Phones.

Thirty-eight percent of smartphone owners have used their Mobile device to make a purchase, according to a study from comScore.

Their report, “Mobile Retail Advisor” looked at a number of factors including; How consumers are interacting with their smartphones when buying a product, which items they are buying, where users were located when they purchased through their mobile device and which categories and areas consumers were buying from on their smartphones.

The study found that two in five mobile users own a smartphone, making mobile shopping available to 90 million Americans.

As far as purchases, according to the comScore study;

• 47% bought digital products from their devices, including songs, eBooks, images, movies and television shows, showing the tie between ecommerce and mcommerce.
• 37% of consumers bought clothing and accessory items.
• 35% purchased tickets on their mobile devices.
• 31% ordered delivery and pick-up food through mobile ordering.
• 24% booked airplane tickets on their smartphones.
• 24 % paid for car rentals on their devices.

The comScore study showed that location at time of purchase was varied;

• 56 % of purchases were made at home, which is interesting for smartphone purchases that are stereotypically thought to be made while on-the-go.
• 42% purchased items on their devices while out and about at places including schools and restaurants or at work.
• 37%  purchased items while traveling.
• 36% of users bought items via mobile while in-store.

The study is more proof that mobile commerce has become mainstream and is being used for more than just product research.  Consumers are continuing to embrace the convenience of mobile to perform their shopping, whether during commutes, at home or in-stores.  Smartphone adoption is the key factor in the advancement of mobile shopping, as more and more Americans purchase smart phones and begin utilizing them for more and more daily tasks.

Your customers are using their Smart Phones to make purchases.  Are they going to find YOU on their phones, or your competition?

Starbucks exceeds 26 MILLION Mobile Transactions since January 2011 !

Starbucks, the international coffee chain, has exceeded 26 million mobile transactions since the launch of its mobile payment program in January of 2011
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According to the company, in the first nine weeks of the program there were approximately 3 million transactions. In comparison, for the nine-week period starting in October there were 6 million transactions. The data shows that there has been a significant jump in customer adoption and use.

1 in 4 transactions at Starbucks are now being made via mobile.

In July, Starbucks continued to prove that that mobile plays a critical role in its overall initiatives by unveiling a new application that features gift card capabilities. The app includes the company’s eGift feature and combines the features of its iPhone my Starbucks and Starbucks Card mobile apps.

Since October, mobile sales have doubled to account for 10 percent of Starbucks Card eGift sales.
Starbucks is also doing well internationally.  Starbucks introduced its Starbucks Canada app last month which offers mobile payments in 1,000 stores in Canada.  Additionally, Starbucks will offer British consumers the option to pay with select smartphone devices at more than 700 Starbucks stores.

Does YOUR business need this kind of mass appeal? Do you want a Custom Mobile App that can do the same for your coffee shop, restaurant, retail store, car-wash, dentist office?

Then call me, Greg, The Mobile App Man and let's make it happen TODAY.  Make 2012 your year! Get on the Mapp, with a Custom Mobile App !

Cheers.
Mobile App Man

Let SearchPoint Marketing put YOUR COMPANY Where it BELONGS - On the Mapp !

EVERYWHERE !

240 Percent Increase in Mobile Barcode Scans on Black Friday

According to NeoMedia, publisher of a mobile Barcode scanner, there was a 240% increase in barcode scans with mobile devices over the recent Black Friday 2011.

“Retail is going mobile. People are not only using their phones to get more information on goods and services, both in-store and on-the-go, but also to purchase,” said Laura Marriott, CEO of NeoMedia.  ”This year has been a great year for mobile barcodes and we are confident usage will continue to increase over the busy Christmas shopping period. This surge in usage demonstrates growing consumer awareness which will continue to create opportunities for all those in the mobile barcode ecosystem.”

Android was the dominant mobile platform in terms of scans at 53%, according to the company, with IOS coming in second at 27% and Symbian rounding out the top three at 8%.

What this shows is that retailers are beginning to embrace mobile coupons more than ever and adoption of the technology continues to steadily rise, as the numbers from NeoMedia suggest.

Just another in a long list of examples that Mobile, including Mobile Apps and Websites, is where your customers are and where your retail store should be.

Cheers.
Mobile App Man

Almost HALF of all Mobile Phones users in the USA now own SMART PHONES!

According to a recent survey by Nielsen,  44 percent of all U.S. mobile subscribers now have smart phones.

That equals a FULL 5% INCREASE in the number of smart phone users in just the last 3 months!

Also, among those who purchased a new mobile phone in the last three months, 56 percent chose smart phones.

Ladies and gentlemen the United States has gone MOBILE.  In the coming weeks, months and years the switch to mobile is going to only increase and increase fast!  More and more people will have smart-phones and use them for EVERYTHING they do, INCLUDING ALL OF THEIR PURCHASES ON JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING.

As a small business owner, you can no longer afford to ignore the fact that consumers, YOUR CUSTOMERS, are using mobile devices to find businesses and services, compare prices, and SPEND THEIR MONEY.  If your marketing plan dies NOT include at least a Mobile Website and a Custom Mobile App YOU ARE LOSING CUSTOMERS.

It's just that simple.

Call me. I'm Mobile App Man.  I can do ANYTHING MOBILE and I want to HELP YOUR BUSINESS.

Staples has seen the power of Mobile Apps. Has your company?

Staples, the office supply mega-store, has introduced a new Mobile App that simplifies the shopping experience both in-store and on the go.

Their new iPhone App enables users to scan items inside (or outside) of the store to build a personalized shopping list. Using the store locator and inventory check feature, customers can then find the nearest Staples location that has the product they are looking for.

One of the small business 'pain points' identified by a Staples customer survey is shopping for ink cartridges.  The new Mobile App has a built in feature allowing customers to store ink cartridge information that they can pull up on the Mobile App in-store, thus eliminating the need to remember all the different cartridge number and/or brands and saving time-loss caused by forgotten cartridge numbers.

Another feature of the Mobile App eliminates the need to bring a rewards check to the store.  With the App, customers will be able to pull up their rewards on their iPhone and apply that money to what they are buying, in the store, without the need for the actual paper check.

The goal of Staples' new Mobile App is to provide their customers an easier purchasing experience, which will save them time and man-hours.

Staples has seen the power of Mobile Apps and now has a highly functional and easy to use Mobile App for their customers that gives them high value and saves them time and money.  They have seen that a Mobile App is a Value Feature that will keep customers happy and coming back.

Isn't it time your business had the same valuable tool?

If you answer yes, than call me, Greg
the Mobile App Man

Have a great day.