September 26 2008

Androids and iPhones — will the latest generation of mobiles make m-commerce a reality at last?

Things seem to be hotting up again in the mobile commerce space. And we think it's time to take a good look at how the iPhone and the first new 'Google phone' are changing the game — and have another think about whether now is the time to be going ahead with a mobile version of your store

The first phone based on Google's Android platform, the T-Mobile G1, launched this week amidst a rapturous response. Like the iPhone, it offers new features that not only make the whole experience of surfing the web from a mobile phone lots easier but also make shopping online on the go a viable and interesting experience.

Retail-orientated services and applications already announced include:

• Amazon's MP3 store application comes pre-loaded on the G1, giving users direct access to Amazon's library of downloadable DRM-free music from all the main record companies.
• Visa has announced a series of payments solutions specifically for Android users, to go live at the end of the year. These include promotional offers: "Consumers will receive targeted offers from merchants directly to their phone. These offers — ranging from discounts to loyalty offers — could be based on a consumer's previous purchase activity. For consumers and merchants alike, this service will ensure the most relevant offers are sent in a timely manner, helping increase merchant traffic, loyalty and customer satisfaction."
• ShopSavvy. This lets a phone's user scan the barcode of any retail product and instantly retrieve all the available information on that product that there is on the web. ShopSavvy also tells the user who has the product in stock and where he needs to go to buy one.

Gadget blog Gizmodo also includes some retail-orientated applications in its article 'Android's 10 most exciting apps', most of which take advantage of Android phones' location-aware capabilities. And, if you're an ecommerce supplier and you're wondering whether you should be considering offering clients a mobile solution, InfoWorld has published an SDK shoot-out: Android vs. iPhone that looks at the pros and cons of each platform.

Meanwhile:

• eBay has launched a European version of its iPhone application that lets owners make bids on the go whilst suppliers of ecommerce solutions for independent retailers, like Magento in the US, are working on offering clients an iPhone-friendly version of their online stores.
• PC supplier Asus has become the first retailer to sign up for the Saatchi and Saatchi-backed pay by SMS service 2Shop4.

Here at IR Towers we're ever optimistic and think, this time, m-commerce may well be ready to take off. So, we're going to be putting in a bit of extra time over the coming weeks to get up to speed on all the options available, what the issues are and what obstacles lie in the way. A few months ago, we made m-commerce the focus of the March issue of Internet Retailing magazine (you can access a digital issue here) and now we want to do more.

So, if you're involved in developing m-commerce solutions, you're running a mobile version of your site or you just have a point of view you'd like to get across, please email press@internetretailing.net and we'll be sure to get in touch.

by Sarah Clark (Web Editor)