Emerging Mobile Markets

Presented by the Foundation For Emerging Markets

Welcome to Everything Mobile Commerce!

Introduction

Monday, 21 March 2011 19:17 administrator
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Mobile Commerce, or m-Commerce, is about the explosion of applications and services that are becoming accessible from Internet-enabled mobile devices. It involves new technologies, services and business models. It is quite different from traditional e-Commerce. Mobile phones impose very different constraints than desktop computers. But they also open the door to a slew of new applications and services. They follow you wherever you go, making it possible to look for a nearby restaurant, stay in touch with colleagues, or pay for items at a store.

As the Internet finds its way into our purses or shirt pockets, the devices we use to access it are becoming more personal too. Already today, mobile phones know the phone numbers of our friends and colleagues. They are starting to track our location. Tomorrow, they will replace our wallets and credit cards. One day, they may very well turn into intelligent assistants capable of anticipating many of our wishes and needs, such as automatically arranging for taxis to come and pick us up after business meetings or providing us with summaries of relevant news and messages left by colleagues. But, for all these changes to happen, key issues of interoperability, usability, security, and privacy still need to be addressed.

In particular, our Laboratory is researching new technologies and applying user-centered design principles in the development of solutions to reconcile context-awareness and privacy in mobile and pervasive computing environments:

Welcome to Mobile Markets

Wednesday, 16 March 2011 19:42 administrator
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We at the Foundation for Emerging Markets (FFEM) believe the rise of m-commerce   complete with mobile apps, appliances,  and SMS marketing will over the next six months change the face of internet trade permanently and practically overnight. Some industry leaders even believe by this time next year, the m commerce market window of opportunity will disappear.   Stephanie Marcus writes in her 2010 article in Mashable.Com, a top source for news in social media, technology and web culture,  that there have been significant trends to be aware of in the field of m Commerce.  We have listed them here because we, too, believe anyone interested in m commerce should be aware of them, know where they come from and where they will lead to in the world of mobile business.

  • Bargain Hunting – Using phones to scan barcodes (through Apps) to compare prices.
  • Mobile Ticketing – Allows customers to order, pay for, and validate (use) tickets with phone. (Expected to exceed $100 billion world wide by 2012, can account for 10% of   blockbuster movie ticket sales)
  • Banking – Access to personal bank accounts through phones. (13.2 million peopled accessed accounts through phone, 5 million users of banking apps)
  • Tangible Goods – 17% of m Commerce was apps and ringtones, 6% for discounts and coupons, 6% used for buying of tangible goods (e-bay is leader). According to e-bay, item bought with phone every 2 seconds.
  • Marketing – 74% of online retailers have or are developing m Commerce strategies, 20% have implemented complete plans. Text message marketing = customers opt in to receive news of sales and coupons, high likelihood of being read.

We believe the most important trend is bargain hunting.  Why?  It is much more convenient for the consumer, saving him or her much of their time in shopping and money when they find the lowest price.  Join us  at Emerging Mobile Markets to find out the news and information you need to make the decision to use m commerce before the window of opportunity passes you by.

Last Updated on Thursday, 14 April 2011 20:51

VeriFone Outlines Six Rules for Mobile Commerce Success

Wednesday, 13 April 2011 19:08 administrator
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VeriFone is urging "aspiring mobile payment service companies to engage with retailers in determining market requirements to enable mobile phone-initiated payments and services at the retail point of sale."

"Responding to growing interest from major industry players intent on claiming a stake in emerging mobile commerce opportunities, VeriFone CEO Douglas G. Bergeron articulated key guidelines to ensure that mobile payments don’t follow the path of previous alternative payment schemes that only succeeded in alienating merchants."

Bergeron six key “rules” for industry participants are listed below after the jump.

  • Rule #1: “Deployment and management of complex NFC technologies will require significant ongoing services from the retailer’s payment systems provider. Until retailers are assured of receiving real value from mobile commerce, service providers who stand to gain from either carrier fees, advertising revenue or transaction charges must be willing to bear the costs of this highly disruptive paradigm shift.”

     

  • Rule #2: “Mobile commerce must add value to the consumer. Tapping a phone is a gimmick, no different from tapping a card or fob. In addition to providing the ability to pay for stuff by phone, service providers and retailers need to provide real additional value –- such as coupons, loyalty rewards and discounts -- for consumers to leave their wallets at home.

     

  • Rule #3: “Mobile commerce must be streamlined with existing POS services and managed well for the retailer. Retailers won’t tolerate the need for multiple methods of acceptance to accommodate what will become a wide array of mobile commerce schemes. All ideas, regardless of where or who generates them, must converge at a unified point-of-sale.”

     

  • Rule #4: “Mobile commerce must go from zero to 90 mph in five seconds. Consumers will not embrace mobile commerce without the confidence that it is being widely accepted. If it only works at a few select retailers, it dies a quick death. Ten percent acceptance is not sustainable.”

     

  • Rule #5: “Mobile commerce must be integrated with other forms of payment. Mobile commerce won’t lead to the quick death of plastic cards and must work with existing payment systems that are certified by all major processors and installed in the vast majority of large and small retailers.”

     

  • Rule #6: “Mobile commerce must be ironclad secure. Security, both real and perceived, is imperative to the adoption and sustainability of mobile commerce. Even minor setbacks in security could compromise consumer adoption and stop the movement in its tracks.

The Future of Mcommerce is Here

Thursday, 24 March 2011 20:56 administrator
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Would you be willing to pay for coffee, a new sweater, or a movie ticket simply by tapping your cell phone against a terminal? Major U.S. wireless carriers are betting that you will.

 

Considering that most people would rather lose their wallet than misplace their cell phone, it’s fitting that the mobile world is quickly becoming a new hub for business. This change in the consumer dynamic is gaining momentum with the telecommunications giants in the United States. AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA Inc. and Verizon Wireless recently announced the formation of a joint venture chartered with building ISIS, a national mobile commerce network that aims to fundamentally transform how people shop, pay and save. ISIS will build a mobile payment network that enables mobile phones to make point-of-sale purchases by utilizing smart phone and near-field communication technology to modernize the payments process. NFC uses short-range, wireless technology to enable the encrypted exchange of information between devices at a short distance. The new system is being designed and built to include strong security and privacy safeguards, and will deliver new levels of competition and value to consumers and merchants.

 

While the concept and hype that surround mobile payments is not new, the ISIS venture is quickly establishing credibility. Led by CEO, Michael Abbott, a former executive at GE Capital, ISIS has partnered with Barclay’s plc and Discover Financial Service’s network to utilize their global payment network, which is a capability that has been lacking in other failed adoption initiatives of years past. Although ISIS is just getting started, there is an indication that it will open up its “PayWithThis” solution to other carriers, banks and merchants and plans to expand over the next 18 months to key markets in the United States. Essential to the success of this project will be the willingness of U.S. consumers to change their way of paying for just about everything; similar to the previous adoption of ACH payments in lieu of checks. NFC technology is not new to the mobile commerce world either. For example, NFC use in Japan and Korea is proving to be useful in many applications of everyday life; however, NFC adoption in the United States will be dependent upon three major factors; handset functionality, banking direct acceptance and merchant adoption.

 

Handset functionality

 

NFC hardware adoption has been an issue because it requires users to replace their phones for devices with the capable technology. Today things are starting to change and in the coming years NFC, like GPS, may well be a defacto component of most phones. The three major carriers within ISIS represent more than 200 million users, and the vast majority of those users get their handsets from the three major carriers. Each mobile operator in the joint venture has committed to ramping their lineup of phones to include NFC-enabled devices over the next two years. Going forward, the majority of smart phones shipped will support no-contact mobile payment solutions. NFC will be included in handsets from Nokia Corp. (~40% share of global smart phone shipments), handsets from Research In Motion Ltd. (~24% U.S. smart phone shipments), Apple Inc.’s iPhone 5 (iPhone accounts for ~26% of U.S. smart phone shipments) and possibly Google Inc.’s Android OS (~44% of U.S. smart phone shipments), though some Android handsets may not include an NFC chip. There is definitely big momentum behind NFC. The stakes are high for companies looking for a piece of the mobile-payments market, and it makes sense to go after what Juniper Forecast estimates to be a $633 billion market for mobile payments by 2014. However, it remains to be seen how much the carriers’ efforts with ISIS will contribute to that total.

 

Banking direct acceptance

 

ISIS has said its payment process will work though applications – the consumer would essentially walk into a store with a capable device, open up the app, tap the phone near a capable NFC terminal and their purchase would be complete with a digital receipt. They plan to create a mobile wallet that ultimately eliminates the need for consumers to carry cash, credit and debit cards, reward cards, coupons, tickets, building IDs and transit passes. The mobile industry will be in direct competition with the credit card industry. The traditional card networks, such as Visa and MasterCard, are not taking ISIS’ new initiatives lightly as they too have been working on their own NFC initiatives. In December 2010, Visa said it supported commercialization of a technology from Device Fidelity that puts NFC capability on microSD cards, which can be inserted into certain existing smart phones. Visa tested the technology for 18 months, and additional trials are ongoing with such banks as Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, US Bancorp and Bank of America.

 

Merchant adoption

 

Getting the merchants to install capable technology may be another challenge, but it is likely that major players will create demand for the service through broader and tighter integrated solutions. Convenience and value will ultimately drive adoption and consumers can look forward to financial benefits such as: credit and rewards management, budgeting, person-to-person domestic and international transfers, and financial planning. The user will be able to take advantage of time saving integrations like self-checkout without a kiosk, scan and go solutions such as AisleBuyer, digital wallet integration for transit passes, health insurance, medical info, employee and building identification cards, location enabled mobile coupons, and tickets. Consequently, improving service with faster credits and rebates, and aiding in vital storage management of receipts and warranty information. Not to mention interconnected communities enabling users to share ratings of vendors and product reviews. Merchants will quickly realize that letting people pay with their phones can lead to beneficial experiences for all of those involved.

 

We are entering a highly innovative and creative period for retail. Never before has it been so easy to shop, anywhere, anytime from the palm of your hand. There is an enormous amount of ongoing market research, and though there have been a variety of estimates, all conclude that mobile commerce is a profitable and rapidly growing market. Mobile online shopping growth and the new mobile payment technology in the United States have been fueled this year by the massive migration of consumers to smart phones, the explosion of innovative use-cases deployed by retailers and third-party players and a significant shift in consumer behavior as more consumers choose mobile commerce over traditional shopping. By bringing together merchants and consumers, the mobile commerce network is set to provide an enhanced, more convenient and more personal shopping experience. It’s going to be a slow ramp, but, ISIS and the wave of mobile payment startups that spring up will finally bring mobile payments to the mainstream with greater benefit than ever imagined.