PayPal teams with Orderbird to expand presence in Germany
PayPal has become an aggressive force in the mobile payments arena. The company has been establishing a strong presence in several mobile markets around the world and has become one of the most accessible mobile payment platforms because it is not based solely on NFC technology. PayPal has launched a new service in Germany that is meant to further bolster its presence in the European mobile sector. This service was launched with the help of Orderbird, a startup mobile commerce firm based in Germany.
Service aims to put a new twist on commerce
The new service is called PayPal CheckIn and it is designed to create a more personalized shopping experience for consumers. Using the service, a consumer can build a profile like they would on a conventional social networking site. This profile is activated when a person enters into a store that is using the PayPal CheckIn service. This is a form of geo-location that is similar to social networks like Foursquare and Facebook. Using the profile associated with the service allows consumers to shop for products they may be interested in based on their shopping history.
Orderbird customers show interest in PayPal services
Orderbird notes that the service will initially be trialed among a small number of businesses, mostly cafes and small retail outlets located in Berlin, Germany. Some 1,700 merchants throughout Germany, Austria, and Switzerland are using Orderbird’s services currently, and these merchants have been showing interest from the new mobile payments platform being offered by PayPal.
PayPal continues to pursue mobile commerce
PayPal already has several mobile commerce ventures it is invested in, with the most prominent being Beacon. The company has managed to attract a great deal of support from consumers looking to engage in mobile commerce but cannot easily do so because of a lack of NFC-enabled device. PayPal has opted to avoid using NFC technology for its mobile commerce ventures in order to make them much more inclusive to the general population.
The holidays add more momentum to mobile commerce
Consumers in Europe may be getting a head start on their holiday shopping. Many people have been flooding retail sites on their mobile devices in order to get some of their holiday shopping done early. While retailers have not yet begun to provide the special offers that have become common for the holidays, many of these companies are offering some special discounts to those that participate in mobile commerce. A new report from Adobe predicts that mobile commerce will have a major impact on this year’s holiday season.
Report highlights the growth of mobile sales and online traffic
According to the Adobe Digital Index 2013 Online Shopping Forecast, approximately 12.4% of all online sales in eleven European countries are expected to come from smartphones and tablets. This is a 68% increase over what had been reported in the previous year. Smartphones are expected to be the platform through which the majority of mobile sales are made, with tablets following closely behind. The report suggests that December 9, 2013, will be the highest grossing online shopping day, with the following week being the highest grossing week for retailers in Europe.
Consumers favor convenience of mobile commerce
Mobile commerce is cited as one of the caused behind this growth in online sales and online retail traffic. Consumers have become enthralled with the concept of mobile commerce because of the convenience that it represents. Mobile shopping allows consumers to avoid visiting physical stores, thereby avoiding crowds and expediting the shopping experience. Mobile commerce has proven so convenient that many consumers are opting to get their shopping done before the holidays even begin. These people are willing to forgo the special deals being offered by retailers during the holiday season in order to get their shopping done ahead of time.
Retailers continue to bolster their mobile platforms
Mobile commerce is expected to have a prominent impact on the retail industries in Austria, France, Germany, Denmark, and the United Kingdom, as well as other countries. The 2012 holiday season showcased the power that mobile commerce has over consumers, and retailers have spent much of 2013 preparing their mobile platforms in order to take advantage of the continued growth of mobile commerce among consumers.
