BWild |
November 21, 2014
Powa raises $80 million to bring its mobile services to the United States
Powa, a commerce specialist operating primarily in the United Kingdom, will be bringing its mobile commerce service to the United States. The company has raised $80 million in its most recent round of funding, with Wellington Management leading investments. This funding will allow the company to launch its digital payments system in the U.S., expanding the mobile commerce options that are available in the country and providing businesses with a new way to engage consumers.
2014 holiday season may be the biggest yet for mobile commerce
Powa will be launching its service in the U.S. before the holiday season. During the holidays, mobile commerce is expected to see significant growth. Last year, consumers showed a great deal of favor for mobile shopping, praising its convenience and the fact that they were able to avoid the crowds that swarmed stores during the holidays. This year’s holiday season is expected to be a major success for the mobile commerce space, largely due to the number of retailers that have entered into the space.
Small businesses are looking to engage mobile consumers in a more effective way
Small businesses that want to make use of a mobile point-of-sale payment system in their stores, as well as use a conventional e-commerce website, will be able to take advantage of Powa’s services. The company’s services are designed with mobile commerce in mind, meant to help businesses engage mobile consumers in an effective way.
PowaTags are coming to the United States as Powa expands its market reach
Powa is also bringing its PowaTags to the United States. These tags can be scanned by consumers with smartphones, allowing them to purchase these products directly from their device. These tags can integrated into printed marketing materials, streamlining the shopping process and allowing consumers to purchase products directly from advertisements they see. These tags can also be embedded into dynamic content, such as streamed broadcasts and videos. Powa’s services may be particularly attractive to businesses looking to engage mobile consumers during the upcoming holiday season.
The most common purpose for shopping over smartphones and tablets will be to locate stores.
At a time in which there are scores of holiday shopping forecasts are starting to be released, the consensus appears to be that mobile commerce is going to be one of the most critical components of this vital season, despite the fact that a growing number of consumers will be headed to actual stores in order to make their purchases.
This implies that m-commerce and in-store shopping will complement one another, this year.
This means that it is important for brick and mortar shops to focus on mobile commerce not as its competition, but as a complement to its own ability to make a sale. Smartphones and tablets are set to play a very important role in the complete process of both shopping and decision making. Consumers will use their devices regardless of the fact that they will still go to stores in order to buy what they want.
For this reason, mobile commerce isn’t necessarily an independent shopping channel but one that works with others.
That said, while shoppers are looking to their mobile devices to learn more about the products that they are considering, to compare prices, and to find the places that sell the item, they still often prefer the experience of going to the store and seeing the items in person before they buy them. They also like the opportunity to have the item that they have purchased in their hands, instead of having to wait for it to be delivered.
According to the 2014 holiday shopping study conducted by Deloitte, which included the participation of 5,000 American consumers, the average holiday spending this year will be $1,299, which represents an increase of 13 percent over last year. Among all U.S. consumers 72 percent will be using their smartphones for shopping purposes, though this does not mean online purchases, exclusively. The report on the mobile commerce survey showed that the devices would also be used for the following purposes:
• 58 percent – to find a store location
• 52 percent – to obtain and compare prices
• 48 percent – for browsing products online
• 47 percent – to obtain information about a product
• 44 percent – to read product reviews
• 41 percent – to check the availability of a product
• 41 percent – to obtain sale information, discounts, offers, and coupons
• 36 percent – to use social networks to discuss products
• 35 percent – to purchase a product or service online
• 32 percent – to receive text message based deals from retailers
• 31 percent – to scan barcodes such as QR codes to learn more about a product.
