It is not uncommon for companies to compete with one another, especially in the field of mobile commerce. It is relatively uncommon, however, for start-ups to target large corporations as their major competition. Mobile commerce firm Zapp, which is based in the United Kingdom, has taken aim at both Visa and MasterCard, seeking to dethrone these two companies in the mobile commerce arena. Zapp plans to boast of more than 20 million users by the end of 2017, an ambitious goal that if achieved would make the firm one of the most successful entities in the mobile commerce field.
Zapp aims for 20 million users by 2017
Zapp was launched earlier this year and aims to make mobile payments in stores, online, and through applications more convenient and accessible to consumers in the United Kingdom. The firm intends to incorporate its mobile payments system into banking application from some of the country’s largest financial firms. Zapp is reportedly close to closing deals with three prominent banks in the UK, which will give the company significant momentum to launch its mobile commerce services through these institutions at some point next year.
Banks could incorporate Zapp services
Zapp is designed to bypass card networks. Using Zapp, consumers will have a direct connection to their bank accounts, which can be used to make mobile payments for goods and services. Zapp claims that this will make mobile commerce more convenient for consumers as they will never have to deal with physical cards or other forms of physical currency.
Retailers show interest in Zapp
The mobile commerce firm is not only focused on banks, of course, as it also expects several prominent retailers in the UK to make use of its services. Zapp is proving attractive to retailers through the promise of higher checkout completions and the low fees associated with the services it offers. Whether Zapp will be able to compete with Visa and MasterCard among retailers and banks has yet to be seen, as both Visa and MasterCard have a significant head start over the mobile commerce start-up.
A new mobile commerce startup called Boxed aims to make wholesale goods more easily obtainable for consumers. Typically, people have to go to large, membership-based department stores in order to purchase bulk goods at low prices, but these stores do not exist on every corner. Consumers can typically find a wide variety wholesale goods online, but the costs associated with shipping these goods mitigates any savings they could see. Boxed intends to change this by offering consumers with a way to purchase and receive wholesale products at a low cost.
Boxed provides free shipping to orders over $75
Boxed officially launched this week and is currently restricted to the eastern half of the U.S. Using the application, consumers can purchase a wide variety of products and have these products shipped directly to their home. Orders exceeding $75 will receive free, two-day shipping. The concept behind Boxed is to provide consumers with all the convenience of a wholesale department store without the auxiliary expenses associated with such stores.
Company holds its own inventory
Boxed is not just a mobile commerce platform. Behind the application, the company boasts of its own warehouse that stores approximately 500 unique products at any given time. This is somewhat different from the trend that has emerged in the mobile commerce scene. Companies like eBay and Google have been partnering with retailers in order to provide expedited shipping of products without actually having to keep their own inventories. Boxed, however, believes that holding its own inventory and fulfilling shipments is a better way to provide consumers with the services they are interested in.
Mobile commerce continues to evolve
Many trends have begun to emerge in the mobile commerce sector, but mobile commerce cannot be defined by any of these trends on their own. The constant evolution of the mobile space has provided mobile commerce with a lot of room to grow and companies like Boxed have been able to exploit this to their advantage. Boxed aims to offer a new service to consumers that may appeal to people’s interest in convenience and efficiency.
