Category: Apps

Can Dunkin’ Donuts replicate the mobile payments success of Starbucks

| December 5, 2014

The question that many are now asking is whether or not the achievement is of the brand or the system.

Dunkin’ Donuts has had its own mobile app for a while now, and this application allows smartphone users to be able to accumulate loyalty points as well as make mobile payments in order to complete their transactions while in stores, but recent data is now causing many to ask whether the same successes seen at Starbucks could be possible in this rival franchise.

Some data regarding the usage of this mobile app has provided insight into this coffee shop trend.

According to a report issued by BI Intelligence, which provided then results of some number crunching with regards to the data that Dunkin’ Donuts has made available, there are a number of points that can be understood about the way that the mobile payments app is being used at that company’s locations. Though that company does not report the actual dollar volume that is achieved as a result of transactions over mobile devices, the data that they have provided still shows some interesting trends.

The Dunkin’ Donuts data has provided some indications with regards to the traction of the mobile payments app.

Mobile Payments - Dunkin' DonutsAmong the points reported by BI Intelligence included the following:

• The Dunkin’ Donuts mobile app has, according to the company’s own figures, already been downloaded more than 10 million times. It was originally launched in August 2012.
• The Starbucks application is currently reported to be maintaining 12 million active users in North America.
• At Starbucks, more than 15 percent of all of the transactions completed in the United States locations are m-payments.

The BI Intelligence report stated that one of the primary drivers of success of the Starbucks mobile payments app is the company’s loyalty program. Dunkin’ Donuts has clearly used a similar strategy in encouraging the adoption and use of its own application. When using that app, customers are able to build “DD Perks” rewards points, which can later be redeemed in order to obtain free items such as beverages. QR codes are also central to the verification process for transactions in the apps of both companies.

Mobile security isn’t standing up to hackers among top 100 apps

| December 5, 2014

A recent report has shown that most of the leading Android and iOS applications have been hacked.

The third annual “State of Mobile App Security” report has now been released, and what it has revealed was that mobile security in both Android and iOS based applications is not high enough to be able to keep hackers from getting in.

How many have been hacked? 87 percent of the top 100 paid Apple iOS apps and 97 percent of the top paid Android apps!

Beyond the rise in mobile security breaches in apps that are occurring among the Popular Free apps that are most frequently downloaded, the report from this year also showed that there was evidence of hacking that was quite commonplace in the applications in the following categories: financial services, retail and merchants, healthcare and medical. Overall, these were primarily driven by hacks in mobile apps for Android devices.

This shows that there remains a serious concern with regards to mobile security in top apps of all types and forms.

Mobile Security not standing up to hackersThe report is produced by Arxan and it has provided an update over the indicators that have been published in previous years with regards to the prevalence of mobile security issues in the form of hacked apps over the two largest smartphone platforms, Android and iOS. Considering the rapid growth of the global mobile app usage, the insight provided in this report could be quite important.

This report also projected that there will be an increase in the download rate of free mobile apps of 99 percent, to the point that they will reach 253 billion downloads in 207. In the paid app download category, it is expected that there will be a 33 percent increase by 2017, when it will reach 15 billion downloads.

The mobile security risk associated with hacking in apps is remaining stead with Android apps, as the figures showed that 97 percent of the top paid apps have been hacked. That said, the risk of hacking in the top paid iOS apps is considerably higher now than it had been last year, as it is now at 87 percent, compared to last year’s 56 percent.