Author: BWild

Mobile games become a new focus for Amazon

Amazon has taken a strong interest in the mobile sector, which should come as no surprise considering the company’s focus on the digital world. The online retailer has been making moves to establish a stronger presence in mobile commerce, but this is not the only approach that Amazon has taken on the mobile space. The company is preparing to launch an new service it calls AppStream, which has a very specific focus on mobile games.

New service to make mobile games more accessible to consumers

Mobile games represent some of the most used applications by consumers around the world. These games are quite popular and have become one of the most lucrative sectors of the game industry as a whole. New mobile games are entering the market at a rapid pace, and Amazon believes that consumers may benefit from a virtual hub through which they can find these games easily. As such, exposure is one of the top priorities of AppStream and Amazon believes that consumers will be able to find a wide variety of interesting mobile games through the service.

AppStream based on cloud technology

AppStream is built on a “pay as you go” model. Consumers will be able to find and play mobile games, paying only for the games they play; there will be no monthly fee for the service itself. All of the games that will be featured on AppStream will be available for all mobile operating systems. As such, Android and iOS users will be able to find a wide variety of mobile games through the service. Notably, the AppStream will be connected to a cloud computing system, which will host the games that consumers have access to. This means that the games that people play through AppStream will not take up the computing power or storage space of their mobile device.

AppStream could open the way for more advanced mobile games

Because AppStream is based on cloud technology, Amazon believes that it will become a popular platform among developers. The company believes that developers can use AppStream to host high fidelity mobile games that may be a bit more technologically advanced than conventional mobile devices. Games that make use of advanced 3D imagery, for instance, are not well supported on mobile devices. Through cloud technology, however, nearly any mobile device could play such games.

The same report that provided this insight also forecasted the importance of mobile commerce.

As the third quarter showed that online retail experienced a year over year increase of 13 percent, a growth rate that is notably higher than the overall retail environment, mobile commerce is rising approximately twice that fast, and social media marketing is playing an important role in that growth.

Both of those two factors will be making a considerable impact on the decisions and habits of holiday shoppers.

At the same time, the importance of social media marketing and of mobile commerce will also represent some massive changes in the way that consumers are informing themselves and spending their money throughout the holiday shopping season. This, according to comScore, a digital measurement and analytics provider.

comScore revealed its latest social media marketing data and predictions at a recent webinar.

Its predictions regarding the impact of social media marketing on the decisions that shoppers are making, and of the impact of mobile commerce throughout the holiday season were shared at the U.S. Online Retail Economy Q3 2013 webinar.

There, it was explained by the comScore vice president of marketing and insights, Andrew Lipsman, who was also a panelist, that the top themes that were coming into their own in this year’s busiest shopping season are “what I call the 4 S’s – social commerce, smartphones, sit-back shopping, and showrooming.” In terms of social media marketing, he pointed out specifically that the influence of Pinterest is growing and that the usage of this network is increasingly based on smartphones and tablets.

Aside from the importance of social media marketing over Pinterest, Twitter was also identified as being “important”. That said, when it comes to building brands, Lipsman stated that Facebook is maintaining its dominant position.

Social media marketing in order to encourage offline, electronic, and mobile commerce was shown to have three primary benefits, which include engagement, amplification and fan reach. This can play a very important role in a retailer or brand’s ability to communicate with consumers and encourage them to buy. At this time of year, this can make this technique a vital part of success.