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M-commerce sees growth of 31 percent in Q1 2013

Julie Campbell | May 1, 2013

When compared to a year ago at the same time, mobile shopping increased by nearly a third in the first quarter.

According to the latest IBM Online Retail Index research data, m-commerce has experienced a growth by nearly a third (31 percent) in the first quarter of 2013, when compared to its size at the same time in 2012.

The report pointed out that the growing use of tablets and customer service improvements were primary drivers.

The index states that at the moment, m-commerce is making up 17.4 percent of all online retail sales. This is a notable increase over where it was a year prior, at 13.3 percent. On the whole, spending online, in general, had increased by 20 percent within that same quarter. The index found that tablets are playing an ever increasing role as a driver of shopping over mobile.

They said that m-commerce has become more comfortable as people use iPads and other tablets.

The overall m-commerce traffic, including all devices, rose by 40 percent in the first quarter of 2013. However, among tablets, specifically, there was an increase of almost 80 percent when compared to the same time last year.

The report pointed out that “This trend reflects marketers’ ability to create a positive customer experience for consumers shopping on their iPads and Kindles, by designing for the finger and making it easier for customers to browse via their mobile devices.” The results presented in this report align quite closely with other similar research that is also pointing to tablets in their growing importance for m-commerce.

Earlier in 2013, there was a forecast issued by eMarketer which stated that transactions over tablets made up 57 percent of the almost $25 billion that occurred over m-commerce in 2012. Based on that, they expected the figure to rise to reach 62.5 percent in 2013. This is also interesting as the penetration of tablets is at less than half of that of smartphones. Tablets are currently owned by approximately 20 percent of people in the United States, whereas it is believed that more than 50 percent are already the owners of smartphones.

Augmented reality technology on sports tickets enhance experience

Julie Campbell | April 29, 2013

A cricket team in India will be providing even more for their smartphone toting fans through AR.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore cricket team has just announced that, beginning next month, they will be issuing tickets that feature augmented reality content that can be viewed through a smartphone or tablet.

This team is joining a number of other sports clubs that plan to use technology in the same way.

The use of augmented reality is still an emerging form of technology, but it has already been employed in a number of interesting and creative ways, particularly in terms of mobile marketing and sharing content and information. Fans who purchase tickets for the participating teams will discover, however, that the technology isn’t just hype, but that it also has a number of additional practical uses that they can enjoy.

The augmented reality on the cricket tickets are meant to fully enhance the fan’s experience.

For instance, through the use of the augmented reality on these tickets, fans can receive updates about the traffic in the areas surrounding the Bangalore M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. They can also obtain parking information or take advantage of a tool that allows them to call a cab. This is meant to make it easier to get to and from the game.

Other augmented reality features include the team store for mobile commerce purchases, a 3D view of the stadium, and video highlights of their team’s greatest moments. Instead of accessing this technology through a standalone app for each team, they can simply use the Point AR browser that allows them to view the AR material from many different companies. Others that are using this app for their experiences also include Toyota and Nike.

The Point augmented reality browser is available for Android, iOS, Blackberry, and Windows Phone, but it can also work for feature phones that have GPRS connectivity and a camera. The physical tickets that are printed for the fans will have information included on them regarding the ways in which the browser can be downloaded and used, and how the team’s logo can be scanned in order to open up the additional digital content.