Category: Mobile Commerce

Mobile Consumers can now enjoy a fast shopping experience with mobile scanning technology.

Retail giant Walmart is widening its mobile commerce footprint with its new Scan & Go mobile app that allows iPhone users the ability to scan the items they want to buy, which they can then purchase at a self-checkout with quick convenience.

New smartphone scanning technology provides shoppers with independence.

According to information from Walmart’s Scan & Go promotional material, “Scan & Go is a new way to shop in Walmart stores that allows YOU to take control of your shopping experience.” The new scanning technology transforms iPhone devices into mini mobile shopping helpers that allow consumers to browse the store, scan what they want, place the selected scanned products in their basket or cart, and head to a self-checkout where they pay for their scanned goods and leave. Customers can shop and go with no fuss and skip the long checkout line.

The new mobile commerce application is expected to reach 200 stores.

Currently, approximately 70 Walmart stores are Scan & Go compatible. Based on information from a published report, the total number of stores expected to offer this mobile commerce service is 200. When all is said and done, the company’s aim is to introduce the scan technology to 12 new markets in addition to the Atlanta market and the areas near Bentonville, Arkansas where the technology already exists.

iPhone users who would like to gain access to the Walmart application will find it available for download at Apple’s App Store. When the user accesses the app in a compatible Walmart store, a message will be displayed giving the consumer the option to choose “Store Mode”. From this point, they can begin scanning product barcodes with their smartphone. When the customer is done shopping, they take their items to the self-checkout where they will able to pay for these pre-scanned products by transferring the data from their phone to the register by scanning a QR code displayed on the resister screen.

An Android version of Scan & Go is not yet available but will be released in the near future. Currently, the mobile commerce app is only available for Apple iPhone devices that run iOS 5 or higher.

Nordstrom has launched digital storefronts to accommodate mobile shoppers.

Long-time American fashion retailer Nordstrom has stood the test of time again and again due to the company’s fashion-forward thinking, and is now readying itself for a mobile commerce future.

Mobile technology could pave the way for a new digital shopping world.

Mobile commerce is becoming more prominent in the retail market, not just in terms of online shopping but in-store shopping, as well. With more and more consumers using smartphone devices, Nordstrom, one of the oldest department stores in the U.S., has every intention of appealing to the interests of these tech savvy consumers, now and in the future.

The next 30 years will be about appealing to the interest of consumers, in which mobile commerce will play a large roll.

If merchants want to please customers, they’ll need to stay on top of the latest trends, do what they can to predict the desires of consumers and satisfy them. According to Blake Nordstrom, the president of Nordstrom and the great-grandson of the company’s founder, John W. Nordstrom, although retailing will be different in the future, “there still will be customers who desire fresh new product. What that product is, how we satisfy the customer, that’s open.”

What will the future of retail look like? Nordstrom believes that aside from a more digital shopping experience that may include parametric technology that can provide consumers with a good idea of the way clothing may look and fit on their particular body type, without them having to try it on, current cash registers will no longer be around.

Instead, he says, “We see the future of point-of-sale as completely mobile.” Where the actual shopping takes place won’t matter so much as time goes on. Nordstrom believes that shoppers will use the most convenient platform to conduct their shopping. This will make it very important for mobile commerce to be implemented in-store.

Retail analysts foresee a big change in purpose for brick and mortar stores. Instead of their current role, they will provide a more sensory focused experience. Customers will physically interact with the items they are interested in purchasing, which they can buy remotely and have these products shipped.

Mobile commerce technology continues to be upgraded and developed and Nordstrom is ready to embrace a smartphone-friendly retail future.