Tag: foursquare

Mobile commerce is about to get personal, says Google, Facebook

Some of the giants in the industry are saying that smartphone shopping will soon be far more personalized.

As mobile commerce continues its evolution, new developments, insights, and predictions have become relatively commonplace, particularly as a growing number of real-life features are starting to be included in the shopping experience to integrate smartphones in the shopping experience.

Beacons, mobile marketing, and smartphone based payments at checkout counters are blurring the reality/digital lines.

Now, some of the largest players in this market, including Google, Facebook, and Foursquare, are attempting to ensure that smartphone users are able to use mobile commerce to purchase the products and services they want whenever they want them and at any time. This effort is also trying to make the process as seamless as possible. These companies have also revealed that there is one major trend that appears to be present on virtually every level of mobile commerce as it moves ahead, and that is customization and personalization. The more a customer is able to see relevance and convenience with the use of smartphones as a part of their shopping experience, the more they are using it.

Mobile commerce is, therefore, about to become an increasingly personalized experience for consumers.

Mobile Commerce - PersonalAccording to the Facebook director of global marketing solutions, Kelly Graziadei, mobile apps are making up about half the total time that consumers are spending on their smartphones and tablets. Moreover, it was pointed out that 75 percent of that time is spent on the four most popular mobile apps, including that social network.

Therefore, among the main questions that are now being asked by the companies behind the leading applications is with regards to how they can go about continuing to engage a customer over the application and ensure that the right product is placed in front of the right individuals at exactly the time that they actually want it.

Graziadie explained that deep linking makes it possible for a customer to be sent from their Facebook or Instagram account to a retailer, and while this is a “big part of it,” it is also important to note that one of the primary questions in retail is exactly where the customer should be sent. Should it be to an app or to the website. The next mobile commerce question is how to use that direction to ensure that the experience will be as seamless as possible, as the key is to make sure that it is an entirely personalized experience.

Mobile apps now give smartphone users an anti social media advantage

This will help people to be able to avoid people when they are aiming not to have a chance encounter.

For people who are looking to make sure that they won’t accidentally run into their exes while they’re out, there are now mobile apps coming out that have the exact opposite goal of many of the social media options that are currently available.

There are two applications that have been released within the past few weeks for this reason.

Both Split and Cloak are mobile apps that use geolocation technology to map the position of individuals that users don’t want to run into someone they used to date. Anyone who doesn’t want to be seen can be avoided through the use of this location based tech application. It utilizes updates on location in combination with check-ins that are made on other social networks.

The founders of both mobile apps claim that avoiding exes was the primary inspiration.

According to Split’s founder, Udi Dagan, there was one “bad night” in which he ran into two of his ex-girlfriends and. This caused him to come up with an app in which check-ins are used from Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and Instagram, so that people can be tracked and avoided when they are located nearby.Mobile Apps - Anti-Social

From the Cloak side, a co-founder, Chris Baker, explained that “My co-founder Brian ran into his ex four times in one month.” He went on to say that this let them know that they “had to do something.” That application uses Foursquare and Instagram to help a user to be able to find both friends and not-so friends. Baker explained that Twitter and Facebook would be added very shortly.

The founders of both products were not completely unaware of the issue of privacy concerns that potential users would bring forward. They also both responded to claims that they would be contributing to potential stalking and other location privacy issues by saying that all of the information that would be made available through the applications would already be posted over social media. These mobile apps simply aggregate the information that is already being posted by the individuals to be avoided.