Tag: mobile apps

Applications are now being used to help enhance the rate of customer engagement while shopping.

Marketers are continuing with their rapid adoption of techniques to reach consumers via smartphone and the popularity of mobile commerce apps is a new reflection of that attitude. A new report suggests that these marketers are using mobile applications as a new way of reaching their target audience.

The report was titled “Quantifying the Rise of Mobile Apps & The Value of Deep Linking.”

That report was published by The Relevancy Group in conjunction with Branch. The research data indicated that almost 45 percent of marketers are now developing and launching mobile commerce apps to enhance customer engagement. Furthermore, over 40 percent of marketers are looking to mobile apps to boost brand loyalty. About that same percentage of marketers are also using applications for the purpose of driving sales.

Marketers recognize the increasing value of mobile commerce apps to drive revenue.

When asked their opinion about the effectiveness of m-commerce apps in driving revenue, marketers ranked them as fourth on the list of most effective channels. Above applications in terms of their effectiveness were: display advertising, social media marketing and email marketing.

According to Branch’s Todd Patton, “Email marketing remains an important part of your marketing efforts.” Furthermore, “Email is the best channel to directly reach potential customers and loyal supporters, “ he said.

At the same time, marketers acknowledge that email marketing can be very effective while at the same time being easy to use. It remains a central marketing tactic for brands due to the simplicity of the tools required in order to reach customers. It is quick, cost effective and it reaches people on virtually any connected device.

A previous Adestra and Ascend2 report called “State of Digital Marketing – Benchmarks for Success,” showed that 61 percent of marketers feel email is the most effective marketing technique. Only 23 percent felt that it was the most challenging tactic to effectively execute.

That said, 38 percent of marketers felt mobile marketing was the most challenging to execute. Still, its effectiveness appears to have made the challenge worthwhile considering the rising number of mobile commerce apps being produced.

The retail chain has now rolled out their own version of the smartphone based transaction method.

The Kohl’s Pay mobile payments platform has launched, representing the latest in a growing retail trend. Large retailers are, to an increasing degree, stepping into the mobile wallet market. This is creating a market with even greater competition for Android Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Those tech giants have all been battling for dominance.

The Kohl’s Pay rollout has added another independent alternative to those wallet options.

The Kohl’s Pay mobile payments platform is available for customers to use within the department stores. This not only allows consumers to pay for their purchases, but it has also been integrated with their rewards and loyalty programs. In this way, the mobile app allows for collection and redemption of the reward and loyalty program benefits. At the same time, it works as a digital wallet for the payment method being used for the purchase itself.

The retailer announced that the Kohl’s Pay Mobile payments service is now available across the country.

Kohl’s Pay’s existence is not a surprise to many as the company had previously announced its intentions to expand its previous mobile wallet. The previous version had allowed consumers to collect rewards and promotions and save their payment data. This latest nationwide move has expanded the features and functions of the mobile payments app.

The new app comes at a time when many other large retailers are taking similar steps with mobile wallets and payments. For example, CVS and Walmart have both recently enhanced their smartphone applications to include comparable changes. These solutions are generating greater appeal among retailers seeking to draw customers who are increasingly comfortable in using smartphones for payments.

Moreover, by implementing their own proprietary mobile wallets, retailers may make themselves into the convenient choice for consumers who prefer this payment method.

What makes the Kohl’s Pay mobile payments platform different is that customers can’t add their credit cards and debit cards to their digital wallet. Instead, the Kohl’s Charge private label card is the only one that can be used in conjunction with the app.