Walmart continues to see promise in mobile commerce field
Walmart has been taking note of the attention that the mobile commerce scene has been receiving recently. The retailer has long been accustomed to adapting to changes in the market and meeting the demands of consumers and now it is beginning to shift toward becoming more accommodating to the mobile space. More consumers are using their smartphones and tablets to shop than ever before, leading to a swell in the demand for mobile commerce services. Walmart is now working to meet this demand and has begun overhauling its e-commerce and mobile strategies.
Retailer to launch new website
Walmart believes that e-commerce is among its primary growth engines and claims that e-commerce may power the majority of the company’s growth in the near future. In order to become more attractive to online shoppers, the retailer is taking a new approach on the matter of e-commerce and has adopted a strong focus on mobile. The retailer is planning to launch a new home page for its website that will feature the services and functionality that consumers are coming to expect from companies in the retail industry.
Site optimized for mobile use
The new site will be optimized for mobile use, allowing those with smartphones and tablets to navigate the site easily and without any trouble. The site will also support mobile commerce for those interested in purchasing products online through their mobile devices. Walmart claims that more than half of its customers have smartphones and if the company does not cater to this demographic it may be missing out on a promising opportunity.
Retail industry continues to see growth in mobile commerce
Mobile commerce is quickly becoming a staple in the retail industry. Consumers have responded well to the concept of mobile commerce and are quickly becoming more comfortable with purchasing products online using their mobile devices. Walmart is one among many in the retail industry that has begun showing more favor to the mobile crowd.
Report highlights fragmentation in mobile payments
Mobile payments have been showing strong growth throughout the U.S., but this growth has not been as steady as had initially been expected. This week, the Federal Reserve Banks of Boston and Atlanta have released a new report concerning the expansion of mobile payments. The report suggests an emerging fragmentation in the mobile commerce sector that has served to derail some of the progress that has been seen in mobile payments over the past few years.
Mobile commerce shows modest growth over past two years
According to the report, entitled “U.S. Mobile Payments Landscape — Two Years Later,” the mass adoption of mobile commerce is unlikely without strong support and collaboration from multiple organizations and industries. Over the past two years, mobile payments have grown more popular but have done so under harsh criticism. Mobile commerce has been dogged by concerns regarding security and many of the issues that consumers have with mobile payments remain unresolved due to the lack of interest many companies have in this field.
Multiple approaches lead to slower growth
The report claims that the advent of mobile devices has created an effective way to create a dynamic marketplace for consumers. As mobile commerce entered the limelight, companies, particularly banks and telecommunications organizations, began teaming up to engage consumers in a new form of commerce. Various such partnerships and collaborations have formed over the past few years, with each partnership experimenting with ways to make mobile payments more attractive to consumers. This has lead to some fragmentation as the various parties focus on very particular aspects of mobile commerce.
Non-banks introduce more risk to mobile payments field
While innovation has been encouraged in mobile commerce over the past two years, this also comes with significant risks. Non-bank organizations that are getting involved in mobile payments represent the majority of the risks associated with this sector. This is due to the fact that these organizations rarely have the security experience that financial institutions have and are not held to the same laws that banks are.
