Tag: mobile commerce

Amazon expanding digital services for the game industry

Internet retail behemoth Amazon has begun expanding its digital services into the game industry, with a particular focus on mobile gaming. The Amazon Digital Games Store has become a very promising marketplace for such games, giving developers yet another avenue through which to find success in an increasingly crowded market. Amazon has announced the activation of micro-transactions through in-app purchases for the games that are part of the company’s digital store.

In-app micro-transactions will receive more support from Amazon

Mobile game developers often rely on micro-transactions to generate some kind of profit with their titles. Most mobile games are either available for free or for a very small price, making their ability to generate revenue through initial purchase very limited. In-app micro-transactions are seen as the best way for these games to find commercial success, as the majority of these transactions are very inexpensive, thus making them more attractive to gamers.

Company expands services to PC, Mac, and web-based games

The Amazon Digital Games Store has had the ability to facilitate in-app micro-transactions for some time, but Amazon has been disinclined to fully support the service across all gaming platforms. The service has typically been reserved for mobile games for the iOS and Android platforms, but Amazon has begun expanding its availability to PC, Mac, and even web-based games. Amazon expects that expanding its service to these platforms will help game developers build their businesses and reach new audiences.

Developers relying heavily on micro-transactions

Game developers often create games for a wide variety of platforms in order to engage the largest number of people possible. This can be a costly endeavor because of the fundamental differences that exist from platform to platform. Micro-transactions therefore take on a greater importance for developers, as they not only represent a way for a studio to generate profit, but also recover from the costs associated with game development.

The example of Sephora has been used to support this claim about the channel.

Experts in mobile commerce and marketing have been looking at some of the larger players in the channel and have stated that they expect a positive future for shopping over smartphones.

Those in the industry are increasingly convinced that this environment has become vital to a company’s survival.

Johnna Marcus, an executive from Sephora, the beauty product retailer, explained that mobile commerce had been a highly positive experience for that company, and that it anticipates further gains in that sphere will present themselves in 2013. Based on last year’s numbers, that business is justified in feeling positive about the potential from smartphone shoppers.

When speaking at a conference, the executive revealed considerable mobile commerce growth data.

According to Marcus, Sephora saw an increase in orders over mobile commerce of 167 percent. Moreover, there was a spike of 75 percent in the traffic that the site saw from smartphones and tablets. Furthermore, over 50 percent of the emails that are sent by the company are opened using these devices, as opposed to laptops and desktop computers.

Sephora has developed a unique mobile commerce strategy which is attempting to make the smartphone or tablet into a type of digital personal shopper for consumers. The devices will allow them to keep track of the brands that they prefer, read reviews, and keep an eye on the very latest items.

The company has also placed a considerable amount of focus on the concept of a mobile wallet which will integrate with the gift cards that they sell. Beyond that, there is a handy feature in the company’s app, which allows consumers to scan the barcodes on the packages in-store, or on the items that have already been purchased. This provides immediate access to product information, reviews, and options for purchasing that item online.

Of course, this was only one example of mobile commerce successes over the last year. A recent eMarketer study has indicated that this year, consumers will be using their devices to purchase $37.44 billion worth of retail products. This is a massive increase over last year, when $23.72 billion was spent.