Tag: mobile shopping

Mobile commerce campaign from Lord & Taylor’s brings print to life

This smartphone marketing strategy brings digital capabilities into the real world.

The Lord & Taylor’s smartphone app now gives consumers the ability to use their devices to scan print ad photos to be able to learn about them and purchase them over mobile commerce, without ever having to visit its website.

The goal of this smartphone shopping strategy is to engage customers and boost sales.

The retailer is aiming to boost the engagement that they achieve with their customers, while they encourage a larger number of sales over mobile commerce through the use of the standard, traditional form of print advertising that has nearly always been used. The parent company of Lord & Taylor’s, the Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC), had implemented its mobile app back at the start of this year. Now it gives consumers the opportunity to scan the pictures that they see in print, using their smartphones, so that they can purchase those products right away.

This mobile commerce strategy stops shoppers from having to go to the retailer’s website to look up the item.

The point is to provide a more seamless experience and reduce the number of steps that are required in order to make a purchase. Instead of requiring a consumer to remember what they saw in a print ad and take the additional steps to actually look it up and buy it from the website, later on, they can make the purchase right away with their smartphones, eliminating that extra step.Mobile Commerce - Lord & Taylor

According to Ryan Craver, the HBC senior vice president of corporate strategy, this m-commerce move is “about making everything in the store shoppable off someone’s mobile phone.” He went on to add that being able to engage customers who already find a product in an ad to be interesting is among the most vital goals in the current marketplace.

Being able to make purchases over a mobile commerce platform gives customers the ability to instantly follow through with the inclination that they feel when they are interested in a product that they see in an ad that has been printed in an ad circular, a newspaper, or even in a magazine. Craver pointed out that if consumers need to wait before they act, retailers risk losing a sale.

Mobile payments firm embraces Bitcoin

Square has announced its support for Bitcoin payments through the Square Market platform

Last week, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service classified Bitcoin as a property subject to tax regulation. This sent ripples through the Bitcoin community, largely due to the fact that the digital currency has existed without any significant regulation for the majority of its existence. Now, popular payments processor Square has announced that merchants using its Square Market platform will be able to accept Bitcoin payments. Square is currently only of the most prolific organizations in the mobile commerce space and one of the few that has shown any serious support for Bitcoin.

Fees on Bitcoin payments through the Square Market have not yet been announced

Using the Square Market, a merchant can list items on their websites and pay Square a 2.75% fee on every sale. Square has not yet announced whether or not any kind of fee will be tied to sales made using Bitcoin. Embracing Bitcoin may make Square significantly more popular among the digital currency’s legion of supporters. This popularity is also likely to extend to retailers accepting Bitcoin payments through the Square market.

Square continues to show dominance in the mobile commerce space through its powerful partnerships

Mobile Payments - BitcoinIn 2013, Square processed more than $20 billion in mobile payments. The company has established a strong foothold in the mobile commerce space through its partnerships with companies like Starbucks that have a strong interest in engaging mobile consumers. As people become more mobile-centric, they are beginning to use their smartphones to shop for and purchase products more regularly. Many of those participating in the mobile commerce space have shown interest in Bitcoin and other types of digital currency.

Accepting Bitcoin may have a positive impact on Square’s forthcoming IPO

Square has plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) within the coming months. The Square Market is currently valued at over $5 billion ahead of this IPO and its acceptance of Bitcoin may have a positive impact on that valuation. Bitcoin does have detractors, however, many of whom criticize the unregulated nature of the digital currency and its attraction to hackers.