Tag: retail

Mobile commerce to reach new heights in the US

| January 25, 2013

Forrester Research U.S. Mobile Commerce ReportForrester Research predicts healthy growth for US mobile commerce

Forrester Research, a leading market research firm, has released a new report concerning U.S. mobile payments and the growth the sector is expecting to see in the coming years. Mobile commerce has begun to gain momentum throughout the U.S., largely due to the increasing number of NFC-enabled mobile devices and the rapid adoption of mobile commerce being seen among retailers. Consumers have expressed their interest and willingness to participate in mobile commerce, pushing mobile payments to reach new heights.

Report forecasts mobile payments to reach $90 billion in 2017

According to Forrester Research, mobile payments in the U.S. will reach $90 billion by 2017. The firm predicts a 48% compound annual growth rate over the next two years. The firm expects in-store mobile payments, general mobile commerce, and peer-to-peer transactions to be the driving factors behind this healthy growth. The report notes that a strong focus on mobile commerce coming from numerous companies spread across equally numerous industries is raising awareness of mobile payments among consumers. These consumers, in turn, are discovering mobile commerce services that fit their needs and make use of these services extensively.

Retail industry to play major role in growth of mobile commerce

Forrester Research expects to see significant progress made in mobile commerce come from the retail industry. Over the next five year, the firm forecasts that retailers will put more focus on mobile commerce, potentially seeing major benefits from doing so. During the 2012 holiday season, retailers saw major gains from their focus on mobile commerce, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday producing a great deal of profit for many of the country’s large retailers.

Holiday season places momentum behind mobile commerce

The success of mobile commerce during the 2012 holidays generated a great deal of momentum, encouraging retailers to continue or increase their focus on mobile consumers. While retailers are expected to face significant challenges in the years ahead, most of which will come in the form of competition with other retailers, Forrester Research expects that the industry will continue seeing positive results in regards to mobile commerce.

Macy’s continues engaging mobile consumers

| January 24, 2013

Macy’s finds success through focus on mobile space

Retail giant Macy’s has been working to engage mobile consumers in a more dynamic way recently. The retailer has seen its customers evolve over the years, with more people becoming apt to use their mobile devices to shop and make purchases. At times, these consumers have been difficult to appeal to because of the lack of mobile services the retailer employed in the past. Over the past two years, however, Macy’s has established a strong grip on mobile consumers and continues to look for ways to engage these people with the services they have come to expect from the retailer.

QR codes and application overhaul provide better service to consumers

In the months leading up to the 2012 holiday shopping season, Macy’s began to use QR codes to direct consumers to digital content that could be found on the retailer’s mobile website. The company also launched a major overhaul of its mobile application, updating the platform to be more accommodating of mobile commerce. Macy’s saw 44% of the applications existing users download the updated version of the application before Black Friday last year. The overhaul spurred a 19% growth in the application’s user base.

Mobile commerce proves popularmacy's mobile consumers

In the retailer’s 39,000-square-foot store in Herald Square, New York City, store associates make use of mobile devices to provide information to customers concerning inventory and particular, often difficult to find, items. These devices are also used to process mobile payments. Macy’s recently began accepting mobile payments made through the use of Google Wallet and the retailer is part of a pilot project for Isis, one of the main competitors of Google Wallet, in Utah and Texas.

Macy’s finds balance in mobile focus

Macy’s has positioned itself to take advantage of the growing interest consumers are showing in mobile commerce. The retailer has managed to make itself stand out from amongst the competition by finding ways to engage mobile consumers and, more importantly, direct them to physical stores throughout the country. A focus on mobile consumers has, in the past, backfired for many retailers, leading many consumers to stop coming to physical stores. Macy’s seems to have found the appropriate balance to avoid this pitfall.