dx3 in review: The start of something incredible

Two days, 3,469 Canadian Marketers and one remarkable event. That was this year’s Dx3. On January 25 and 26, the Toronto Metro Convention Centre was filled with tonnes of engaging conversations around Canada’s digital advertising, marketing and retail landscape.

Plastic Mobile was very proud to be a participant in the inaugural forum for Canadian digital innovation.

For me, some of the highlights included, Visa’s touchless payment transaction ice cream exhibit, which not only kept my team full of delicious ice cream, but also demonstrated to attendees the future of NFCs. Visa’s Derek Colfer gave a session on the future of NFC in the Canadian mobile industry, saying that it’s still going to take awhile for things to get going. He cautioned his audience to consider that it took nearly a decade to get the credit card chip and PIN rolled out in Canada, so we shouldn’t expect to see mobile payments rolling out in 2012. Nevertheless, the Visa booth allowed visitors to practice using NFC technology to get some ice cream. Pretty awesome.

Also, Doug Stephens, President of Retail Prophet Consulting, and Candice Faktor of ShopCatch began the second day of Dx3 with an interesting keynote on the retail space. Stephens was a man of the future, looking ahead into retail 20 years from now, whereas Faktor focused on present-day retail. Both speakers concurred that mobile has shaken up the retail industry unlike anything ever before seen.

Another exciting event was the startup “pitch-off” at the Intertainment Media Incubation Zone. Five contestants were given five minutes each to pitch their plan. The winner was the Toronto-based startup, Stylsize, who showcased their very cool online retail mobile solution with its advanced apparel-fitting technology.

Two interesting mobile-related myths that were actively debunked at the show were about group buying and broadcasting apps. There was a charge to make attendees better understand that the emphasis for group buying is not about “will I make a profit?”, rather customer acquisition. And that broadcasters are missing the mark by creating apps that just copy their TV experiences without adding value and making them “Mobile friendly.”

And of course Plastic Mobile was there, bringing the mobile-retail relationship to life with our interactive candy shop, which was the talk of the Dx3 highlight list.

After such a great forum this year, we can’t wait to see what’s in store for 2013.

The Plastic Mobile elves are working hard to create a real treat for anyone attending Dx3′s showroom floor. The Plastic Mobile booth is shaping up to be a one-stop-shop for a peak into how mobile really works – more specifically, how it can work for brands in the rapidly evolving world of commerce.

While we are certainly not about to divulge our top-secret booth plan (that’s classified intel), we are happy to give you a little something to nibble on while you wait in bated-breath suspense for January 25th and 26th to arrive so you can burst through the doors of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and hurry to see what Plastic’s got in store. The tidbit? Don’t sugar coat your mobile initiatives – quality is key to ensuring the best user experience and repeat usage. Stay tuned for more info on Plastic’s presence at Dx3. Are you getting excited? Tweet us @plasticmobile and tell us what you’re most looking forward to.

Also, take advantage of our exclusive Plastic Mobile Dx3 giveaway!

Mobile has been under the thumb of skeptics ever since it arrived on the scene. It’s been a long time coming, but we think Mobile Marketing is finally being taking seriously. Consider these top three examples that support our hypothesis:

1. Brands bringing mobile in house – According to an article in Mobile Marketer, Walmart and e-bay, are following in Amazon’s footsteps and bringing their mobile markting development and management in house. This major move indicates they are ready to take the mobile space seriously: “These acquisitions are a welcome validation that competent mobile executions are critical to a healthy marketing program, and that expertise is in short supply,” said Brennan Hayden, vice president of WDA, East Lansing, MI.

While other big-name brands, like Lexus, who are outsourcing to agencies are still doing it right, these stores are being super-savvy in preventing their competitors from using the same tools. This bodes well for the future of mobile, but has the potential to be bad for business. Thankfully, we know that our quality work validates itself.

2. Brands that aren’t, are going down – Those big names that are not taking steps to incorporate mobile into their marketing plans seem to be feeling the effects of their negligence. For instance, we recently blogged about how e- and m-commerce were partially to blame for the demise of a number of Sears and K-Mart stores after grimm holiday figures.

Furthermore, in 2008, Kate Spade New York was a strugglin,’ but, when Craig Leavitt came on board as CEO, he woke up a sleeping giant and changed its outlook on online marketing. The result? Kate Spade is now one of the strongest brands supporting m- and e-commerce.

3. Facebook hearts mobile – The social networking behemoth was one of the first companies to jump on board the mobile train. They continue to bolster their mobile platform at ever chance they get, and are careful to always listen to their users. Thus, Facebook recently announced a new Comments Box plugin for mobile websites – a feature in high demand by business owners and website proprietors. The new plugin will make it simpler for websites to engage consumers regardless of where they are. Essentially, if the Book is doing it, you probably should be too.

There are countless other examples of how Mobile Marketing has finally grabbed everyone’s attention, but the bottom line is, if you’re not going mobile, you really should be. What do you think? Is it mobile’s time to shine?

A recent InsightExpress study suggests that mobile and print would make a great team. The company found that mobile users are also print junkies: “Based on our findings, it’s clear that brands and retailers should be incorporating mobile into their print strategies,” said Joy Liuzzo, vice president and director at InsightExpress.

Print and Mobile, sitting in a tree...

Liuzzo goes on to say that there’s more to this relationship than just a little QR coding. There are a number of ways to strengthen this bond, including article archiving or sharing and information gathering. The company specifically focused on QR codes and user engagement, finding that smartphone owners who use their mobiles for six or more daily activities were also reading or subscribing to print publications. These users are a hot target for advertisers as they have diverse tastes extending even beyond their reading mediums to any number of lifestyle routines (eating, shopping, etc.). The study found that these people were also more inclined to connect with companies via their mobile devices. “The biggest surprise to me was with the segment of smartphone owners that do six or more activities on their phone every day and their print media consumption,” said Ms. Liuzzo. “This group is both subscribing to, and reading more, print materials than any of the other groups (smartphone or regular phone owners).”

According to our friends over at Mobile Marketer, InsightExpress then delved into an investigation of this market’s varying reading behaviours and discovered that magazines came out on top in terms of user engagement. For example, tearing out articles or tracking down a product mentioned in an article or ad.

Turns out, traditional print media isn’t out of the game just yet. It just needs to get wiser and learn a thing or two from it’s new young partner. From here, who knows where this dynamic duo can go? What do you think? Are print and mobile a match made in heaven? Tweet us your comments to @plasticmobile.

Lou Dubois at Inc.com wrote a great article on whether your business is in need of a mobile application, or not. He digs deeper into the mobile space, questioning whether an application is useful for all business. Showcasing our very own Pizza Pizza app and lots of excerpts from our Queen Melody Adhami, this article is an excellent resource for anyone that has thought about an application for their business. Everyone’s needs are different, and we understand that. Applications need to be tailored to the business objectives and consumer needs. Lou lays out a series of useful questions to ask yourself before going down the route of a mobile app.

You can read the full article here.

M-commerce VS. E-commerce

There are a few fundamental differences between m-commerce and e-commerce in terms of their origins, technologies and the nature of the services they can offer. Not to mention the way people choose, buy, access and use mobile apps is different from the way they behave on the web.

Unlike PC users, mobile users are on the move, in a hurry and easily distracted. They want the service they’re looking for right here and right now, without long instructions, long installation or loading time.

Although the marketplace for mobile apps is still relatively young compared to web, it is rapidly growing. The development of e-commerce was due to the rapid growth of the Internet; the growth of mobile segment is due to its convenience, ease of use, and sophistication of smartphones.

On the world wide web, much is given away for free or at discount prices with the hopes to monetize sites (using ad revenue) based on traffic. M-commerce however, is rooted in paid-for-service in the mobile phone industry where business competition is growing in Canada, especially with introduction of new entrants such as Wind Mobile, Public Mobile, Mobilicity, and so on.

An extension or explosion?

Many might think of m-commerce as an extension of e-commerce; we however believe that it’ll definitely have a greater impact on the daily routines of consumers and more importantly the businesses.  It’s more an explosion than an extension primarily because:

1. People have a more intimate relationship with their Mobile phones vs. their computer.
2. Mobile phones are not limited by location and by their very nature, are everywhere.
3. Mobile devices are filing up “boredom time” on the go that retailers have never before had access to.
4. Tempting mobile trends are constantly introduced to more than ever before sophisticated mobile devices. In a nutshell, mobile is hot!
   
5. M-commerce is supposed to enable us to buy everything from anywhere over the Internet without the use of a PC.
6. M-commerce is not limited by the same barriers initially faced by e-commerce in the mind of users.  For example, users do not have the same level of apprehension providing their credit card details digitally as they did with the first wave of e-commerce. The analogy I like to use is, M-commerce is like the younger sibling of e-commerce: e-commerce dealt with all the hardships and paved the way for m-commerce to lead a fairly hassle free journey with the consumer.

M-commerce, E-commerce, how they differ?

• High cost is one of the major characteristics of m-commerce. In the telecom world, users pay for airtime as opposed to almost free internet access in the e-commerce world.
• In m-commerce, the services are usually delivered to a specific region, via wireless providers. In e-commerce on the other hand, the wide accessibility of the internet makes any service globally available.
• In contrast with E-commerce, M-commerce applications are rather simple, more personalized, location-specific, and time-sensitive.
• A mobile device usually accompanies a person wherever he or she goes; therefore m-commerce creates a more intimate relationship with the user than other mediums.
• For time sensitive, simple transactions such as movie ticket purchases, banking, and travel reservations, m-commerce is seemingly more useful than e-commerce.
• For location-based applications such as traveler navigation, emergency response, and etc, m-commerce tends to be better as it is not limited to being in a place with a computer or laptop.

In general we believe that we can categorize internet based e-commerce into B2C and B2B, while classifications to  m-commerce are P2P (Person to Person) and P2S (Person to System).

Although many companies believe mobile commerce is still blossoming, mobile users’ increased adaptation to smartphones should be an emergency awakening call for businesses. Retailers should start outlining the right strategy for themselves: view the mobile space as an opportunity to influence consumers’ buying decisions and learn how to take advantage of the opportunity.

That’s okay. We’ve put together a package that will help solve all your M-commerce needs!

Dear Retailers,

As your welcome package to the mobile tech world, we’ve summed up the 10 basic MUSTS you need to know before implementing M-commerce as your survival guide. We wish you good luck on your mobile journey & we are sure it’ll be an interesting, constantly evolving, and highly competitive one.

Your neighbourhood friendly mobile experts,                      

Plastic Mobile

Top 10 Musts:

1. Know who your consumers are, how you should reach them, and how, when & why they use their mobile devices.
2. Know what you want to achieve through mobile commerce. Have an objective – yes, we are aware of how simple that sounds, and yet how daunting the task really is.
3. Pay attention to security concerns. Consumers are still wary about purchasing online which makes them even more resistant to this medium. Instill confidence in your users by developing a secure application form a reliable source, like us. We’re okay with shameless self-promotion.
4. Allow for quick-fill capabilities during the checkout process to let users rapidly enter billing and shipping information.
5. Make sure your site is accessible via any mobile device, as some consumers may start with their mobile browsers, rather than an application.
6. Offer Mobile-based loyalty programs & rewards. Consumers like incentives, especially when you’re trying to get them to use a new platform.
7. Ensure that your mobile applications have the ability to keep up with the changing capabilities of each device. Keeping up to date is key in this space.
8. Provide a quick, seamless M-commerce experience. Shoppers expect the experience to be seamless and simple. If you create a good user experience, you’ll get repeat visits and sales.
9. Make sure the mobile commerce system configures well with the existing systems. learn the lessons of mobile commerce from others who did it right or wrong.
10. Have a clear understanding of differences between m-commerce and e-commerce. For more information go to our post on e-commerce VS. m-commerce.

For this holiday season, in-store purchases and e-commerce have found a fierce competitor in the form of a small gadget, that we all are addicted to, our mobile phones!

First, you had to go to them, then they came to you, on your desktop, and now, closer than ever, they are in your palm; retailers, anytime, anywhere!

All surveys show that 2010 will be the first holiday season where mobile shopping will make a huge impact on sales in US.  It’ll be a year to remember; a year to learn from, and it’ll be the year that changed the future of commerce.  Mobile shopping is going to make a big hit in commerce this holiday season, it’ll definitely became very important in Canada as it constantly adds value for consumers in their shopping practices.

Consumers today are being spoiled with push updates and information directly to their mobile devices.  The conveniences offered at the touch of their fingers is spreading faster than expected and now consumer expectations from retailers have gone up with the practice and freedom of buying products whenever and wherever they want. Mobile shopping is the next big thing.

Consumers who?

Consumers riding a bus, sitting in a waiting room, working in the office, or between classes at school, they all have two things in common; a mobile phone which is no longer just a communication device, and great expectations from retailers to respond to this fast growing new shopping channel, Mobile !  Same way that e-commerce changed holiday shopping for good, Mobile shopping will revolutionize the holiday shopping for ever.

More than half of US consumers are planning to use mobile devices for holiday shopping this year, according to Mobile Marketing Association and Luth Research’s survey. Retailers can now interact with consumers, in this case “ Mobile holiday shoppers” category, directly through their mobile phone at anytime. Sooner or later all retailers, both in Canada & US have to bring their brands to consumers’ palms in order to maintain their position in this competitive market.

Evolution of shopping

Each & everyday consumers use their mobile phones more and more for purchasing products; therefore, the number of “Mobile holiday shoppers” will increase and smart retailers should take advantage of this trend going into the 2010 holiday season. Especially with current economy, companies, which send out SMS’s that contain discounts, promotions, free shipping, and other forms of loyalty programs, will gain higher transaction rates that will lead to more revenues this year.

Consumers use their mobile devices to research, find out about new arrivals, discounts, and promotions, see the catalogs, and find out a store’s location. Not only is everything made easy for them via mobile shopping, but also it allows consumers to make more informed purchase decisions.

What the heck caused this high number of mobile transactions?

According to Deloitte’s 25th annual holiday survey, Shoppers 18-29 are going to form a significant portion of mobile usage this holiday season, with 37 percent planning to use their mobile phones during the shopping process.  “The devices become capable of even more functionality, mobile will become even more mainstream,” said Alison Paul, vice chairman and retail sector leader at Deloitte, New York.

Two major factors have driven this high number: adoption and sophistication. People adapt to Smartphones more & more with each new device introduced to the market.  Another important factor is the increase in sophistication and features on these smartphones that make mobile shopping less painless.

Make it a great experience!

• Push out gift ideas to the mobile users
• Simplify the shopping experience
• Have a one-click checkout process
• Allow for order tracking
• Remain consistent across channels in terms of promotions from online to mobile, and store to mobile device

Attention retailers!

1. In both delivery models for mobile commerce, mobile Web and mobile applications, product catalog, pricing, promotions and inventory must be consistent and updated in real-time due to selling volume.
2. Don’t just focus on revenue earned by mobile shopping this holiday; mobile medium has other capabilities too. It influences purchasing heavily through other channels such as in-store transactions. The key is how to inform consumers of stores locations, promotions, and discount’s.
3. As of this holiday season, the challenge for retailers both in US & Canada will be how to either embrace or try to hold off the mobile shopping trend.  Mobile shopping will become a common consumer practice and consumer practices once learned, become very hard to change. Retailers must ensure they provide their customers with the right experience right out of the door.
   

What now?

As it has been predicted by experts in US this year, mobile will be the break away channel to reach consumers for the holiday shopping season. As Canada always follows in the footsteps of the US, retailers better start planning & investing in a sound mobile strategy, since we are clearly headed in that direction. Retailers should look at mobile as a great new medium for their sales, advertising and marketing & ensure they benefit from early entrance into the arena.

It is essential to build a strong mobile strategy for 2011 because 2010 holiday season will be remembered as the turning point for consumer acceptance of mobile as a viable shopping outlet.

An interesting article on Mobile Marketer about a BMW campaign in Germany really caught my attention today.

I read about many different mobile initiatives around the world and this one specifically caught my attention for one specific quote ” We did much more fancy things but we figured out that the more fancy an application is, the less traffic we get,” said Mark Mielau, head of digital media at BMW Germany.  The reason I find this particularly interesting is that in Germany and with the BMW campaign, going back-to-the-basics of mobile is going with an campaign that users MMS and asks the users to interact with multimedia via their mobile phone.  As basic as this may seem to many throughout the world, MMS and multimedia on mobile phones is a new area to Canadians.  Adoption is still low and many mobile users do not yet know how to send or receive MMS communication.

A campaign such as the one by BMW in Germany may not have the desired results in Canada due to the late adoption of MMS.   For us here, going back-to-the-basics is using SMS and texting campaigns.  This can be highly lucrative for marketers if targeted appropriately.  Further, marketers have the ability to build mobile SMS communities so that future loyalty and communication could be routed to customers via their mobile phones.  The use of SMS is more readily understood and adopted than more “Fancy” campaigns using web and mobile applications at the current time.  Mobile web and applications and more “Fancy” mobile initiatives are not off the radar however and in fact they are on the horizon…..it’s just a matter of time before mobile users adopt these technologies and take full advantage of what the new mobile world has to offer.

With all the hype and popularity around mobile (native) apps across smartphones and their respective app stores it’s important to remember that the web browser capabilities on most of these smartphones is quite robust and a lot of the mobile native apps out there can be achieved as a mobile web app as well.

For example let’s take a look at the Webkit browser which is being used on the iPhone, Android, and S60-based phones. It allows for mobile web apps to take advantage of the following capabilities:

• Advanced Javascript and AJAX
• Complex animations and graphics support (CSS3 + Canvas)
• Embed and use a local database
• Multi-touch navigation
• Linking to phone and mapping capabilities
• and more

What does this mean? With these browser capabilities the user experience seen in most native apps can be equally brought forth as a web apps – of course 3D immersive games are not included. Also, as browsers evolve and adopt other W3C standards such as the GeoLocation API, the gap becomes narrower between their native relatives. Furthermore, as smartphones get shipped with these robust mobile web browsers, the web applications can support a wide variety of devices. This is currently not the case with native applications when dealing with cross-devices

Of course, there is an obvious benefit to mobile native apps over mobile web apps – App Stores. App stores can help companies and brands easily distribute (and monetize) their application(s). Looking to how the (desktop) web exploded and is currently being monetized – I am sure similar paths will be taken.

A great example is the latest version of GMail for mobile web browsers. Google introduced a new version of GMail for mobile web browsers at the GSMA Mobile World Congress. It exposes a lot of the rich capabilities on smartphone (iPhone and Android only for now) web browsers and allows for GMail to be used offline much like a native app. Below is a demo of it (priovided by iPhone Buzz).