Mobile Commerce Insider Week in Review

One of the foremost ways of judging how a market is going to be doing is to look at the future revenue that could potentially be realized. This week we have a new report from BIA/Kelsey that predicts the future of mobile local ads in the U.S.

It looks like we will already see a significant rise just by the end of this year. The forecast looks ahead to 2018 and estimates that in the five year forecast, we could be looking at total revenue that triples what we are seeing today. There are several factors, such as location apps that are assisting advertisers in pinpointing consumers.

When the concept of mobile commerce first started to be talked about, there was a lot of hesitation. How reliable can it be? Will it be efficient? And the question that is paramount in everyone’s thoughts, how secure will it be? Contemplations such as these kept mobile commerce from immediately taking off.

However, it seems that lately, more and more consumers are embracing this concept. What makes mobile commerce appealing is that you can shop from anywhere. As long as you have a smartphone or tablet you will be able to connect to that website and place your order. We live in a generation that is always on the move, you no longer spend all day at home by your PC and you are constantly on the go.

So then, this leads to the question of what can retailers do to succeed in this age of mobile commerce? While more consumers are getting on board and feeling more comfortable using their mobile devices to shop, the same cannot be said for retailers. They need to implement a mobile strategy as quickly as possible. Find out what else they need to take into consideration.

One country that took a very laid back, “let’s see what happens” approach to mobile commerce was England. It wasn’t too long ago that there were not a lot of people ready to go online with their mobile devices to shop. As I mentioned above, one of the biggest problems was that no one felt it was secure enough.

That does seem to be changing. A new report shows that there is a rise of e-commerce in the U.K. It now looks like these British citizens prefer to shop online as well as bank electronically. Keeping in mind that some of the English and Irish countryside locations no longer have a bank branch present, I suppose that I shouldn’t be too surprised.

The real reason of course is that since the beginning, apps and services have greatly improved and proliferated. This gives everyone more options that they can feel comfortable with, which in turn, makes them more comfortable. That leads to about a fifth of all cash being spent online.

While I can understand the convenience of certain mobile payments, there is something that I personally find a little disturbing about being able to pay a babysitter or the person that mows your lawn by sending a payment to their smartphone. I feel that some things need a personal touch.

With that in mind, there is a new mobile app Indiegogo campaign for the Pocket Change Card. Until they are old enough to earn their own money, such as babysitting and yard work, kids usually earn money by doing chores for their parents in return for a weekly allowance. This concept has been going on since forever.

The goal of the Pocket Change Card app is to remind children, with a list, what their chores are. The app also includes a reloadable Visa debit card linked to the user’s financial accounts. The user is supposed to be able to monitor and control this through Pocket Change’s smartphone app. The idea is that the parent sends money to their kid’s card as the allowance payment for doing their chores. I’m guessing that you don’t need to be near each other in order to accomplish the entire process.

One thing that you can always rely on is that once a new rule or law is put into effect, someone will find a way to circumvent it. That brings us back again this week to Bitcoin. Naturally the Chinese government is placing certain regulations on transactions completed through the virtual currency.

BTC China is one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges. They seem to have found a way to circumvent the Chinese government’s restrictions. Bitcoin has seen its ups and downs in the Asian market. Several Bitcoin depositories have shut their doors, and wanting to avoid the same fate BTC China is offering cold storage to keep your Bitcoin safe and also a way to use it as cash, which is how it is circumventing the regulations that are being put in place.

These are just a few of the stories that we worked on this week. Believe me when I say that I cannot even begin to scratch the surface of everything that has been going on just this week alone. You will have to take some time and sort through all the information that we have for you. It is something that I suggest you do on a regular basis.

The world of mobile commerce is growing and changes are constantly happening all over the globe. It is impossible to know everything that happens as mobile commerce continues to forge ahead and make major strides. It is impossible to mention everything that is happening and all that we’ve looked at just this week alone. The best way to stay current is to keep checking in with us. You can stay current by checking out the details to these stories and many more by going to Mobile Commerce Insider and keeping an eye what is going on in the mobile world of commerce.