A recent article by Jon Bird
In 1923, Robert Woodruff, then President of Coca-Cola, first stated that the iconic soft drink should always be “within an arm’s reach of desire”.Over the next half century or so, Coca-Cola met and exceeded Woodruff’s vision, popping up across the globe in convenience stores, supermarkets, restaurants and vending machines. Wherever thirsty consumers found themselves, there was bound to be an ice-cold Coke close by.Coke took 50 years to achieve its ubiquitous presence.
These days however, retailers can reach the same goal in the twinkling of an eye with relative ease, first via the internet and now the mobile phone. As I’ve written in several columns, the device in the palm of the shopper’s hand really does change everything. Suddenly, as the US consultancy Retail Forward notes, the “store” is no longer a location, but omnipresent. We are rapidly shifting from the concept of “place” to “anyplace” and retailers who recognise and capitalise on this fact will be winners in the future.
In a presentation last month in the US, Dan Stanek, executive VP of Retail Forward, identified that mobility = opportunity. Stanek said that transit, queues or the car can become shopping trips. With the right iPhone App, downtime can be turned into shopping time. The trick is to place your offer within a fingertip’s reach of desire during a customer’s idle moments.
Already, you can purchase music on the move from iTunes with just four clicks. Hear it, want it, click, click, click, click, it’s yours. It’s frighteningly simple... and personally, I love it.
Amazon is at the vanguard of m-commerce (mobile commerce), as they were with shopping via the web. Their new iPhone application elegantly allows you to fill a shopping cart with your fingertips no matter where you are. The app also features a neat function called “Amazon Remembers”. See something you like – say a chair that takes your fancy at a beach cafe – hit the Remembers button and your iPhone camera opens so that you can take a snap and automatically send it to Amazon. Then Amazon analyses the photo and tries to find an item just like it to offer you for sale. Clever stuff.Tesco in the UK is developing its own iPhone app to allow customers to do their supermarket shopping on the move. So you could fill your trolley on the bus, or perhaps even buy your groceries in the middle of a meeting.
US discount department store Target doesn’t yet allow you to easily purchase products from its application, but you can search for items on your mobile, check if they’re available before you shop (what’s increasingly called “know before you go”) and even get the in-store aisle location. Plus the latest deals in the Target Weekly ad are just a click away. And if you do see a product you’d like to purchase, you are linked through to Target’s online site.
Australian retailers are just starting to get their heads around e-commerce, and we can expect a rash of shopping-enabled sites in the next 12-18 months. But it’s worth starting to plan for an m-commerce world. Ask yourself this question: when customers desire your product or service during an idle moment, will you be there at their fingertips?
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