Mobile Commerce Tsunami Is Coming!

Morgan Stanley analysts Mary Meeker, Scott Devitt, and Liang Wu have prepared a very comprehensive and intensive overview (with lots of stats and comparative data) covering the growth of the Internet and the projected growth of Mobile Commerce, concluding that the "rapid ramp" of mobile Internet usage will be a boon to consumers and some nimble companies who will likely win big (potentially very big) while many others will wonder what just happened!

It's definitely worth a look. On a related topic: IKEA takes its product catalog mobile with augmented reality app. The video on IKEA's new app is below:



Here's still more on the subject:


"Adapting to the Rise of the Mobile Shopper" from Global Retail Executive Council on Vimeo.
See also Merchants are Answering Mobile's Call (Multichannel Merchant) and Google Offers Mobile Payment with Chrome Checkout Extension. ("The primary benefit of this approach is that it doesn't have the same security concerns that have delayed the launch of mobile credit card based payment system Square. The actual act of payment, with Google's solution, does not require the swiping of a credit card and keeps the act of payment solely in the hands of the customer.") 

And then there's this: UK customers unhappy with mobile commerce (survey)
See also Smartphone ads: Hitting you where you shop

Plus: Survey Says Few Merchants are Mobile-Savvy (Multichannel Merchant) and
Largest E-Commerce Sites Still Mobile Weak, But Getting Better

But wait! There's more! The National Retail Federation (NRF) has a Mobile Retail Initiative

(and if you want you can download a PDF of the entire 177-page report...or just read the executive summary.
See also The Mobile Choices at Macy's, Best Buy (Storefront Backtalk)
and Largest E-Commerce Sites Still Mobile Weak, But Getting Better

Here's a relevant story on eBay's RedLaser bar code scanning app.
So is this: Study Finds E-tailers Putting Money Into Mobile  

7/19/10 - more mobile news: Silicon Valley venture capitalist Reid Hoffman is betting on consumers continuing their love affair with their mobile phones. Hoffman leads a $15 million investment round in Shopkick, an app developer that is creating tools that will allow retailers to offer mobile coupons when customers check in at their stores. The enhancement "of the retail experience through your mobile phone is guaranteed to be part of the future," said Hoffman, a former PayPal executive. (via Shop.org)

7/19/10 - Mobile speeds up e-commerce capabilities
Mobile capacity, social networks and real-time analytics -- which can help retailers deliver the exact items customers want right now rather than the products they pined for three weeks ago -- will become sought-after tools for fueling the growth of e-commerce, according to experts at a recent Wharton Retail Conference. This piece takes an in-depth look at the factors shaping the future of online retail.

7/29/10 - Amazon’s M-Commerce Sales Top $1 Billion, mCommerce: What You Can Learn From Amazon, and Mobile may be the key to eBay's comeback

8/4/10 -  Strategy and Consistency with Mobile Marketing Pays Off

8/9/10 -  Six reasons retailers need to go mobile (SAS)

8/17/10:  Mobile retail’s major challenges: NRF Tech