What does God, the Spanish Inquisition and Spiderman have in common?
15 May 2012 | 
Author 
What does God, the Spanish Inquisition and Spiderman have in common? Well, it’s Santa of course!
More of these are available from this site.
Smartphonatics
I can’t see this new term catching on – Smartphonatic.
A Smartphonatic is someone who changes their shopping, financial and payment behavior as a result of owning a smartphone. The report identifies a stark difference between mobile adoption among Smartphonatics and other consumers: while 80 percent of Smartphonatics have used their smartphones for mobile banking only one-third of non-Smartphonatics report doing so. Similarly 70 percent of Smartphonatics have used their smartphones for mobile payments, less than a quarter of non-Smartphonatics have done so.
via Global Study Identifies Impact of Smartphone Use on Mobile Banking and Payments – MarketWatch.
Just because I own a tool to do a job it doesn’t follow I get named after it. Let’s see if it catches on.
BlackBerry’s market positioning in the UK
Gerry Kelliher, a director with RIM, is committed to adding NFC to every new BlackBerry handset in order to cement its position as the frontrunner for NFC technology in the UK.
“If customers are interested in NFC in the UK they need to be looking at BlackBerry,” he said. “We’re looking to put NFC in as many devices as possible.”
Well I don’t expect many people will give up their iPhone to for BlackBerry NFC. And Samsung is the biggest producer of smartphones now. What chance for BlackBerry if this is their market positioning?
Posted in Marketing | 
Tags: BlackBerry iPhone, Gerry Kelliher, market positioning, NFC, RIM, Samsung, smartphones, UK | 
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E-commerce trends…and it’s not all Facebook
Boardrooms and marketing teams all over the country continue to try and understand the power and direction of e-commerce.
E-commerce is evolving. Instead of shoppers simply sitting at their desktops, putting items into a virtual shopping basket, retailers are trying to account for the changing shape of the web and how shoppers access it, whether through their phones, via social media or by some other method. Throw in daily deals and flash sales and there is even more scope for innovation. StrategyEye examines the key trends emerging as retailers navigate the changing market.
The key headlines in this article are:
- Facebook commerce in question
- Social shopping evolves
- Daily deals market continues to shrink
- Flash sales proving robust
- Mobile commerce on track
Posted in Marketing | Tags: Boardrooms, daily deals, e-commerce, Facebook commerce, flash sales, marketing teams, mobile commerce, retailers, Social shopping, virtual shopping basket | No Comments »
Social gifting: the new buzzword in e-commerce
Social gifting is the subject of lots of events, seminars and conferences.
“Brick-and-mortar retailers are all looking for new, more efficient ways to drive sales into stores without diluting their brands … we wanted to really see how retailers can leverage the megatrends of smartphones and social networks,” said Hjalmar Winbladh, chief executive of Wrapp.
Wrapp is essentially an app that can run on smartphones, tablets and computers. It allows Facebook friends to buy each other gift cards from participating retailers either individually or by teaming up, which they can store on their mobile devices and redeem either online or inside physical stores. Retailers like it because there is little marketing cost and because customers often end up buying more once they are inside the store.
via Social gifting: the new buzzword in e-commerce | Reuters.
Ultimately the consumer will decide the future here, but social gifting stands a significant chance of being huge; the social aspects of shopping are brought together with the ease and convenience of the internet. And of course most of us have already made social gifting transactions.
Posted in Consumer marketing, Marketing | Tags: bricks-and-mortar retailers, Facebook, Hjalmar Winbladh, smartphones, Social gifting, social networks, Wrapp | No Comments »
MasterCard survey finds consumers want improved online shopping experience
According to a MasterCard survey, consumers are becoming more confident in online shopping and more interested in using their mobile devices for online shopping. Several issues, though, are making the online and mobile shopping experience frustrating for consumers, resulting in missed revenue opportunities for merchants and retailers.
A couple of points that stood out for me where:
1. Among Americans who shop online, whether from a computer or mobile device, nearly one out of every four acknowledged abandoning their shopping carts at least once a month before completing their purchase; and,
2. 53 percent of U.S. adults with a mobile device say they shop online with their mobile device, but the same group indicated one of the biggest concerns is around security.
Follow this link to learn more: MasterCard Survey Finds Consumers Want Improved Online Shopping Experience – MarketWatch.
Posted in Consumer marketing | Tags: abandoning shopping carts, MasterCard survey, mobile devices, mobile shopping, online shopping | No Comments »
Physical books are cheaper on Amazon
I’ve started to notice a number of books are being advertised on Amazon with the physical version being cheaper than the Kindle ebook.
Amazon Price
Kindle $16.17
Paperback:
Amazon $14.48
New $13.13
Used $15.40
It doesn’t feel right to me. I ended up not buying it at all as I felt cheated. This was the one of the titles I was looking at: http://www.amazon.com/My-Evernote-Katherine-Murray/dp/0789749262/ref=pd_sim_b_1