So, are you ready to shop from your mobile phone?

Lightspeed Research recently conducted a survey in Britain regarding mobile shopping. The question asked was – Are you comfortable with the idea of buying products or services through your mobile phone? 1000 people took part in the survey and over 17% of them were positive about buying products or services through their mobile phone.

Most of the participants also said that they will buy stuff only from well known retailers. Also, they were comfortable with shopping for ‘on-the-go’ products like concert tickets, film tickets, holiday vouchers, and travel tickets.

With mobile coupons becoming more and more popular, I think the next mobile revolution will take place in the retail industry. While 17% might look like a small figure, it will certainly go up if people find it easy and secure to shop from their mobile phone. Already, mobile based services like mobile banking are popular because banks have made the process very simple and secure at the same time. So, an effective, easy-to-use platform with a secure payment gateway could be the best way to entice customers into mobile shopping.

Categories: All things mobile phones.

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A mobile based payment system soon to be launched in India

In just about a couple of months, mobile users in India will be able to use their mobile phone to pay for things, just as they use their credit card or debit card.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has stated in its annual policy statement that it will come up with the guidelines to formulate a payment system using mobile phones. RBI is discussing seriously with service providers, banks, and other financial institutions about this move and the guidelines are expected to be released on June 15th.

Already, mobile banking in India is gaining popularity big time with lots of big banks embracing this technology to make it easier for their customers. Prominent banks like ICICI, HDFC, and SBI offer mobile banking facility and ICICI has gone one step ahead and has started a mobile based service called mShop which allows you to shop using your mobile phone.

I think this is a great move by RBI. Mobile phone market in India is huge and a mobile based payment service makes complete sense at this stage. FYI, I had already blogged about a mobile based service in India where you can use your mobile phone as your airplane boarding pass. Things like this can really help people a lot and can make mobile phones more useful than what they are right now. Stay tuned for more updates on this issue.

Categories: All things mobile phones.

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Vodacom’s mobile advertising campaigns get encouraging results

Rick Joubert, the man in charge of mobile advertising in Vodacom, recently had something to say about Vodacom’s position in mobile advertising and the edge that mobile advertising can give you over other traditional methods of advertising. Some of the points he made were quite interesting.

To begin with, he says mobile phone is the seventh mass medium in the world today after print, recording, cinema, radio, TV, and the internet. He also says that the amount spent on mobile advertising will soon be as big as online advertising. Also, he feels that mobile advertising is kind of handicapped right now because the industry is not standardized and there is a lack of metrics.

But despite all this, Vodacom’s mobile advertising market in South Africa is going strong like anything. Given below are some of the figures released by Vodacom. Metropolitan Life, a campaign by Vodacom, generates about 100,000 leads per month.

Vodacom’s Nike branded mobile content gets downloaded 84,000 times.

Vodacom’s Steer branded mobile content gets downloaded 52,000 times.

Personal loan products for large banks generate around 35,000 leads per month.

Figures like these can give one a lot of confidence. Especially, for a market that is considered to be in its nascent stage, these figures are very encouraging.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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