June 10th, 2014 by Elma Jane
Local businesses with brick-and-mortar stores have not been early adopters of ecommerce. But, with the proliferation of mobile devices and with changes in how consumers research and buy products, most local businesses now have websites, many of them mobile optimized. Smart brick-and-mortar retailers invest in local search engine optimization to ensure that their stores are found when a local shopper searches on products that they sell. More aggressive retailers also invest in pay-per-click advertising on Google to ensure that their store names, phone numbers, and addresses are visible to a local shopper that is researching on a smartphone. Google is by far the primary search engine used by mobile shoppers. Google favors mobile friendly online stores and rewards mobile sites with high search rankings. The next logical step for local retailers is investing in on online store.
There are several reasons:
1. Having an online store will help local retailers optimize Google rankings for specific products and brands.
2. Being able to show that an item is in stock may eliminate competitive shopping.
3. Eventually local retailers could sell products to consumers outside the retailers’ immediate area, and thus expand their business.
Many local businesses are hesitant to open an online store. Here is why:
1. Local businesses are typically unfamiliar with running an ecommerce business.
2. Have little ability to ship or fulfill online orders.
3. Cannot accommodate sales tax collection outside their local area.
4. Avoid the investment required.
To be sure, adding an online store is not for every local business. But, if a local retailer offers a unique set of products, she may want to evaluate the concept.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, e-commerce & m-commerce Tagged with: brands, brick and mortar, brick-and-mortar stores, consumers, ecommerce, google, Mobile Devices, mobile optimized, mobile sites, online orders, online stores, pay-per-click, products, sales tax, search engine, search engine optimization, smartphone, websites
May 9th, 2014 by Elma Jane
Facebook is apparently ready to become a person-to-person (P2P) money transfer network. The clear decision to launch a money transfer service in the region can be seen as a test bed for Facebook’s larger ambitions of becoming a payments hub for its 1 billion user base. Facebook was only weeks away from gaining regulatory approval in Ireland for its remittance platform FT quoted unnamed sources. Facebook’s P2P platform will be geared to facilitating migrant remittances, with the goal of expanding its payment presence in emerging markets such as India. Facebook makes the bulk of its revenue from advertising, but 10 percent of its profits reportedly come from in-game payments for online and mobile games, such as Zynga’s popular FarmVille.
From WhatsApp to what’s next
Facebook’s February 2014 acquisition of mobile messaging service WhatsApp for $19 billion clarified the social network’s strategy. The WhatsApp acquisition and the expected P2P network launch as part of the first phase of Facebook’s deeper immersion into payments.
Tech giants face up to payments
When comparing the payment strategies of tech giants Google Inc., Apple Inc. and Facebook, the latter two competitors as having bigger potential upsides than Google. Facebook and Apple (via iTunes) already have established financial relationships with millions of users who have attached funding mechanisms – debit and credit cards – to their social media accounts. As primarily a search engine, Google is playing catch up to persuade its users to set up Google Wallet accounts.
In May 2013, Google launched its own P2P network by integrating Google Wallet with Gmail accounts, so that wallet users can facilitate money transfers via email. More recently, reports have surfaced indicating Google plans to extend Google Wallet to its wearable technology solution Google Glass. But the success of such ventures rests on users’ confidence with Google as a financial service provider.
Facebook as having a brighter financial services future than Apple. Apple’s reach is limited to consumers who have iPhones and iPads, whereas Facebook is not tied to any branded mobile devices, it is a very ubiquitous offering. It could apply to anybody with any type of phone or tablet.
Eventually, tech companies like Facebook will need to partner with payment businesses in order to expand into the merchant-centric brick-and-mortar world. The mobile POS solution provider, a business unit of global POS terminal manufacturer Ingenico SA, would be an ideal partner for Facebook. If they extend what they do from P2P payments to more of a wallet purchasing capability for their users, then the next step could very easily be an extension of that into servicing the merchant side.
Posted in Financial Services, Mobile Payments, Smartphone Tagged with: Apple Inc.Facebook, consumers, credit cards, debit, device, financial service, financial service provider, Gmail accounts, Google Glass, Google Inc., Google Wallet accounts, ingenico, iPads, iPhones, iTunes, merchant-centric brick-and-mortar, migrant remittances, mobile, Mobile Devices, mobile games, mobile messaging service, mobile pos, mobile POS solution, mobile POS solution provider, money transfer, money transfer network, money transfer service, network, online, p2p, P2P network, P2P payments, P2P platform, payment businesses, payments, payments hub, phone, POS terminal, remittance, remittance platform, search engine, service provider, social media, social media accounts, social networks, tablet, wearable technology
