Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News asked wireless industry analysts and executives to provide their predictions for what they expect to see in 2012 across their areas of expertise.
If the recent holiday shopping season showed us anything it’s that what the Internet began – with the ability to offer up every imaginable toy and product, all from the comfort of your armchair (and with free shipping to boot) – the smartphone has taken to the next level. The undeniable trend from the 2011 holiday season is that smartphone scanning will become pervasive.
It is clear that the brick and mortar retailers, having endured round one of Web commerce, are less than thrilled about round two, which involves customers entering the store, but only to touch, shake or otherwise fiddle with, the various products that they will then scan, and buy, via the mobile. Booksellers were the first to protest (they have enough to contend with thanks to e-books, but many smaller booksellers have detected a trend whereby customers browse, take notes and leave without a purchase. Partially, the e-book is to blame: while consumers are using e-readers (apps and devices) it is still easier to discover new books by a physical browsing experience, rather than via the e-book interface. But this concept of physical browsing followed by online purchasing is expanding rapidly and Amazon.com for one has opened up the battle to a wider audience. Prior to the holiday, Amazon.com offered mobile users of its app a 5% discount if they bought a product online after scanning it with the Amazon.com mobile app.
While retailers may protest the Amazon.com tactic (apparently 7,000 people signed a petition protesting the approach), the reality is that scanning will become a major trend in the next 12 months. Retailers that do not adapt to the mobile scanning market will face a far colder winter next year than this. To be sure, at this point in time, the percentage of customers actively scanning-to-buy is small, but the apps are becoming more compelling and more integrated. Take, for example, Windows Phone 7, which offers built in scanning of both barcodes and images. And if that’s not enough, Windows Phone devices can also recognize the holiday music being piped into the store and buy that from somewhere other than the store in question.
To counter the trend, stores will have to rely on more than just a local presence. One option is to ensure that the most easily-accessible barcodes re-direct to one’s own Web site; but a more compelling option is to improve the usefulness of the in-store experience, by offering expertise and working to ensure that checkout lines are minimal.
