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Book Review: The Mobile Commerce Revolution

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The timing of this book couldn’t have been better.

Yes, we’ve been talking about “mobile” for a few years now, but recently Apple jumped into the fray for real, offering Apple Pay to its millions of iPhone users.

This is one of the first salvos in what will become a war for your credit card. (WalMart, CVS, and others have already fired back with their own system.) And let’s not ignore Taco Bell’s “all-in” approach, launching its own unique payment app.

The Mobile Commerce Revolution: Business Success in a Wireless World, by Tim Hayden and Tom Webster, is a deep-dive into the changing landscape of mobile business.

Mobile Commerce Revolution book cover

If you’re ready to pull together a coherent mobile strategy for your business, this book needs to be on your nightstand.

If you are scrunching your eyes together and just hoping this whole mobile thing will just go away, you need to stop reading this blog post and go one-click this book on Amazon.

The mobile revolution is well underway, and it’s not just academic. It’s affecting lives around the world:

“According to a documentary produced by Dr. Steven Shepard on some of Cisco’s efforts to bring mobile Internet to previously off-the-grid areas in Costa Rica, the results are dramatic indeed. According to Shepard, a recent study for the World Economic Forum indicated that an increase in a country’s mobile telephony penetration by 10% leads directly to a 2% increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), an increase in life expectancy of 15 months, and education for 600,000 children in that country.”

Be forewarned—this is no quick-read overview. You’ll want to highlight sections, dog-ear some pages, and come back to re-read certain chapters.

One of the most important observations of the book is that “mobile is a behavior, not a technology.”

Think about it. Businesses that want to reach you on your mobile device are really walking with you through your daily life. They’re coming to the restaurant, out on the soccer field sidelines, and (in some cases) into the bathroom with you. Therefore, when you design your own business mobile strategy, you absolutely must consider where, when, and how people are accessing your messages.

Mobilize Your Business: A Summary

  • Look at your online presence. Ensure that your website and your content truly address the needs of the mobile visitor. This goes beyond cramming your same site down into a tiny format.
  • Look at your payment systems. Remove any barriers or friction that make it more difficult for customers to give you their money, regardless of where they are.
  • Look at your message channels. Review your options for outbound messages. Will SMS work? What do your emails look like?
  • Look at your offline presence. Billboards, direct mail pieces, signage, and live events are all part of the mix. Inject some creativity into those traditional outlets.
  • Look at every department in your company. Your mobile strategy can’t begin and end in the marketing department. Reach out across the entire organization and bring in customer service, sales, and everyone else during the planning process.

The authors do an excellent job of describing the current state of affairs, where mobile is heading, and how to address it, including an excellent chapter called “Ten Steps to Mobilize Your Business.”

Bottom line: you’d better get on this now.

Disclosure – I had the great pleasure of attending the book launch party, and received a free copy of the book. However this review was not solicited, and my recommendation is straight from the heart. The link above is not an affiliate link.
Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Don’t Take Credit if Your Business Only Accepts Cash

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The smart small business owner is the man or woman who gives their customers options.

With that being said, what options do you give the customers who buy goods and services from you? Is it a cash-only policy or do you also let customers charge, perhaps even using mobile payments?

As more customers look for the most affordable and convenient shopping experience, it behooves the small business owner to let consumers buy with more than just cash.

If you stop and think about it, look at what you are missing out on if you have been a cash-only business up to this point:

* Many customers do not like carrying sizable amounts of cash on their person, so they will typically spend less with you if they can’t charge via traditional means or mobile payments;

* Many customers will shop on impulse if they have the plastic option, meaning you stand to gain more sales. As many consumers battle through tough financial times, they are less apt to spend when you only accept cash, as it is more painful to part with the green stuff from their wallets or purses;

* Many customers like the ability to buy while on the go or do online shopping in the convenience of their homes. If you only accept cash payments, you limit the amount of sales you can register.

With those three reasons for accepting more than just cash payments, will 2013 be the year you expand your customer offerings.

When it comes to standard credit card transactions, don’t let the reports of customers cutting back on their plastic scare you.

Yes, a number of surveys do indicate that customers are slicing down their credit card debt, but that doesn’t mean they won’t charge for quality products and services.

According to The Fed, consumers have cut back on using credit cards since the 2008 credit crisis. Just over four years ago, Americans had compiled $1.03 trillion in credit card debt, an all-time high. In July of 2012, it was $850.7 billion — or 17% less. One financial expert pointed out that while many Americans continue to spend, they have instead turned to using pay-as-you-go-debit cards and cash as opposed to credit.

Despite that news, the smart business owner will make sure that credit cards are an option for his or her customers. Without them, one’s sales are likely to be impacted.

Mobility Matters Going Forward

Another area to focus in on in 2013 is mobile payments.

Portio Research recently reported that more than 81 million people around the globe used their mobile devices to make purchases (including in-app payments, mobile ticketing and mobile coupons) only three years ago. Prior to 2015, that figure is projected to hit some 400 million users worldwide.

If you have yet to delve into mobile payments for your business, think about the potential sales you could be missing out on by not offering them. With more mobile technology on the way, it only stands to reason that many consumers will want the speed and ease of making purchases with such payments.

In the event you have had a cash-only policy up until now, rethink the options available to you going forward.

With credit cards and mobile payments, your company could unlock the door to substantially more business.

Photo credit: bizplanhacks.com

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers small business topics for various websites, including gold prices.