Simon expands iBeacon program to outfit more smart malls (mobilecommercedaily.com)

Beacons bridge physical and digital experiences to surprise and delight

Mall owner and manager Simon is expanding its use of Bluetooth-enabled iBeacon technology to create 200-plus  retail destinations in the United States and help bricks-and-mortar retailers evolve the shopping experience.

Simon’s deployment of Mobiquity’s Mobi-Beacon network, already in place in 75 of its premier shopping destinations, provides a unique, opt-in opportunity for customers to engage with retailers, brands and mall apps for timely and contextually relevant personalized offers, information and real-time experiences. Operating off the Mobiquity network retailers in Simon mall locations are able to reach numerous shoppers every week on their mobile phones.

“Beacons  are unique in their ability to provide hyper-accurate real-time indoor location data for apps,” said James Meckley, chief marketing officer with Mobiquity Networks. “Given that the technology was only introduced in mid-2013, I think the level of interest already shown by the retail industry is remarkable.”

“Because beacon-based campaigns effectively require a triple-opt-in, it is critical that advertisers keep the customer experience at the forefront of any engagement. Retail & brand apps that fail to provide valuable experiences to their users will quickly find the services turned off.

Competitive advantageWith streamlined apps, highly intuitive Web sites and same-day shipping functionalities widely available, retailers are struggling to increase foot traffic in-store. A smarter store that could replicate ecommerce experiences in a physical setting is now possible via beacons.

Beacons have potential in loyalty programs, payments, point-of-sale and help a retailer do battle with both off and online competitors.

Last October, Bloomingdale’s ran a campaign in two Simon malls with the goal of raising awareness for its Loyallist rewards program that enables shoppers to earn points for every dollar they spend.  Consumers were offered a high-definition video explaining the Loyallist program and how to participate during a four week period during which time 74,470 devices were prompted to download the content, 7.2 percent opted in and, of those, 75 percent engaged with the content.

Loyallist promotio

Browsing store aisle with assistance from an accompanying app is already a reality for American Eagle Outfitters, Staples, and Nordstrom, which are using mobile devices as an intermediary to communicate offers and analyze digital shopping patterns.

“It is important to note that beacons and mobile apps go hand in hand,” Mr. Meckley said. “Apps ‘search’ for known beacons, and the beacons, in-turn allow the apps to very accurately determine some key metrics: where they are, what is around them and what action should be initiated by each app given that real-time information.”

“The more an app understands about the user’s real-time environment, the more likely the app will be able to deliver an experience that is relevant and valuable.”

Some stores are already installing kiosks and mirrors that double as responsive displays, as seen at Burberry. Using Kinect-type motion sensing technology and 3-D photography, shoppers may someday be able to stand in front of a smart mirror and try things on using a digital changing-room app. Smart displays can sense metrics regarding browsing habits and shopping patterns to deliver personalized recommendations and assess product layouts.

Burberry

The expansion of the Mobiquity program across a broader number of Simon’s malls, Premium Outlet and Mills centers is expected to be completed by spring of 2015.

Replicating realityCompanion apps tied to beacon tracking are also being used by retailers to upsell and cross-sell items, and to customize shopping experiences. Macy’s  empowers its customer with the Shopkick app powered by ShopBeacon service. Customers navigate a store with their phone, and the app delivers offers via notifications depending on location. The notifications are customized according to specific departments and store sections. Similar services are being rolled out at Safeway and Giant Eagle grocery stores nationwide.

Shopkick for Macy’s

But there is a counter narrative which suggests consumers will be fearful of the seemingly omniscient presence of beacons as they shop, raising privacy and security concerns that can hurt adoption.

Most people feel less comfortable with their offline movements being tracked than their online movements, according to a recent Pew Report, which indicates that while many smart phone users want to use their phone to navigate, the majority do not want their phone’s navigational capabilities to be used to target them.

To deliver value to both the retailer and the consumer, marketers need to design a winning experience.

Once a brand understands how to strategically use beacon technology without unsettling shoppers, it can create physical retail experiences are so irresistible and immersive that the very idea of heading to a retail store is a looked forward to event.

“The reason you haven’t seen more large-scale campaigns can likely be attributed to the relative complexity of campaign deployment,” Mr. Meckley said.

“Remember that a beacon-driven campaign requires an ecosystem consisting of: a physically installed beacon network, one or more mobile apps programmed via SDK or API to ‘listen’ for the beacons, and finally the content and content management platform to determine the appropriate experience to provide for the user.”

“However, once this advertising ecosystem is in place, it will open up unprecedented opportunities for retailers and brands to engage their customer with contextually relevant experiences, information and offers on their mobile devices,” he said.

The European App Economy 2014: Europe is losing ground to Asia (developereconomics.com)

We have just published a research note with an update to last year’s an European App Economy report. The good news is that Europe’s app economy still accounts for 19% of global revenues and is growing strongly at a 12% annual rate. The bad news is that the rest of the world, particularly Asia, is growing much faster. The global app economy is growing at 27% annually and the share of revenues captured by developers in the EU28 is falling. We estimate that around 1 million European jobs have been created by the app economy so far. If policymakers want to see this job creation continue then there’s a lot more they could do to support developers attempting to create businesses.

A $16.5 billion market

In our App Economy Forecasts 2013-2016 report we estimated that apps and app related products and services would generate $86 billion in revenues globally in 2014. The 19% share of this generated by European developers will contribute $16.5 billion to EU28 GDP this year. This is many times more revenue than is generated directly in the app stores. However, the EU is home to the top 2 app store earners globally in Supercell (Finland) and King (UK) – masters of the Free-to-Play games market. At the same time, European policymakers are some of the most vocal in attempts to enhance consumer protection with respect to the Free-to-Play model. So far there is only strong encouragement to reform practices around cost transparency but this could (justifiably) lead to regulation if insufficient voluntary action is taken. Significant changes in this area would undoubtedly impact the revenues of Europe’s most high profile app market success stories.

1 million jobs

We estimate that the number of direct European app economy jobs is up 26% from 2013 to 667,000, this breaks down as 406,000 professional developers and 261,000 non-technical roles in app-related business. Using a conservative multiplier we also estimate another 333,000 jobs have been created indirectly by the app economy in the EU28 for a total of 1 million jobs. A large fraction of these jobs are in software services companies taking the low risk route to profitability building apps on a contract basis. Contract software development is the most popular revenue model in Europe, favoured by 31% of developers. This may be partially due to the relative lack of seed capital for startup ventures in the region along with a relatively high cost of living versus most global competitors, making bootstrapping products more difficult.

Slower growth

Although the European app economy is growing at less than half the global rate, some loss of share was unavoidable. Europe was very quick to reach high levels of smartphone penetration and most of the device sales growth is in developing markets. A significant fraction of demand for apps will always be filled by local developers with better market knowledge. As smartphone penetration increases in developing countries their local app economies are growing rapidly. European developers are well placed to export to English-speaking markets and South America but it’s not so easy for them to succeed in Asia. It’s likely that developers based in the EU will need specialist support or local partners to maximise app export opportunities in some of the fastest growing markets.

The enterprise opportunity

As smartphones reach saturation, businesses will play an increasing role in the growth of the app economy in Europe. In our Business and Productivity Apps report we forecast that this sector would experience rapid growth, reaching $58 billion globally by 2016. We have identified 5 areas where app developers and startups can add value in the business & enterprise app sector:

• Vertical market specialisation
• Productivity/BYO apps
• Mobile SaaS
• Bespoke enterprise apps
• Mobile application and device management

While European developers are well placed to win bespoke enterprise app development business, they may struggle to compete with better funded rivals from other regions for the larger opportunities. Starting a technology business has never required less capital but scaling an enterprise software business is incredibly expensive to do quickly. The biggest mobile SaaS, application management and vertical market opportunities are likely to be venture capital fuelled land grabs. To ensure that Europe makes maximum gains from the future growth of the app economy, policymakers need to do all they can to keep app entrepreneurs from relocating to Silicon Valley in order to access the expertise and capital they need to compete.

THE BEACONS FAQ: It's Time To Set The Story Straight About Beacons And Apple's iBeacon System (businessinsider.com)

Beacons are a new type of device that could change the way people shop in stores and revolutionize how retailers collect consumer data and interact with shoppers. Retailers can use beacons to trigger location-based features on customers' smartphone apps, including targeted coupons, store maps, and hands-free payments. 

There has been a lot of confusion about how beacons actually work, so as part of new research on beacons from BI Intelligence, we've put together an in-depth "Beacons Explainer," with frequently asked questions on beacons. The explainer is paired with our exclusive market forecast, which shows the trajectory for beacon adoption. Beacons are becoming the most rapidly adopted in-store technology since mobile card readers. 

Our Beacons FAQ includes answers to some of the following questions:

1. What is a beacon? 

A beacon is a small wireless device that constantly broadcasts radio signals to nearby smartphones and tablets. Think of it as a lighthouse emitting light in regular intervals. Mobile apps can listen for that signal and, when they receive it, trigger a location-based action.

2. Why is Bluetooth low energy (BLE) important?

BLE is the signal emitted by beacons, and it's important for two reasons. First, it transmits radio waves, which can penetrate physical barriers like walls, unlike Wi-Fi or cell signals, which are often disrupted. Second, BLE consumes only a fraction of the battery power that classic Bluetooth does. 

3. Do beacons work with iPhones and Android phones?

Yes, but they work differently. Only iOS 7 devices constantly scan for BLE and wake up relevant apps — even if they are closed — when they come within range of a beacon. iPhones and iPads can do this thanks to Apple's iBeacon protocol (more on that below). Android devices, on the other hand, do not have a beacon system of this type at the operating-system level. Android apps must therefore scan for BLE, meaning that for Android users to interact with beacons, they have to have the app running on their phone, at least in the background. Beacon scanning at the app level means there is more of a battery drain for Android users. 

4. What is an iBeacon? Is it just an Apple beacon?

Sort of. iBeacon is not an off-the-shelf beacon that retailers can buy and install in their stores (at least not yet). Apple has filed documents with the Federal Communications Commission, which suggest that the company wants to manufacture iBeacon hardware. Currently, iBeacon is a system built into the latest version of Apple's iOS 7 mobile operating system that lets iPhones and iPads constantly scan for nearby Bluetooth devices. When iBeacon identifies a beacon, it can wake up relevant apps on someone's phone, even when an app is closed and not running in the background. Additionally, iPads and iPhones can act as beacons; they can emit beacon signals to wake up apps on other iOS devices. 

5. What does Apple’s iBeacon technology do?

iBeacon lets iPhones and iPads constantly scan for nearby Bluetooth devices. When it identifies a Bluetooth device, like a beacon, it can wake up an app on someone's phone — even if the app is not running. Developers can make their apps responsive to iBeacon by using Apple's Core Location APIs (application programming interfaces) in iOS.

6. Do beacons beam data to phones?

Beacons do send small bits of data, typically a unique identifier. This allows mobile apps to differentiate between beacons and perform an action when necessary (that is, a location-triggered notification). Think of it as the combination of a hyperaccurate GPS coordinate or an IP address. The identifier consists of three components: a UUID, which is specific to a beacon vendor; a "major," which is specific to a region, like a store location; and a "minor," which is specific to a subregion, like a department within a store.

7. If, as a retailer, I purchase beacons from a vendor, how do I know they'll work with my app?

Developers have to include the unique identifier of a beacon in the code so their app will be able to recognize it. If an app doesn't know the identifier for a beacon, then it can't be on the lookout for its BLE signal. Most beacon vendors provide developer support to help users configure their apps. 

How to bridge the app store payment gap (untether.tv)

It is hard enough to come up with a great idea for a mobile business, design it, build it, market it and convince a bunch of people to download it and use it more than once. When, miracles of miracles, you’ve done all that and your customers finally start paying for it. you end up having to wait for up to 60 days to get paid from the various app stores. Life is hard as a mobile development company trying to survive on selling through apps.

So what do you do? Well Peggy has an answer for you on today’s show that you may want to pay attention to.

Google’s disruption of financial services is just getting started: Forrester (mobilecommercedaily.com)

Google Wallet

While Google could significantly disrupt the financial services sector by becoming a hub for consumers’ financial needs, the company is not likely to introduce a traditional bank, as some have suggested, according to a new report from Forrester.

The “Why Google Bank Won’t Happen” report suggests that Google is likely to disrupt financial services in four areas – payments, money management, product comparisons and financial advice. By combining these four areas into a hub for consumers’ financial services needs, Google could squeeze margins, reduce incumbents’ visibility to customers and weaken firms’ brands.

“Disruptors such as Google aren’t out to get you,” said Oliwia Berdak, an analyst at Forrester and the report’s author. “Disruption is often a side effect of their efforts to find a better way of doing something.

“Developing a better global payment network, popularizing mobile payments, or providing affordable financial advice that millions of customers desperately need are all challenges that are yet to be met,” she said.
“With its army of talented software engineers, experience building global search and advertising networks, and a strong commitment to innovation, Google could just be the firm to tackle them.”

Digital innovation
Google has ben adding and testing financial capabilities since 2006, including launching Google Wallet in 2011, launching a car insurance and mortgage comparison service in Britain and investing in peer-to-peer lending site Lending Club last year.

Google’s aspirations likely extend beyond payments and more along the lines of integrating its search engine, Google Maps, Gmail, Google Play and Google Now to create new customer value.
While Google is not likely to introduce a bank, it still has significant potential to disrupt financial services, such as it has done in the book industry by digitizing millions of books to make they searchable by keywords. The company is likely to use digital technologies to deliver better or entirely new ways of meeting consumer financial services’ needs, bypassing regulation and redefining the industry in the process.

The costs and regulations involved in opening a bank are part of the reason why Google is not likely to take such as move. Also, a significant portion of its advertising revenue currently comes from financial services companies.

Learning to walk
Like many others, Google’s first attempts in mobile payments with Google Wallet have struggled. Now, the company is focused less on in-store payments and more on building a comprehensive digital wallet that adds value throughout the purchasing journey, such as with the new Orders functionality that extracts information from purchase receipts sent to Gmail for display in Google Wallet.

Google could also improve the conversion rate of financial services ad campaigns by displaying financial products that are tailored to a user’s specific financial situation.

Google is already disrupting comparison engines and established financial services firms in Britain with its own offering that takes comparisons to a new level.

Wealth management threat
A potential threat to established wealth management firms and newcomers could come from Google if it were to leverage its comprehensive information about available financial products, the financial situation of consumers as well as their financial behavior.

By adding contextual notifications via Google Now to the mix, Google could provide more actionable, personalized  and cheaper advice than the competition.

Forrester believes that Google could disrupt financial services as it follows the course to expand its business. This includes a desire for transactional data to bolster its paid search business, as such data provides evidence that an ad has worked.

The company also sees an opportunity to bring in new customers in a market that has become commoditized, with little differentiation between offerings. The fact that financial services are a low-margin business would not matter to Google as it has plenty of cash to play with .

At the same time, the company is looking for ways to diversify its business so it is not so reliant on advertising revenue.

The challenges
Google’s potential disruption of financial services is not a guarantee. The company could be sidetracked by one of the many other projects it is pursuing. Additionally, getting regulators, banks, retailers, payment processors and customers on board may prove to be a more complex undertaking than it can handle.

Google also faces a challenge in getting consumers to recognize and trust it as a source for financial services.

Forrester has recommendations for financial services organizations interested in taking proactive steps to protect their business from Google’s encroachment.

First, financial services organizations should take an inventory of their digital assets, such as transaction data, and ask themselves “What would Google do if it had your data?” This can help spur ideas for new ways to deliver value to customers .

Also, make sure there is a process to encourage, nurture and manage innovation in place. Take a lesson from Google and recognize that failure is part of the innovation process and should be stigmatized.

“Digital executives at financial firms despair at the thought of Google entering their industry, fearing they can’t compete with its software talent and extensive cash pile,” Ms. Berdak said.

“How should you react? By cautiously observing Google’s next moves, learning from its best practices, and carefully considering any possibilities for partnerships,” she said.

App monetization: How Australian developers are turning apps into cash (smartcompany.com.au)

Apps with no upfront cost and a solid marketing plan have the best chance of being successful and making money, while games are the most lucrative, according to three Australian mobile app developers.

 Co-founder and director of Crazy Dog Apps Brandon Cowan says apps with an initial purchase price are “virtually dead”.

 The freemium model is being embraced because people don’t want to pay for apps.

 Brandon Cowan, co-founder and director, Crazy Dog Apps

“If you look at the top grossing apps on the App Store or Top Charts on Google Play, about 90% of them are free to download. Most use the freemium model where they are free to download and there are purchases from within the app for additional features or functionality. For the App Store, the purchases are often for extra ‘credits’ to further advance gameplay (as most of the top grossing App Store apps are games),” he says.

 “Why is this the case? People are becoming less willing to pay for apps. I believe it is due to the fact that as the freemium model began being used on the app stores, customers preferred this as it allows them to ‘try before you buy’.”

 That’s in spite of Google Play making it easy to get an app refund if you request it within 15 minutes of paying for an app and a similar option from Apple which also offers a refund but it takes more effort and few people know about it.

 “I think as people started using the freemium model, they still paid money for the ‘free’ apps and they’ve gone on to become more successful than other paid apps to download.

 “Now people generally just download free apps in most cases because the quality of the free apps to download is much higher than even some paid apps.”

 Cowan says when developing an app with an eye towards making money, three things are important: the idea itself, the design, and the marketing.

 “Many people think their ideas are great. I’d say 95% of them are not worth pursing, including mine.

 “The design is the specific features you put in the app, you don’t want to include too many or too little, the UX/layout of the app and the graphics themselves. All three need to be done well.

 “Without marketing, you’re buying an app lottery ticket to be a successful app developer.”

 Greg Fisher, chief operating officer, Bizar Mobile

Cowan’s point is not lost on Bizar Mobile’s Greg Fisher.

 “Make sure you have the budget to promote the app otherwise it will likely go unnoticed in the sea of apps! Great apps can make good money, poorly built apps fall by the wayside every time,” he says.

 “If an app is free it’s likely to get many times the downloads of a paid app, whatever the price.

 “From experience, the best way to make serious money from an app is to give the app to end users for free. If you can charge content providers or advertisers you’re going to make hundreds or thousands of times the money from each of them than you would charging end users a few dollars for the app.

 “Whenever possible, look for a recurring revenue stream. Charging for app downloads requires constant customer acquisition to achieve revenue.

 “A subscription model for content or service will bring in constant income even if you’re seeing minimal growth.

 “Anecdotally, when our CEO Mike Clucas spoke to an RMIT audience of Journalism students they said they want free apps and are happy to have advertising because they simply do not notice.

 “They did not even want to pay $1 for their apps.”

 Adrian DeWitts, project director, Appiphany

DeWitts agrees and points to the top grossing charts on the app stores that are dominated by free-to-play games.

 “For something like games, the freemium model has been the most successful, with the exception for a few established game brands,” he says.

 “The most successful freemium games utilise psychology and the need to win. See games like Clash of Clans, which take this to a whole new level.

 “For startups or consumer facing apps, success is generally assured when the app is treated as a business.

 “Is the app and its market well researched? Does it fulfil a need? Is the production and marketing of the app well capitalised to produce the best results? Is there a budget to make changes and pivot when the market response in unexpected ways? Do you have a solid marketing plan which utilises yours marketing channels for the kind of app that it is?”

Walmart.com’s latest overhaul drives more personalized omnichannel experiences (mobilecommercedaily.com)

The new Walmart.com site

Mobile is a key focus of Walmart.com’s latest significant overhaul, which caters to the needs of the on-the-go shopper with more personalized product recommendations, an easier transition from digital to bricks-and-mortar and a three-step, single-page checkout process.

The site, which is built on a brand-new ecommerce platform that has been in development for two years, used small tablets used as the baseline for the new design, Walmart revealed in a post on its corporate blog yesterday. Given the growing numbers of consumers researching their purchases online from their smartphones before visiting a store, the new site attempts to meet the needs of these shoppers by making it easier to find items of interest and a nearby store where it can be bought or to complete a purchase online.

“Currently 50 percent of traffic to Walmart.com comes from mobile devices so designing with these customers in mind was a big priority for the site,” said Bao Nguyen, a Walmart spokesman.

“The site was created for tablets first, with big tap buttons and swipe elements that make it easy for tablet users to search and shop with their fingertips,” he said.

“The new site also adapts to a customer’s screen size to maximize the amount of content a customer sees – whether they are using a desktop monitor, laptop, tablet or smartphone. During Black Friday we sold ~1000 tablets/minute – and that was only in our stores – and the Walmart shopper is increasingly shopping via their tablet and mobile device.”

A faster checkoutAfter optimizing the site for small tablets, Walmart adapted the site for larger screens. The retailer said it will reveal more details about how the site works on smartphones at a later date.

Some of the changes are already live for nearly half of Walmart.com’s daily online shoppers and will be rolled out to all users soon.

Other changes are in the works to be introduced in the near future.

For example, Walmart is planning to release a significant revision to its checkout process on its Web site. The new checkout process will have a three-step flow that fits on a single page from start to finish.

Retailers such as Walmart are looking for ways to streamline the checkout process to make it easier for mobile shoppers to complete  purchases. A checkout process that involves multiple steps or requires loading a new page can easily cause mobile shoppers to abandon a purchase and go elsewhere.

Personalized experiences
Personalization is a big focus of the redesigned site, which can now deliver more relevant suggestions to shoppers because it is able to draw from both Walmart’s online and in-store transactional data.

Not only will the personalized content be more relevant but the site will deliver more content that is personalized to individual customers based on their shopping history than previously.

Enhanced personalization is one way that retailers such as Walmart are trying to cater to the needs of mobile shoppers, who are challenged by small screen sizes and the desire to complete their shopping quickly.

By personalizing content, this can cut down on the need for mobile users to conduct extensive on-site search, which can be time-consuming and frustrating.

Walmart has also increased the quality and frequency of the personalized item recommendations made throughout the site.

Recommendations will be based on a customer’s past searches or purchases as well as based on what others typically buy along with an item of interest.

Integrating digital with physical
Another area of focus is on integrating Walmart’s digital and physical experiences. This is important as consumers increasingly initiate the research for a purchase online and then complete the path-to-purchase in-store.

The new Walmart.com addresses the growth in omnichannel shopping with a new “My Local Store” area of the site. Here, users can explore the features of their nearby Walmart stores, including a list of the latest Rollbacks and a selection of coupons.

The site also boasts a new Store-Finder.

Several other new features are not available now but are expected to live soon.

One of these is an updated item page so that when shoppers click on an item they will see a bigger focus on product imagery, a simpler presentation of buying options and improved item description content and user reviews.

The new item page also features an improved bundles experience, which gives shoppers an opportunity to purchase related products together savings.

The new ecommerce platform includes Walmart.com’s search engine and its sophisticated personalization and recommendation engines.

“Tablet ease-of-use played a big role in how we developed the redesign and it’s one of the main reasons we’re excited about that for tablet users,” Mr. Nguyen said. “For mobile users – it’s that responsive design point again – the screen adapts to the device.