Kevin's Mobile Retailing News Weekly - November 30, 2010

Kevin's Mobile Retailing News Weekly is an online newsletter that is made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile retailing applications and mobile marketing applications that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting market size and market trend information.

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As location-based services report impressive user growth and big brand partnerships, and major players like Facebook and Google enter the space, marketers are ramping up their location-based efforts for the holiday season.

http://mashable.com/2010/11/17/location-based-services-holidays/

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Bargain hunters can print out paper coupons or can go paperless. You can download mobile coupon apps to your smartphone and you'll be sent limited time offers at stores right near you. Just click on the coupon, show it to the cashier and ring up the savings.

http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/money/fox-5-money-shopping-center-deals-and-mobile-coupons-112210

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If you're not the type of person to rifle through the circulars and cut out coupons, there is good news for you. You can have those coupons sent right to your phone.

http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/morning/mobile-coupons-deals-sent-to-your-cell-20101125

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Fresh off a partnership with Target, Shopkick is bringing its geo-coupon system to Android phones with a free app. Now Android users can access in-store coupons from Best Buy, Macy’s, Target, American Eagle, Sports Authority and more.

http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/18/shopkick-brings-in-store-mobile-coupons-to-android-phones/

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Toys R Us recently became only the second major national chain to add mobile bar code scanning capabilities to all its U.S. stores. All 847 Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores nationwide now enable shoppers to redeem coupons and electronic gift cards on their smartphones.

http://www.internetretailer.com/2010/11/10/toys-r-us-checks-out-mobile-bar-code-scanning

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With smartphone usage among consumers growing like crazy, Yelp has developed apps customized for the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, etc. The devices are location aware, offering a way for consumers to perform searches for local business within the vicinity of the phone’s exact location.

http://officialblog.yelp.com/2010/11/just-in-time-for-black-friday-check-in-offers.html

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While walking into the H&M clothing store in Boston’s Downtown Crossing last weekend, Yishai Knobel noticed a sign suggesting that he use his mobile phone to “check in’’ and let all his Facebook friends know where he was shopping. In exchange for a few taps on the screen of his iPhone, the retailer dangled a digital coupon for 20 percent off his entire purchase.

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2010/11/21/latest_apps_let_discounts_find_you_but_will_retailers_see_an_advantage_in_mobile_coupons/

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Smartsoft Mobile empowers some of the world’s largest multi-national organizations to extend and improve business processes by providing mobile solutions to their employees and customers. Smartsoft has more than 700 experienced ERP/mobile consultants with over 5,000 man years of experience helping 400,000 plus mobile users achieve their business goals with powerful mobile B2B and B2C applications, designed and developed specifically for today’s popular consumer and industrial grade mobile devices. For more information please visit, http://www.smartsoftmobile.com/.  This newsletter is sponsored in part by Smartsoft Mobile Solutions.

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Coupons.com has issued distribution data for digital coupons for the first nine months of the year, which shows a 57 percent growth compared to the same period the year before.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20101123005494/en/Coupons.com-Issues-Growth-Data-Digital-Coupons-Surpasses

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Watch out, dog-eared newspaper ads. A growing number of mobile applications are turning smartphones into the must have deal spotting tool.

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/yourmoney/110882094.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUvDEhiaE3miUsZ

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It’s looking to be a mighty mobile holiday season since there are more smartphones than ever roaming the U.S. In a recent survey, JiWire found that nearly 90 percent of smartphone consumers plan to use location-based mobile apps and services during the next few weeks of holiday madness.

http://www.adotas.com/2010/11/jiwire-holiday-season-location-based-mobile-services-coupon/

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Many retailers have geared up for the rush of holiday shoppers…mobile shoppers that is.

http://blog.nrf.com/2010/11/24/smartphones-another-way-for-retailers-to-reach-holiday-shoppers-this-year/

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UPS announced it is extending its popular UPS Mobile Apps and mobile Web site to customers in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Canada. The Web site and native smartphone applications enable customers to ship and track packages as well as find the nearest UPS location.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ups-exports-mobile-apps-to-international-markets-2010-11-29?reflink=MW_news_stmp

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Mobile shopping for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend more than quadrupled over the same weekend last year, according to TheFind.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/11/28/prweb4837974.DTL

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The Grocery Retail Outlook report has revealed that in the next five years online grocery sales are predicted to double to almost 10 billion pounds sterling, driven by the growing use of mobile technology.

http://www.commercetuned.co.uk/news/mobile-technology-drives-rise-of-online-grocery-shopping-151.php

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eBay sales in the U.S. from its suite of mobile apps nearly doubled over Black Friday 2009. Globally, eBay mobile is on track to nearly triple its sales over last year and is expected to bring in well over $1.5 billion in mobile sales this year.

http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/29/ebay-and-paypal-black-friday-mobile-stats-sales-doubled-payment-volume-up-27-percent/

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By moving into the hot location-based services market, Yahoo hopes to shed its second tier status and return to its place as a major Internet player.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9196830/Yahoo_looks_to_regain_past_glory_with_location_services?taxonomyId=18

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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, mobile industry analyst and experienced mobile industry executive, offers both one and two day onsite workshops designed to educate and inform executives and management teams on enterprise mobility and mobile strategies for businesses. This workshop is designed to provide a complete overview of enterprise mobility and what it means to the business. The workshop is customized based upon the needs of participants. For more details visit http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/workshops.html.

Recent Articles by Kevin Benedict

String Theory and Enterprise Mobility
What Happens When the Novelty of Enterprise Mobility Wears Off?
Enterprise Mobility, Embedded Wireless Devices and Robotics
The True Value in Enterprise Mobility

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Archived editions of Kevin's Mobile Retailing News Weekly are available at http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/mobile-retail-news-weekly.html

You can follow me on Twitter @krbenedict and read my blog, Enterprise Mobility Strategies.

Also available are Kevin’s M2M News Weekly and Kevin’s Mobility News Weekly.

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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
Phone +1 208-991-4410
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join SAP Enterprise Mobility on Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=2823585&trk=anet_ug_grppro

Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant, mobility analyst, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.