Kevin’s Mobile Retailing News Weekly – Week of January 10, 2011

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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A flood of innovation involving smartphones, social media and local search will soon have a massive impact on what travelers do and how they spend their money while on vacation.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/smart-phones-social-media-and-local-search-create-marketing-mojo-in-the-travel-industry-new-report-says-113262519.html

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Google's AdMob in-application ad network is seeing two billion ad requests each day, great growth for a platform Google had to fight the FTC to get. Thank Android and iPhone owners.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Google-AdMob-Serves-2B-Ads-Daily-on-Android-iPhone-399008/?kc=rss

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In November, 35 percent of smartphone users used their devices to access the mobile Internet, proving once again that marketers should advertise on the mobile Web. A whopping 61.5 million consumers in the United States owned a smartphone in November, illustrating the reach that marketers can achieve with a targeted mobile advertising campaign.

http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/research/8709.html

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When surveyed, 43 percent of shoppers who received guidance from a retail associate armed with a handheld mobile computer reported that the device improved their shopping experience.

http://smartsoftmobile.com/wordpress/2011/01/11/holiday-shopping-findings-show-the-importance-of-a-cohesive-mobile-strategy-across-channels/

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In line with eBay’s recently dubbed ‘Mobile Sunday’, Adfonic saw mobile clicks for the first half of the month peak on December 12, with a 400 percent increase compared to the beginning of the month.

http://www.internetretailing.net/2011/01/click-rates-on-mobile-ads-show-consumers-shifting-how-they-look-for-bargains/

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When Zoomerang surveyed U.S. mobile phone owners on behalf of mobile marketing firm Hipcricket in October 2010, more than a third of respondents said they would be interested in a mobile loyalty program from a trusted brand, but just nine percent were already participating in such a program.

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008147

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Over one hundred billion dollars is spent annually on “traditional” online advertising, and each of the last three years has been prematurely declared the year of mobile advertising. Consumers are discovering simple, easy iterations of mobile technology that provide simple, easy solutions for problems they want solved.

http://www.sys-con.com/node/1664586

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With the explosion of check in services like Foursquare and Facebook Places, marketers are facing a unique opportunity to build guest loyalty by leveraging check ins.

http://www.b2cmarketinginsider.com/social-media/3-ways-to-increase-customer-loyalty-through-check-ins-07127

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American Express plans to buy the German marketing company Loyalty Partner for up to $660 million, expanding its international presence. The credit card company and transaction processor said on Thursday it will gain more than 34 million new customers and expand its high profile rewards program with the deal.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1621028820101216

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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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Globe Telecom’s mobile advertising offering, in partnership with Out There Media, has generated more than one million consumer opt-ins less than two months after the rollout of its next generation permission based program.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/12/23/10/globe-reports-high-mobile-ads-uptake

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According to Steven R. Boal, CEO of Coupons.com, more than three billion coupons a year are redeemed in the U.S., and in 2009 almost 10 percent of all coupons redeemed were distributed online.

http://www.revenews.com/barrysilverstein/2011-year-of-the-ecoupon/

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Starbucks wants to leave its rivals in the digital realm far behind with its free app for smartphones. The Starbucks Card Mobile App allows customers to link prepaid cards to their phones. They can then buy coffee with their handsets by calling up an on-screen bar code that baristas read with a scanner.

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/559166/201101071856/Starbucks-Application-Stirs-Coffee-Business.htm

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According to Samir Balwani, a contributor to B2C Marketing Insider, we’re on the brink of major adoption of social technology, with businesses giving renewed attention to technology, and the potential for major break through in tracking and measuring marketing actions.

http://www.b2cmarketinginsider.com/online-marketing/11-marketing-predictions-for-2011-06513

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While many people are now familiar with the concept of a check in, only four percent of people in the U.S. have done so, and only one percent do so weekly. Retailers are keen to capitalize on check ins, offering deals to customers and rewards for loyalty.

http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2011/01/10-mobile-trends-in-2011-android-boom-tablets-multiply010.html

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Flixwagon, the leading provider of Interactive Mobile Video Broadcast and Social Networking platform, recently announced its ‘Geo Edition’ application was selected to be showcased as part of Verizon Wireless’ Location-Based Service Applications Showcase at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110107005437/en/Verizon-Wireless-Location-Based-Service-Applications-Showcase-Flixwagon

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According to China Tech News, leading mobile carrier China Mobile Ltd. is planning to launch a location-based service module for its Mobile Market app store sometime in February 2011.

http://www.digitaleastasia.com/2011/01/07/china-mobile-preps-the-launch-of-more-location-based-service-lbs-capabilities-for-its-app-store/

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IMPORTANT!  There is an upcoming webinar that I would like to highlight entitled, Implementing SAP Enterprise Mobility in Fortune 500 Companies-Ten Lessons Learned. In this webinar, Smartsoft Mobile will share the top ten lessons learned from implementing SAP enterprise mobility solutions in Fortune 500 Companies. If you are a systems integrator or an end user, you will value from learning what works and what doesn't work in deploying mobility solutions. This webinar will also include an overview of the enterprise mobility industry in 2011 by SAP Mentor Kevin Benedict.

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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

Mobile Expert Interview Series: Pyxis Mobile's T.L. Neff
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Sybase's Bryan Whitmarsh
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Sybase's Tony Kueh
Sybase's Strategy with John Chen - Version 2
Enterprise Mobility in Australia

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

Also available are:

Kevin’s Mobility News Weekly
Kevin’s Mobile Money News Weekly
Kevin’s M2M News Weekly

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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, 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.