Mobile Retailing News Weekly - Week of February 21, 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.

Also read Field Mobility News Weekly
Also read Mobile Money News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly
Also read M2M News Monthly

A number of blogs have pointed us to news that mobile payment company Square is dropping the .15 cents per transaction charge for any business using its mobile payments device and service.  Square previously charged 2.75 percent of each transaction amount plus a flat .15 cents per transaction fee.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13846_3-20035055-62.html

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Google searches conducted on mobile phones centering on shopping-related keywords grew more than 300 percent from January 2010 to January 2011, reports a new Google study on holiday shopping.

http://www.internetretailer.com/2011/02/17/holiday-shoppers-smartphones-search-and-researchand-buy

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A forecast from Yankee Group predicts the worldwide transaction value of mobile payments will total $984 billion by 2014, up from $162 billion last year.

http://finchannel.com/Main_News/Tech/81424_eMarketer%3A_Mobile_Payments_Take_Hold_Around_the_World/

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At the end of 2010 there were over 5.2 billion mobile connections globally – more than three times as many connections as there are PCs in the world. Mobile phone subscriptions continue to rise, making mobile phones the most rapidly adopted technology in history.

http://www.b2cmarketinginsider.com/mobile-apps/the-future-of-the-mobile-advertising-landscape-and-where-the-industry-is-headed-016148

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The growth of tablets and smartphones with bigger screens will help to spur the nascent mobile advertising industry, but hurdles remain before it contributes more than a trickle to the flood of global ad dollars, industry experts said at the annual mobile industry fair in Barcelona.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110217-712723.html

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When banks enable their customers to use a mobile device to check balances, transfer money, pay bills, apply for credit or manage their personal finances, they can achieve returns on investment of as high as 300 percent.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/2011/02/15/mobile-banking-services-can-lead-to-300pc-roi-for-banks-accenture

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Mobile ad spending in the U.S. is one of the fastest growing marketing sectors.  In 2010 mobile advertising grew by 79 percent to $743.1 million and is anticipated to break $1 billion in 2011.

http://sparxoo.com/2011/02/21/tips-to-advertise-on-mobile-devices/

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Millennial, whose ads reach 81 percent of the U.S. mobile web, is reporting that Android ad impression share increased by eight percent month over month to capture 54 percent of the network’s ad impressions in the U.S. in January.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/14/millennial-for-the-second-month-android-leads-ios-for-mobile-ad-impression-share/

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SAP is partnering with Italian luxury goods firm Salvatore Ferragamo, French supermarket group Casino and other top retailers to fine tune its retail software.  Retail is a strategic industry for SAP as the enterprise software firm aims to capture as much as it can of the potential €2 billion annual world market in license fees.

http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2011/02/14/245411/Analysis-SAP-targets-dynamic-retail-market-with-investments-and.htm

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Mobile banking growth in the United States continues to be fueled by aggressive adoption of smartphones and regular mobile Web use, according to Forrester Research.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/2011/02/10/steady-mobile-banking-growth-to-drive-demand-for-better-functionality-forrester

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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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ClairMail, a company that creates a mobile banking and payments platform, is rolling out a new product for financial institutions — a mobile fraud management solution.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/17/clairmail-brings-fraud-management-to-mobile-banking-technology/

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In one of the larger exits so far in the flash sales business, retail chain Nordstrom has acquired flash sales site HauteLookfor $180 million in Nordstrom stock and a three year earn out of up to $90 million.  HauteLook has raised $41 million in funding.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/17/nordstrom-acquires-flash-sales-site-hautelook-for-270-million/

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Less than a month after rolling out its mobile payment technology across the United States, coffee giant Starbucks says its customers have made 1 million payments via the app-based system, which stores a virtual Starbucks Card on a mobile phone, for scanning at the register.

http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2011/02/starbucks-a-million-mobile-payments.html

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Deutsche Telekom AG, France Telecom SA and other mobile operators, who lost the battle for online applications stores to Apple Inc. and Google Inc., say they have a fighting chance of winning the corner convenience store.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-20/-mega-payments-race-pits-google-visa-against-phone-operators.html

Recent Articles by Kevin Benedict

Meet Me in Brussels at the Enterprise Mobility Exchange
Enterprise Mobility Challenges from the Experts
Mobile Expert Interview Series:  Sybase’s James Naftel, Part 1
Mobile Expert Interview Series:  Sybase’s James Naftel, Part 2
Skanska Optimizes Mobile Workforce Management
Challenges in Enterprise Mobility Today
SAP Enterprise Mobility in the Cloud
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Mobile X's Hannes Heckner
Mobile Expert Interview Series: Zenware's Jody Sedrick

Webinar of Note

Implementing SAP Enterprise Mobility - 10 Lessons Learned

Whitepapers of Note

The Business Benefits of Mobile Adoption with SAP Systems
ClickSoftware Mobility Suite and Sybase Mobility Solution
Networked Field Services
Mobile, The Next Big Thing for Business

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

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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer
Phone +1 208-991-4410
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility group on Linkedin:
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 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.