According to an article from the New York Times, some venture capitalists have started making large investments into new cell phone technology that would make it easier to shop and buy online from your iPhone, Blackberry, or Pre Palm. They've invested more than $100 million already into this type of technology. If their investments are successful and these applications become mainstream for all 3G phones, they have the potential to change the way you run and design your e-commerce site. The aim of this new technology is to turn your cell phone into a virtual credit card. One of the companies that has started building this new technology, Boku, has laid out plans that you would actually use your cell phone number instead of your credit card number to make mobile purchases.  The theory behind this is that you are far more likely to know your own cell phone number over a credit card number and so will be more likely to make that purchase instead of wading through the frustration of pulling out a credit card and inputting all that information into your iPhone. The system then sends a text message asking you to authorize the transaction with a texted response. Your cell phone account would then sort of become a paypal account - any online purchases would show up on your monthly cell phone bill.  The pitfall to this scenario is that cell phone carriers currently charge a large fee for this paypal-like service, which makes it cost prohibitive for an e-commerce site to sell products on a mobile device. As of now, carriers can take up to about 50 percent of the purchase cost. This is one of the reasons this technology has failed in the past.  But venture capitalists who have made this investment see hope in the growing popularity of 3G phones.  They believe that if enough 3G buyers subscribe to this mobile service, cell phone carriers will significantly cut the cost per transaction fee for each mobile purchase. This technology has the potential to create another large revenue stream for your e-commerce site since it would make online shopping so portable.  The implications are that, when testing your website's functionality, it will become more important to design your e-commerce site to display properly on any number of 3G devices with a number of different carriers.  User interface applications, especially your shopping cart, will also have to be developed to format properly with cell phone service providers.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again – EVERYONE is on their mobile. Over the past 2 years smartphone adoption has grown from 36% - 61%. Of those users, mobile apps dominate over three-quarters of phonetime. Sure, many kids are goofing with games but businesses have much to gain by entering the mobile app market. Seattle-based jewelry giant Blue Nile realized the importance of mobile commerce the first time the site made a $40,000 diamond sale via mobile device. “This is the future of shopping,” pointed out then CEO Diane Irvine. Many things will move the needle for your business. Today one of the most important is the mobile app – and here’s why.   More Sales Opportunities People are addicted to their phones. Standing in line, sitting on the bus, or waiting for change from the teller – these are all small pockets of time your customers are on their phones. While they could be checking former colleagues’ LinkedIn profiles, they should be checking out that shopping cart they put together on your app and place that order with you already. They could be browsing the newest and greatest you have to offer - but you need to make it easy for them with an app.   Simplicity Given the small screen necessity of big buttons and clean design, you can focus your audience on exactly what you want them to see. Not only that, but providing your clients with on demand access to your service is not only imperative, but gives them the easiest way to reach you better. Think of an app as a bookmark taking stable residence on a user’s phone screen. It’s familiar, always there, and easily accessible as a part of your customer’s everyday phone life. Now THAT’S simple.   Geo-targeting Knowing where your customers are can sound a little creepy. Even worse, knowing that your competition is already utilizing your customer’s location and sending them offers...while you sit idly by. Think of geo-targeting as helping your customer right where they are. A young couple is strolling by a movie theater and the fair lady receives a 10% off push notification to a movie showing starting in 30 minutes. They happen to be a 5 minute walk from the theater and decide to head on in. Thank you mobile app! Geo-targeted advertising is not only helpful for your customer, but can be profitable for you. Use the information everyone else already has - and capitalize on it.   Reward Your Customers Who doesn’t love earning rewards? Or getting free stuff? Providing a rewards program for your customers is easy via mobile app, and a fine way to encourage user engagement. Rewards programs can efficiently be tracked and redeemed via mobile app, while the instant gratification of this method makes for a fun and satisfying game your customers. Then you can be the fun company with a loyalty program that engages your customers and encourages them to interact with your brand.   Boost Team Productivity You want to be the boss who gives your team the right tools to do their jobs well. Mobile apps are a great way to simplify complicated programs to get your team the data they need quickly.  For example CRM mobile apps are a great way to assist sales teams while they are on the road closing deals. What could be more important to a sales professional than the ability to quickly find the information they need, without the complications some of the most robust CRM software programs can provide? Additionally sales tracking apps are a great way to manage deals while running around meeting clients. Mobile apps are a great way to make every trade show, convention, and off site meeting simple and well documented.   Brand Building Much of traditional marketing has died with oversized 90’s desktops, but the importance of boosting brand recognition will never change. The mobile app is a great place to do it. I wasn’t kidding about phone addiction - the average consumer spends 127 minutes a day on mobile apps. Now remember how your app could be a bookmark on their everyday mobile home screen? Yeah, that’s cementing your logo right into their everyday life - making your brand memorable, friendly and familiar. The added joy? It’s fun to get creative with your branding. For example, Volkswagon’s SmileDrive Android app allows users to share fun moments with their friends via virtual travelogue. They connect via Bluetooth (safety first fellas) and record their adventure whilst traversing the road. They can earn badges and points for passing other SmileDrive users, and at the end of the trip can share experiences with friends and family. All the while, Volkswagon gets the attention - and business.   Mobile apps are one of the best new ways to grow your business - hands down. Don’t know where to start? Just ask us here.  

We’ve noticed that since Marissa Mayer came from Google to become the new CEO of Yahoo! (and a new mom!), the company’s undergone quite a few changes so Yahoo! can better compete with Google, Apple, and even Instagram. The most controversial changes Mayer has put in place is by far her ban on working from home, which used to be considered a huge benefit of working at Yahoo!. We think that Mayer’s most influential change is shifting Yahoo!’s focus toward technology, product development (particularly iOS apps), and partnering with some of the company’s potential competitors, such as Apple, in order to make the company more competitive with other industry leaders. Mayer recently decided to chop Yahoo!’s mobile apps from over 75 to about a dozen, so the company can offer consumers higher quality apps, while paying attention to the competition and finding Yahoo!’s niche. The new Yahoo! mobile app was just launched, which, in the words of Marissa Mayer, “delivers better mobile content discovery.” Yahoo! just bought Summly in March, a tech start-up from Britain that scans content to give an accurate but brief idea of what’s on a site. Using Summly’s technology (invented by a 17-year-old, who is now worth 30 million dollars by the way), Yahoo! was able to quickly benefit from its algorithms and machine learning to merge, as Mayer says, “great technology and beautiful design front and center.” Yahoo!’s new iOS app also includes the ability to learn what your interested in, so you’ll more likely come across the topics you enjoy, rather than those you don’t. The more you use the app, the more it understands your preferences, which you also have the option to select or remove yourself. Under Mayer’s leadership, there have also been positive responses to Yahoo!’s newly released weather app. The iOS app uses Flickr (owned by Yahoo!), which has recently added Instagram-like filters to better compete. Flickr has also been updated to allow users to download Flickr photos onto their phone, upload pictures to the app more quickly, and tag friends with an “@” sign. But another recent success is Yahoo!’s new iOS email app, honing in on the fact that Yahoo! is still a very popular email provider (the app has also been redesigned for the web, Android, and Windows 8). Mayer defends her new work from home ban, saying that these are the types of products created by the innovation and collaboration that becomes possible when people work together in the same space. Since Mayer’s start as CEO, revenue has gone down slightly, but earnings have increased 36 percent. Mayer recognizes that it will take awhile for Yahoo! to regain market share, but that they are officially “back in the game.” We think Mayer seems to know what she’s doing by simplifying Yahoo!’s strategy, and she’s definitely revamping Yahoo! to better compete with other internet and app industry leaders. The question seems to be whether or not Yahoo! can catch up with it’s competitors. We’ll keep an eye out on to see how she does.       Sources: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2417853,00.asp http://www.fiercedeveloper.com/story/what-yahoos-marissa-mayer-can-teach-developers-about-tough-choices/2013-02-19 http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/22/yahoo-app-summly/ http://venturebeat.com/2013/02/21/flickr-iphone-updated/http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/04/22/new-yahoo-ios-app-launches-integrates-summlys-technology