News & Notes

As more and more people move to using debit or credit cards almost entirely for payments, and with the proliferation of smartphones, it makes sense that mobile payments should gain traction.  Having a point of sale system with a connection to a credit card company can be expensive, but by using a device like Square, anyone can take a mobile payment where-ever they are.  This makes it easier for anyone to sell their products or services, anywhere they want.

Though the market is growing more slowly than previously projected, an eMarketer report predicts that mobile payments in the United States will break the $1 billion barrier this year and then hit $58 billion by 2017.

The eMarketer study defines such payments as “transactions for goods or services made by scanning, tapping, swiping or checking in with a mobile phone at the point of sale.” They differ from mobile commerce, which is defined as purchasing items on a mobile device. The researcher predicts mobile commerce sales will hit $38.4 billion this year. — Report: Mobile Payments to Top $1 Billion in 2013 by Todd Wasserman

Having a mobile website can be a huge boon to certain types of businesses that have a physical or retail location.  Thinking in terms of what information a customer might want while on a mobile device can go a long way to meeting needs on a mobile website.  Information like phone number, hours, and location are a no brainer.  But this information is often lacking from mobile websites…

The figures are somewhat surprising. I would have thought that adding information about locations, opening hours etc would be a very basic step for companies with an offline presence.

The 37% of companies not doing so are missing a chance to direct customers to offline locations, where they may be looking to make a purchase, get a quote, and so on.

Also, customers are increasingly using their mobiles for this purpose. Last year’s Multichannel Retail survey found that 32% of mobile users had searched for this information, more so in the US. — Are companies merging the digital and physical customer experience? by Graham Charlton

Having a Google Places business listing is a no brainer, but is it worthwhile to also have a Bing Places listing too? What are their advantages and disadvantages?  This article has more….

If you haven’t yet, check out Bing Places for Business to claim, edit, and control your listing while also making it pop and making it social. Is Bing Places for Business better than Google+ Local? Maybe not… yet. However, according to Bing, there are new and exciting features rolling out later this summer. — Is Bing Places for Business Better Than Google+ Local? by Josh McCoy