Mobile Commerce Update: 01.31.2011

The following was posted by The Daly Bark, and I just could not let this go by without replicating the good work here. It’s been tweeted and no doubt shared in many ways, but given the information and in respect to it’s preparation, a posting here will at least add to the visibility and value of the information. To quote the author, “While only 8.8% of retailers currently have a mobile commerce site, 75.9% expect to launch one in the near future. And, of those in the latter segment, 52.6% expect to have the site up and running in under one year! Without a question, online shopping is migrating from our computer screens onto our mobile devices. Below, we look at mobile shopping trends and statistics from around the world, and, more specifically, the United States.” Click the graphic below to learn more.

Click-To-Give. Another great reason to go mobile.
The desire to give often takes place during a brief moment of empathy. If the opportunity to give is not immediately at hand, or in-hand, the chance for support is lost. QRM will be offering clients a new and immediate means to leverage this moment when contributors are most likely to act. At a time when corporate responsibility is measured moment-to-moment throughout social media, visibility and a means of convenient cause support has never been more imperative.

Our first worldwide measure of the potential has been demonstrated through the SMS contribution support of the Haitian community. This support has been broadly covered in varying degrees by the international media, but one of the best comes from Mashable, 5 Social Media Lessons from the Haiti Earthquake Relief Effort, by Geoff Livingston. “The use of mobile media to drive fund raising was unprecedented. Further, on the ground in Haiti, victims and rescue workers used mobile phones to communicate and save lives. Generally speaking, mobile entered a new era in its history, becoming a primary channel for cause-based action.”

Technology has enabled us to be more prepared for the impassioned moment, when we see beyond ourselves to lend a hand. Two innovative companies are focused on the handshake between your phone and those that need help. The Mobile Giving Foundation and MGive are two of the more prominent organizations providing SMS services. Yet these services are not completely frictionless, and will need to keep pace with the certain changes to come as security and fee issues are resolved.

Mobile giving is just beginning to find its opportunity among an ever-growing world-wide population of smart phone users, via SMS. Other means of secure contributions are not far behind and will dramatically escalate mobile giving. It is likely that contribution increments will decrease, while volume will increase. In a recent article published by FirstData Corp, Mobile Payment: The Linchpin of the Mobile Commerce Economy, Barry McCarthy provides a broad overview of the status and emerging opportunities of mobile commerce in general.

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