Have Mobile Payments (Finally) Arrived?
December 6, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Based on investments, prognosticators and those that fuel the hype machine, this headline could have been written (and has) years ago. But something tangible may have occurred that mobile payments are poised to take off (really).
There have been many hurdles to the mobile payment market taking off. They included:
- Handsets. Lacked the appropriate SIM or RFID technology.
- Networks. Banks and credit card companies are notoriously slow, lack innovation and are conservative.
- Security. Communicating over unsecure mobile networks is one thing, but when financial transactions are involved, security becomes paramount.
- Merchant Acceptance. Establishing a large foot print of national and independent merchants is very difficult. In technology, we call this a problem of “scale”.
- Consumer Behavior. Consumers don’t change their behavior unless there is reason for doing so. Whether it be handheld technology, convenience, savings, security or access to locations that accept mobile payments, Consumers have not embraced mobile payments in large measure.
Checkin Madness
November 30, 2010 by admin · 6 Comments
So I claimed all my business’s local listings: Google, Facebook, Yelp, Yahoo, Bing, MerchantCircle, Foursquare, Gowalla, etc, etc. Check!
I see that many of my customers are checking in when they come to my establishment. Check!
The zaniness that follows those on the endless pursuit of Foursquare badges (I still don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to unlock the “Douche Bag” badge) seems to have merged with the daily deal / flash sale phenomena. And now all these vendors want me to post deals to attract “newbies” (I was told I couldn’t use the term “virgin”), reward frequent “checker-inners” (is that even a word? Why the hell did WordPress spell checker accept it?) and/or lavish seminal riches upon the “king” (or “Mayor” given we ridded ourselves of Monarchy some time ago), being that person who checks in the most frequently. Read more
Repeat Business . . There is No Secret
November 24, 2010 by admin · 2 Comments
Interesting post at American Express Open Forum titled “The Secret to Repeat Business: Grow Your Fanbase.” I completely buy Paul Rosenfeld, CEO of Fanminder’s, premise that small merchants are “soured by $500 rate cards and the 50 percent cut that flash sales sites take from merchants.”
He then puts forward two principal ideas that businesses who are succeeding excel at: 1) Engaging customers through fan lists that inform and provide deals; and 2) Growing their fanbase.
Mobile . . The Next Big Thing (Just Not The Only One)
November 22, 2010 by admin · 2 Comments
I was pleased to meet Paul Rosenfeld during the spring of this year. We had just launched a new Savvy Cellar Wine Bar & Wine Shop at the foot of Castro Street in Mountain View, CA. As a tech product guy and part-time wine marketing sloth, I am always on the lookout for ways to connect with new customers. Mobile marketing always sounded simple. But when I’d kick the tires on potential solutions, they usually fell down in one or more dimensions:
- complexity to configure
- administrative time required to manage
- lack of fit with other marketing activities
- cost
- inability to actually reach target consumers.
Daily Deals | 3 Tips for Small Businesses
August 16, 2010 by admin · 5 Comments
After experimenting with Groupon late last year, and blogging about Savvy Cellar’s experience, I was immediately inundated with comments and questions from small businesses all over the world.
Since then, the “daily deal” space has grown with such fervor and frothiness that I can’t help but imagine it is heading towards an inevitable meltdown (or at least a significant contraction in the number of competitors in the game).
Simple logic dictates that consumers can only view and act on a finite number of coupons on a daily basis… but who knows?
MSN Business on Main’s Barbara Schenck recently interviewed me for her article, “Daily Deals Propel Coupons to New Heights.” She pressed me to provide practical advice to small business owners as to how they should approach this emerging form of marketing.