Category: Retail &amp; eCommerce

Online Tech Sales Broke Records This Black Friday

The holiday shopping season has officially begun, and consumers flocked to stores this weekend to take advantage of big Black Friday deals. Though many Americans still stood in line on Thanksgiving Day, more of them than ever are now doing their big holiday shopping from the comfort of their sofas.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) this weekend revealed that more than half (55%) of Americans who bought tech products this Black Friday did so online. This represents a 10% increase from last year’s numbers and is a new record for Black Friday online tech spending.

“Consumers appear to have responded to retailers’ strong push to get them in the stores and online early this year,” said Shawn DuBravac, CEA’s chief economist and senior director of research. “The dust is still settling, but early indications point to a weekend of record-breaking online sales and a healthy appetite for key tech products.”

Tech products are now the second most-purchased Thanksgiving weekend products, following only clothing. The most popular tech products this weekend were, of course, tablets. A full 29% of those who bought tech products this weekend bought a tablet. This was followed by 24% who bought headphones, 21% who bought video game consoles/handhelds, 19% who bought smartphones, and 17% who bought PCs.

Earlier store openings this year seem to have had their intended effect of luring shoppers out early and extending the sales weekend. On Thanksgiving day alone 39 million Americans shopped – 10 million more than did so last year.

Today will top off the Black Friday shopping weekend with the online-focused “Cyber Monday.” The CEA predicts that 216 million Americans will have shopped from last Thursday through today.

Black Friday Was First Billion Dollar Desktop Shopping Day Of The Year

U.S. desktop ecommerce holiday spending was already up 14% year-over-year by for the first 24 days, ahead of Black Friday.

Black Friday itself, comScore reports, was the first billion dollar online shopping day of the holiday season with $1.198 billion in desktop ecommerce in the U.S. According to the firm, as of December 1st, holiday online shopping in the country has reached $20.6 billion so far, up 3% from last year.

If that doesn’t seem like much growth, it’s because of a variation in the 2012 and 2013 shopping calendars with Thanksgiving falling later than usual this year. Last year’s numbers contain a full week of heavy post-Thanksgiving/Cyber Week buying, comScore says, so the growth rate is being “artificially suppressed in the short term.” The effects, it says, will normalize as the holiday season goes on.

Black Friday was the heaviest online spending day to date, up 15% compared to Black Friday last year. Thanksgiving saw 21% growth year-over-year, reaching $766 million.

“While Black Friday – and now Thanksgiving Day – is the traditional kick-off to the brick-and-mortar holiday shopping season, both days continue to grow in importance on the online channel,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Clearly many consumers prefer to avoid the crowds and lines typically associated with Black Friday by shopping from the comfort of their own homes, and we saw a record 66 million Americans do that this year. Also interesting is that the recent trend of kick-starting holiday shopping by opening stores on Thanksgiving Day seems to be having a spillover effect on the online channel. Thanksgiving once again posted a well above average growth rate and is the fastest-growing online shopping day over the past five years, as more Americans opt for couch commerce following their Thanksgiving Day festivities.”

Believe it or not, Amazon had a major impact on Black Friday shopping. 66.1 million Americans visited online retail sites on Black Friday from the desktop (up 16% from last year, and Amazon was the top site, followed by eBay, Walmart, Best Buy and Target.

27% of sales went to apparel and accessories with 19% going to computer hardware, 7% to consumer electronics, 5% to consumer packaged goods, 5% to shipping services and 36% to everything else.

Image: Thinkstock

Cyber Monday 2013 To Be The Biggest Ever

Shoppers this weekend took to stores earlier than ever for an extended Black Friday. Though this year’s annual holiday shopping kick-off was predicted to be bigger than last year’s, shoppers are also turning to online stores more than ever.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) this weekend announced that this “Cyber Monday” is set to be the biggest ever. The group’s survey found that 131 million Americans are planning to shop online today. This represents more than 54% of all those surveyed and is a full two million more than the number of Americans that shopped online last year.

“Despite record-breaking online shopping Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, holiday shoppers aren’t done yet; we expect Cyber Monday to be bigger than ever,” said Matthew Shay, CEO and president of the NRF.

In addition to regular PC online shopping, mobile shopping will be making huge strides this year. Of those Americans who plan to shop online today, nearly 19% (24.8 million) expect to use their mobile devices to do so. According to the NRF that is a 22% increase over the number who shopped on their mobile devices last year. To prepare for mobile shoppers, more than half of retailers surveyed by shop.org had stated that they made improvements to their mobile infrastructure in the lead-up to the holidays.

“Regardless of the exciting online promotions we’ve already seen, retailers are prepared to pull out all the stops for their Cyber Monday shoppers,” said Vicki Cantrell, executive director of shop.org. “Recognizing that mobile was going to be a big driver of weekend sales, many companies planned well in advance to have their mobile websites and apps cleaned up and their supply chain operations ready for record-breaking digital holiday traffic. We expect to see more focus on mobile as we head into December as companies look for unique ways to compete this holiday season.”

Amazon to Use Drones for Delivery

The question of if drone use is ethical has been a hot topic this year. Although they have initially been deployed to fire missiles across seas, Amazon wishes to use them in a more peaceful manner– to get items to a purchaser fast.

How fast?

The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, recently told 60 Minutes that more than 80% of ordered packages can be delivered by drones, and that these packages could reach us at an average time of 30 minutes.

The drones Amazon will use are mini-drones called “octocopters.” The octocopters are estimated to being able to hold up to five pounds, and are powered by electric motors. These motors can power the drones up to a 10-mile radius from their home base centers, which means that they can cover most urban areas.

While the reviews are somewhat mixed so far,

Top 3 reasons Amazon drones will never be deployed: (1) personal injury lawyers, (2) bad weather limitations, (3) 12 gauge shotguns.

— Gabby (@ContentGabby) December 2, 2013

In 5 years Amazon says they'll deliver my order in 30 mins by drone. Drones freak me out. I don't think I can handle the future.

— Lisa Sadikman (@LisaSadikman) December 2, 2013

If Amazon ever releases drones, I feel drone shooting will become a new favorite pastime for a lot of folks. #amazondrone

— Kelley (@kelleyfernandez) December 2, 2013

So Amazon is planning on delivering products by Prime in 30 minutes or less from ordering using drones. They just want me to spend more now.

— Joe Canton (@JoeCanton2) December 2, 2013

It’ll be a while before we actually see winged packages in our skies. According to amazon, it’ll take at least a year or more for the service called Prime Air to pass safety and federal tests, and the Federal Aviation Administration still hasn’t finalized their own secular rules on drones.

An advantage to this form of delivery, beyond the speed, is that it saves on fuel costs and toxic emissions. A disadvantage of drones is a decreased workload for human delivery drivers.

Just think, soon we might have real-life mechanical Santa Clauses flying through our neighborhoods. Are you comfortable with that or not?

[image: Youtube]

Cyber Monday Ads Could Lead Shoppers to Thieves

You’ve seen them everywhere on the internet. Cyber Monday Ads telling consumers where to shop and how much they are going to save. But there’s not always a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Hackers, scammers and thieves are just as excited for Cyber Monday as you are.

So, you’ve waited patiently because you knew Cyber Monday was just around the corner. Whether you plan to shop online at work or in the comfort of your pajamas, Cyber Monday (the Monday after Thanksgiving) is the biggest day of the year to find the best online deals.

#CyberMonday on http://t.co/OLwmi0vM3o This sale is going to be hotter than Ed Sheeran eating hot wings in the desert pic.twitter.com/lYQasVqw8G

— Ginger Problems (@GingerProblems) November 30, 2013

These boots are made for snagging from your couch! Our #CyberMonday deals start tomorrow: http://t.co/Km6sXlYY3X pic.twitter.com/UN2ly3EkXG

— JCPenney (@jcpenney) November 30, 2013

According to Adobe Digital Index, which is a digital marketing and digital media solution company, shoppers spent more cash last year on Cyber Monday than any other single day in online shopping history. Adobe is expecting that trend to continue and is currently tracking a 15 percent sales increase which could potentially top over $2 billion. Yes, that’s $2 billion in just one day, all online.

So if everyone has seen the ads and knows about the great deals on Cyber Monday, one would have to expect that it would also be a prime day for hackers and fake websites. However, there are many ways to protect yourself. The Better Business Bureau wrote a list of the top ten tips to safeguard shoppers from potential cyber disaster. Take a minute to look it over. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

1. Protect your computer. This means keeping your anti-virus and spam filters up to date.

2. Shop on trustworthy sites. If you’re not sure about the website you’re thinking about making a purchase from go to the BBB site www.bbb.org, to check out who is doing the selling. There are plenty of fake websites out in cyberspace that do a good job of camouflaging themselves to look legit.

3. Protect your personal information. Always read a site’s private policy information.

4. Beware of deals that sound too good to be true. If you get a sense that a deal is outrageously amazing. Guess what? It probably is some sort of a scam. Use your common sense.

5. Beware of phishing. If a company sends you an email stating that there is something “wrong” with an order and they need your credit card information, go running. Better yet, report the company to the BBB or call the company directly.

6. Confirm your online purchase is secure. Once again always check the integrity of the site. There should be a lock symbol in the lower right hand corner that lets you know that the site is safe.

7. Pay with a credit card. You can dispute all charges made with plastic under the federal law. If a hacker swipes your credit card information, you are also most likely protected under your card’s zero liability policy.

8. Keep documentation of your order. Be sure to save every email from the website regarding your purchase.

9. Check your credit card statements often. Keep an eye out for suspicious activity. Know all the purchases you or anyone else makes who uses the card (your spouse or kids).

10. Know your rights. By law, if a company claims that a product will be shipped by a certain date, it has to be shipped by that date. If you don’t receive your order, it is within your rights to cancel or get your money back. That refund policy also holds true for any damaged goods.

Have fun and keep safe. Use your instincts and enjoy the incredible savings on Cyber Monday. Happy Holidays!

Images Via Facebook, Facebook

November 30, 2013

Will Businesses Embrace Yelp For Ecommerce?

Yelp may be well known as a reviews site, where you can go to find out what people have said about a restaurant your thinking about trying or a plumber you’re considering calling to fix your sink. Through most of its life, that’s essentially what it has been.

Yelp is evolving, however, and you can probably expect it to start looking a lot different in months and years to come as it looks to “close the loop” in transactions between businesses and consumers. Yelp doesn’t just want to show users what people have said about a business. It wants them to engage with that business and make that Yelp listing visit actually mean something.

Do you think Yelp can help get you more sales? Let us know in the comments.

Earlier this year, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman spoke at the LeWeb conference in London. In addition to discussing business growth, fake reviews and noting that Yelp is “disrupting the Yellow Pages,” he talked about wanting to bring more ecommerce to his company’s services.

Yelp goes “far beyond restaurants,” Stoppelman said. “I think the number one category right now is shopping, so boutiques, places to buy different things…and so it covers the full range…the Yellow Pages traditionally didn’t cover things like shopping and didn’t really cover things like restaurants, but Yelp obviously cover those pretty well, but goes into the traditional Yellow Pages categories too, like doctors and hair salons, and plumbers.”

Stoppelman added that the selling of products through Yelp would be an “interesting direction.”

He continued, “It’s one we’ve got a toe in the water, but I see a lot of potential, and that is, we have all these people that are essentially shopping online for something offline, and so why not offer those consumers a way to close the transaction? We already do that with OpenTable Top Tables, so you can book your reservation from your iPhone or your Android device.”

“This is an area that we’re interested in…Yelp as a platform…We’re aggregating all these consumers. They’re doing their shopping today, and the problem is that they’re just not closing their transaction. And so you can imagine that you might be able to plug in services like OpenTable for all sorts of verticals, and that could be a really interesting business for us.”

Shortly after that discussion, Yelp launched a feature encouraging transactions called the “Call to Action” feature, making it available to advertisers. Then, they actually launched Yelp Platform, which lets people order things from businesses right from Yelp.

“As we continue to roll this feature out, Yelp Platform will eventually make it a whole lot easier to do everything from scheduling spa treatments and yoga sessions to making dentist appointments and purchasing services, directly through Yelp!” the company said.

Then came the SeatMe acquisition. Yelp just started integrating that into the Yelp experience this week. It lets users book restaurant and bar reservations from the venue’s Yelp listing.

The product gives restaurants and bars a flat fee structure without “per diner’ fees. Features for businesses include table management, online reservations, wait list management, and a guestbook.

“Over 117 million average monthly unique visitors (as of Q3 2013) are turning to Yelp to help them decide where to go to spend their hard earned dough and the SeatMe reservation feature is yet another way to help consumers seamlessly close that loop between discovering a great local business and experiencing the best that business has to offer,” says Yelp’s Alex Kvamme in a blog post.

“Since waiting in line isn’t your favorite thing to do (just guessing, but pretty sure I’m right), whip out Yelp and nab a reso before you head out,” Kvamme adds. “Now instead of just drooling over the review highlights for Oakland, CA hot spot Hopscotch (duck fat chips and sweet potato gnocchi?!) you can take your fantasizing to the next level and snag a reservation on the spot.”

According to Yelp, 20% of SeatMe venues are bars and lounges.

This year Yelp also launched the customer activity feed on the business owner’s dashboard, showing businesses real-time leads coming from Yelp through phone calls, website clicks and directions.

Yelp is just getting started in the “closing the loop” business. Expect to see a lot more business offering from the company, and in more verticals in the near future.

Of course, if businesses are going to turn to Yelp to get help drive sales, they’re going to need to have a favorable opinion of Yelp in general, and despite Yelp’s efforts, its reputation among business owners is mixed, to say the least.

But Yelp continues to work on debunking what it deems to be false accusations and myths. Stoppelman participated in a reddit AMA (ask me anything) a couple weeks ago, addressing all the regular accusations head on.

Have you taken advantage of Yelp Platform? Do you expect to use Yelp’s business tools in the future? Let us know in the comments.

November 30, 2013

Desktop Holiday Ecommerce Spending Up 14% From Last Year So Far

A report out from comScore says $18.9 billion has been spent online during the first 24 days of the November-December 2013 holiday season, using desktop computers. This is up 14% from the same time period last year ($16.6 billion).

Ahead of the report, Tuesday, November 19th was the heaviest online spending day of the season, reaching $963 million. Both the 14th and 24th also saw over $900 million each.

“The 2013 online holiday shopping season is off to a solid start with nearly $19 billion in desktop e-commerce sales, an increase of more than 14 percent versus last year,” said Andrew Lipsman, comScore VP of Marketing & Insights. “The heaviest online spending day thus far fell just shy of $1 billion in sales, and though we’ve not yet reached that benchmark we can expect to see that spending threshold eclipsed numerous times during the post-Thanksgiving period. Black Friday and Cyber Monday can both be expected to easily surpass that total, with Cyber Monday already beginning to point toward $2 billion.”

“While the early part of the online holiday shopping season has been solid so far, we are tempering our expectations given the shortened 26-day shopping period between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year,” said Lipsman. “In addition, with Hannukah beginning in November this year there is some spending that has been pulled forward and likely added a boost to the early November shopping period. That said, our forecast of 14 percent growth for desktop-based buying still represents a strong outlook versus last year that highlights the continued channel shift to online. We also expect m-commerce spending growth to contribute about 2 percentage points to that growth rate, meaning that total digital commerce will grow at a rate of nearly 16 percent.”

The firm believes mobile commerce (which includes tablets) will reach $7.1 billion for the holiday season, which would be 13% of total ecommerce as total spending is expected to be $55.2 billion for the season.

A new Gallup poll released today shows that over half (53%) of Americans say they are “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to shop online during the holiday season.

Image: comScore

PayPal Makes It Easier To Pay With Prepaid Gift Cards

PayPal announced that it now supports prepaid gift cards in that consumers can use them anywhere that accepts PayPal.

This is just in time for the holidays, when many people will be getting these cards as gifts. As PayPal explains, these gifts often come with a burden attached to them.

“A lot of e-commerce sites can’t or won’t accept it right off the shelf—even if other credit or debit cards of the same card brands are allowed,” says PayPal’s Ed Lee in a blog post. “Many consumers are forced to call the card issuer or go to a special website to register a billing address before trying to pay with the prepaid gift card. It might sound simple, but in PayPal’s recent usability study, it was found that only 1 person out of every 4 was able to register their billing address and complete an online purchase successfully. Thankfully, PayPal has offered a way to resolve the issue. Now, no more of this hassle is required if you use prepaid gift cards through PayPal Checkout.”

“After our customers voiced this particular pain point again and again, we knew we had to fix it once and for all,” he adds. “After months of research and investigations, we discovered a patent-pending and innovative way to allow the usage of prepaid gift cards so that you can seamlessly apply them to the purchase of products and services anywhere PayPal is accepted – just in time for the holidays!”

This goes for cards from Visa, American Express, MasterCard, and Discover.

About a year ago, PayPal began offering its own prepaid cards, but only to those who have credit/debit cards or bank accounts connected to PayPal.

Image: PayPal

Over Half of Americans Will Shop Online During the Holidays

The holiday shopping rush will begin this week, and Americans are gearing up for Black Friday weekend sales. Though most Americans won’t be shopping this weekend (mainly due to the crowds), those who do are set to spend more money than ever.

Though department stores will no doubt be packed when they open on Thursday evening, the crowds might be a tiny lighter this year. This is because more Americans than ever are planning to do their holiday shopping online.

A new Gallup poll released today shows that over half of Americans (53%) now say they are “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to shop online during the 2013 holiday season. This represents the first time Gallup has seen a majority of Americans intending to do holiday shopping online and a huge increase from the 10% that intended to do so just 15 years ago in 1998.

Though more Americans intend to do holiday shopping at department and discount stores (74% and 72%, respectively), online Christmas shopping is the only type of shopping that is seeing a real surge in the U.S.

Gallup saw a predictable decline in all methods of shopping when the recession began in 2008. Consumer intent to shop at discount stores, specialty stores, department stores, and through catalogues has remained steady or slightly declined since that time. Online shopping intent, however, has increased 10% since 2008.

These numbers show that Americans are still steadily warming up to online shopping, though it will take years for the method to catch up to department stores. Still, traditional retailers who aren’t currently rethinking their business models could be swept aside faster than anyone realizes.

You Can Now Eat Your Instagram Photos, Thank God

At its core, Instagram takes an analog process and places it firmly in the digital realm. To then take those filtered images and put them on something tangible, that you can hold in your hand, may seem odd to some people.

But what if you could eat them? Yes, eat your Instagram photos.

Well, now you can. A new service called Boomf allows Instagram users to put their favorite photos on marshmallows.

“Instagram lets you share your memories, but Boomf makes sharing even sweeter. And squidgier. If Willy Wonka and Proust had a brainstorm, we reckon they’d have drawn some Boomfs on a napkin. Maybe,” says Boomf.

All you have to do is select 9 of your favorite Instagram photos and Boomf will print them on little sqaure marshmallows and mail them to you door. What you do with them is up to you. I like putting marshmallows in hot chocolate, and I also love rice krispies treats – although it may be a waste of money to just melt your new minted marshmallows. Anyway, they have a shelf life of about 6 months, according to the company.

If you’re thinking about giving Boomf a spin, do note that the type of Instagram photo you choose could severely affect the outcome of your photo marshmallow.

“For best results, we advise avoiding Instagrams with large dark areas, as the detail gets slightly lost. In general, Boomf looks tastiest when you use relatively simple images with good contrast. For example, it is better to choose an Instagram with a couple of faces, rather than a group shot of a dozen people,” says the company.

Also, it’s currently only available in the UK. Sorry, America. According to Boomf, you can expect worldwide expansion by early next year.

Images via Boomf

Ecommerce Sites Aren’t Utilizing Site Search Data Like They Should Be

SLI Systems has put out a report finding that most eCommerce sites are missing out on a big opportunity to use data from their internal site search tool to improve the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns.

The firm surveyed 160 global eCommerce professional, and found that 57% don’t use site search reports and data to enhance their marketing. 50% of them aren’t even using site search data or analytics to enhance any of their business offerings or processes.

Still, site search, according to the survey, is one of their top priorities for next year (along with eCommerce platform, SEO and mobile).

“These findings demonstrate a significant missed opportunity for retail marketers in improving brand visibility, customer engagement and ultimately sales,” SLI says in the report.

Only 25% of those that actually do utilize site search data in their marketing campaigns are integrating that data into email marketing to customize offers for customers.

On why they’re not doing more with site search data, half of those surveyed blamed limited resources, while about 30% said they don’t know how to use the data effectively, and 10% said their site search solution doesn’t allow for integration with marketing programs.

Some other interesting stats:

27% have created search engine-optimized landing pages populated with site search results and custom banners.
13% are taking advantage of site search to power mobile search
11% are integrating site search with social media channels to improve amplification of marketing programs

You can find the full report here.

[via MarketingCharts]

Image: SLI Systems

November 26, 2013

Yelp Adds SeatMe Reservation Booking To Business Listings

Yelp announced today that it is finally incorporating SeatMe directly into the Yelp experience. Yelp users can now book restaurant and bar reservations from the venue’s Yelp listing.

Yelp announced the acquisition of SeatMe back in July. The price was $12.7 million, and Yelp got the product and the fifteen employees behind it.

The product gives restaurants and bars a flat fee structure without “per diner’ fees. Features for businesses include table management, online reservations, wait list management, and a guestbook.

According to Yelp, 20% of SeatMe venues are bars and lounges.

As Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman discussed on more than one occasion earlier this year, the company is looking to add more features that “close the loop” from local business to customer. Reservation booking fits that bill. At Le Web, he discussed wanting to turn Yelp into a platform, and expressed interest in adding more ecommerce features.

Image: Yelp

November 25, 2013

Ready To Let Google Be Your Bank?

Google Wallet has come a long way over the past year, and this week in particular, made perhaps its most significant move towards becoming a truly major way to pay for goods and services.

On Wednesday, Google unveiled the Google Wallet Card, a physical card that consumers can use to pay for things in stores using their Google accounts.

Do you currently use Google Wallet? Do you trust Google with your money? Do you think the Google Wallet Card is going to catch on? Share your thoughts in the comments.

The card is free. That’s a key. If you have a Google Wallet account, you can get a card. Pretty simple. So right off the bat, there’s very little friction in at least getting these in users’ hands (or Wallets, if you will).

Google suggests that a friend could pay you back money you lent them using Google Wallet, and then turn around and use that money (via your Google Wallet Card) at the store to buy groceries. Just one example of where this card could come in handy.

Google Wallet product manager Sandra Mariano explains, “Now, you can use the new Google Wallet Card to spend the money instantly, either by purchasing in stores or by withdrawing cash at ATMs, without having to wait for money to transfer from your Google Wallet Balance to your bank account. The Google Wallet Card is a debit card that lets you quickly access your Wallet Balance, whether you’ve received it from a friend or added it directly from a linked bank account or credit/debit card.”

The card can be used anywhere in the U.S. (so far) where MasterCard is accepted.

“And don’t forget, there are many ways of spending your Wallet Balance in addition to spending it with the Google Wallet Card,” says Mariano. “You can use your Wallet Balance to send money to friends, purchase on Google Play, YouTube and other products, tap and pay in stores, or transfer money to your bank account.”

And that’s the thing. Google has already integrated Google Wallet all over the place, particularly on Google services (and I’m guessing you use one or two of those). There’s a good chance you already have this account (even less friction).

As you probably know, Google Wallet took over for Google Checkout, which launched all the way back in 2006. Google has had about seven years to get Google Wallet accounts racked up. Obviously many sites around the web accept Google payments.

Checkout officially shut down this past week. If you have been using Google Checkout as a payment option on your site, and haven’t prepared for the change, you might want to watch this video.

Another big feature Google launched this year was the integration of Google Wallet into Gmail, enabling users to send payments by email, similar to Square Cash, but more limited in some ways.

You can also now book hotels with Google Wallet, using Google’s Hotel Finder.

A major component of Google Wallet is its ability to simplify the buying process on mobile. A few months back, Google launched the Google Wallet “Instant Buy” API aimed at helping businesses decrease abandonment rates on mobile devices. According to the company at the time, the abandonment rate of shopping carts on mobile is a whopping 97%.

The Verge hailed the move as “a big play from Google to take its payment service to mobile in a subtle way,” and that’s pretty much a perfect way of putting it.

“The Instant Buy API is designed for merchants and developers selling physical goods and services, who already have a payment processor and are looking to simplify the checkout experience for their customers,” explained Google’s Prakash Hariramani. “Developers selling digital goods within their apps will continue to use Google Play In-app Billing, which offers full payment processing capability, including support for carrier billing and gift cards.”

This week, in addition to launching the Google Wallet Card, Google updated the Android app, enabling users to easily add funds to their accounts by taking pictures of their credit and debit cards. It will capture the number and the expiration date automatically.

A lot of banks already let you deposit checks this way with their mobile apps. How long until you can simply deposit checks into your Google Wallet account?

The app also now includes a button you can click on to order your Google Wallet Card.

As far as adoption goes, Google Wallet only launched for the iPhone two months ago, so that should help it gain some traction. This followed another major update for the Android app, which brought some new loyalty programs with it, as well as the aforementioned email payment method. The iPhone version also includes these.

Google is often in the news for privacy-related issues, and it stands to reason that some people won’t trust Google with their money. The company just settled with 37 states over Safari user tracking, and even more recently, a German court ruled that Google’s privacy policy violates data protection law.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that Google Play was sending personal details to developers when users bought their apps on the Play Store. Congress even got involved, and then Google responded by updating Google Wallet to remove personally identifiable information from transactions.

People will no doubt be wondering if Google is using their Wallet Card transactions for other purposes. Keep in mind recent reports that Google is testing tacking consumers through the physical world to give data to advertisers. That’s with smartphones. With the Wallet Card, Google has found yet another way into your pocket.

Google has shown it is taking payments seriously with a series of aggressive moves in 2013. I expect we’ll be seeing quite a few more over the coming year.

Google had an April Fools’ joke this year about launching the Google Wallet Mobile ATM that you can plug into your smartphone and get cash.

I don’t know if we’ll be seeing anything quite that revolutionary from Google Wallet anytime soon, but Google obviously has some interesting ideas.

So how about it? Are you going to be a Google Wallet Card carrier? Do you use Google Wallet for any kind of transaction on a regular or non-regular basis? Tell us about how you use it or why you don’t.

November 24, 2013

Intel to Open ‘Pop-Up’ Retail Stores Next Week

Intel today announced that it will open its first ever “pop-up” stores in major cities in the U.S. The stores will appear starting next week in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

The idea behind the stores, according to Intel, will be to highlight tablets, notebooks, PCs, and hybrid devices that are based on the company’s processors. Customers will be able to browse a variety of devices and “Intel technology experts” will be on-hand to provide shopping and tech advice. The stores will also allow customers to take devices home for a test-drive before purchasing them.

“The Intel pop-up stores are designed to be far more than a traditional retail or product showcase, but rather an experience,” said Kevin Sellers, director of Creative Services at Intel. “We’re engaging the local community with a daily schedule of events and entertainment, while offering hands-on access to, and in-store demonstrations of, the latest Intel-based devices available for the holidays – all in a fun, relaxed neighborhood environment.”

Instead of being static showroom floors Intel’s stores will be dynamic, changing in purpose throughout each day. Intel stated that each store will begin as a “community hub” when they open, then shift to become a “technology showcase” in the afternoon. During the evenings the stores will become “an entertainment hot spot.” Activities available at the stores will be changing daily, with community speakers speaking on various topics and free movies being screened on Fridays.

To better position the stores as a community initiative, Intel has chosen what it considers to be trendy locations. The store in Los Angeles will be located in Venice, while the Chicago and New York locations will be in Lincoln Park and Nolita, respectively. The New York Intel pop-up store will open on Saturday, November 23 and the other two locations will open early next week. All of the stores will stay open throughout the holidays and close on January 25, 2014.

Google Wallet Now Lets You Add Credit/Debit Cards By Snapping Pictures

Earlier this week, Google unveiled the Google Wallet Card, a physical card that you can use to pay for things at stores using your Google Wallet account.

Google has now updated its Google Wallet app for Android, adding another big feature. You can now add credit and debit cards to your account by taking pictures of them.

“Add a credit/debit card just by taking a picture,” Google says in the What’s New section on Google Wallet’s Google Play page. “Both the number and expiration date will be captured automatically.”

The Google Wallet Card is free. Another feature of the latest update is a direct line to getting one:

Also included in the update are some minor bug fixes and performance improvements.

[via Android Guys]

Image: Google Wallet

You Can Now Gift Amazon Prime To Friends And Family

Does a family member buy a lot of stuff on Amazon? Perhaps your friend uses Amazon Instant Video to watch their favorite shows? Well, now you can make their lives a lot easier with a Prime membership.

Amazon announced today that it’s now letting customers purchase Amazon Prime memberships for friends and family through a new gifting system. Instead of trying to convince your parents that Amazon Prime is the best thing to happen to online shopping since, well, Amazon, you can now just buy them an annual membership for $79.

“Members have told us they want to give the gift of Prime and we are delighted to offer this new capability in time for the holidays,” said Greg Greeley, Vice President of Amazon Prime. “Our customers can now give the convenience of unlimited two-day shipping to family and friends – it’s a gift that can be enjoyed all year long. When you add in the huge selection of popular movies, TV shows and Kindle books already included in the membership, giving Prime is giving a year’s worth of convenience AND entertainment.”

We all know that Amazon Prime gets you free two-day shipping on nearly everything on the site, but a membership includes a number of other benefits. For starters, all Prime members get access to Prime Instant Video – a Netflix-like service that allows members to stream a large number of movies and TV shows. With plenty of exclusives and its own in-house produced TV shows, chances are a family member or friend will get a lot out of it.

If the family member is more of a book lover, a Prime membership will give them access to the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library – a service that allows users to borrow eBooks at no extra cost with no due date. Prime members also get early access to one book published through Amazon Publishing per month.

All that is just icing on the cake, however, as the real star of the show is still the free two-day shipping. I’ve been a Prime member for four years and it really pays for itself in no time if you do the majority of your shopping on Amazon. If you have a family member that does the same and is still not a Prime member, this just might be the gift for them.

You can start the gifting process over at Amazon’s new “Give the Gift of Prime” site.

[Image: Amazon]

Magento Becomes Part Of eBay Enterprise

eBay announced that it has merged Magento and eBay Enterprise into a single business unit, and will create new opportunities for Magento merchants, partners and developers.

eBay Senior VP for Strategy and Business, Mark Lavelle, is moving over to eBay Enterprise to lead the newly formed Product Strategy organization at the company. He will report to Christopher Saridakis, president of eBay Enterprise.

“This is a game-changer for us,” said Saridakis. “We’re going on the offensive, taking the reins of innovation and further positioning eBay Enterprise as an industry leader.”

“By combining the extensive capabilities of our leading organizations, we are bringing the ecommerce technology, multichannel operations and marketing services capabilities of eBay Inc. together under one umbrella,” Magento says in a blog post. “Moving forward, retail and brand partners of all sizes will find an unmatched portfolio of offerings that seamlessly deliver integrated commerce solutions to drive their revenue and growth. For Magento, it’s business as usual.”

The company isn’t offering much more in the way of details about what the future holds just yet, but says we’ll be hearing more about it in the coming months.

Image: Magento

40% of Americans Have Engaged in ‘Showrooming’

The rise of online retail has certainly forced physical retailers to both rethink their business models and compete with companies that do not have to deal with store overhead. In addition to competing on convenience and price, physical retailers are susceptible to the phenomenon of ‘showrooming’ – the consumer practice of using retail stores as showrooms for products they intend to buy online.

Today a new Gallup poll has revealed that at least 40% of Americans have engaged in showrooming. The survey also found that more wealthy Americans (those who make over $90,000 per year) were more likely to be showroomers, with over half of those surveyed (53%) saying they had showroomed at least once.

Though these numbers may look dismal for physical retailers, Americans are still prone to making purchases in-store. The same poll found that while many Americans engage in showrooming, most do not do so on a regular basis. The survey found that only around 9% of Americans bought or soon intend to buy online a product they shopped for in a physical store.

Physical retailers might find relief in the fact that Americans are still prone to purchasing goods offline, but the showrooming trend is one that will only increase as online retailers become ever more convenient and efficient. Gallup suggests that stores can work on their customer engagement to ensure sales happen in-store. Other market analysts have provided possible long-term solutions, including the suggestions that physical stores use their premium space to sell advertising – essentially embracing the concept of showrooming in full.