Cell phones + outdoor ads = online shopping
As cell phones become more common as tools for online shopping, one way to spur such usage will be through outdoor advertising tied to site content designed for mobile commerce, James Connell, director of e-commerce, digital marketing and new media at apparel retailer Roots Canada Ltd., tells Internet Retailer. “I definitely see cell phone shopping as a trend,” he says.
The size of their viewing screens restricts the usability of cell phones as shopping devices because shoppers must scroll through text listings of products. And though Apple Inc.’s iPhone promises to address this issue by connecting to a relatively large screen, other issues like the speed of wireless Internet communications still need to be addressed in order to make shopping through product images on mobile devices more like shopping on a desktop, experts say.
But another option for building m-commerce over the next year or two is by mixing old technology with the new, Connell says. For example, an online retailer could advertise on highway billboards or on commuter trains a limited selection of products available on their web sites for textual listing on cell phone screens. The idea is to promote on-the-spot buying by consumers as they’re sitting on a train or riding in a car, Connell says.
“Retailers could have targeted selections of products available to purchase over a digital device,” he says. “Just as we’re providing for the immediate delivery online of digital content like music, we’re looking at ways to provide immediacy into the purchasing of physical goods.”
Making cell phones even more usable as shopping devices, Connell adds, is supporting their function as payment devices as well—an option already becoming more available through providers including eBay Inc.’s PayPal and Cyphermint Inc. “This could reduce the anxiety many consumers have about placing orders online,” Connell says. “We’re looking for technologies to mitigate the risk of payments for both the merchant and the consumer, and I see mobile payments as part of the solution to that.”
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