The launch of Apple Pay in the UK this week will further boost retail commerce bridging the gap between the physical and digital worlds.
When 88% of UK retail transactions still happen in-store, the in-store element of Apple Pay is particularly interesting for marketers. With necessary payment information stored in the Passbook app, purchasing will be a simple matter of touching your phone against the point of sale terminal with verification through fingerprint recognition. These changes are built to enable a more seamless customer experience, which will undoubtedly drive more impulse purchases, at least while people are experimenting with Apple Pay and becoming particularly ‘tap happy’.
This is the latest in a new generation of mobile apps that have come onto the scene, which are blurring the lines between the digital and physical worlds. These are location-aware apps and they are creating new experiences designed for consumers who are accustomed to accessing instant service at any time, and anywhere. On demand apps like Uber and Tinder, which are driven by location, are changing the way consumers shop, travel, eat, and even connect with each other.
With location becoming a decisive factor in the customer experience, it is becoming an increasingly important consideration for retailers. We are seeing ‘location’ evolve as a channel in its own right; able to reveal “who” and “what” a person might be interested in to an unrivalled degree.
For marketers seeking to crack the world of mobile beyond Apple Pay, they need to ask themselves how they can utilise mobile to nudge shoppers into their stores and closer to the checkout.
The answer is using location insights and data to identify that moment when a consumer will be most receptive to their message. Our Mobile Path to Purchase report showed that 30% of consumers are looking to purchase within the hour when they research a product on their mobile. It’s clear from this that brands need to act quickly to engage customers at the right time and at the right place to secure that sale.
When brands understand where their audiences have been, and where they are at a certain point in time, they are closer to influencing them during that critical decision making moment in the path to purchase.
Apple Pay may streamline retail payments in the UK, but it is only one part of the shopper journey. The most successful retailers will use this as a springboard to join-up on and offline campaigns more tightly – the future of retail (and more specifically m-commerce) is all about making the consumer journey as connected, relevant and as timely as possible.
By James Davies, Head of Channel Partnerships EMEA at xAd
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