7 Mobile E-Commerce Must-Reads from the Past Week: E-commerce Link Digest

Hey,Big Thinkers, I’m just about to head out and enjoy a wonderful August weekend. Hope you are too. So, let’s skip the big setup and get straight to this list of 7 mobile e-commerce must-reads from the past week. Enjoy:

1. Mobile Commerce Daily reports that 73% of retailers do not offer mobile access to loyalty. For today’s customer, that’s just silly.
2. In other silly moves brought to you by Mobile Commerce Daily, the news-gathering site notes 62% of retailers expect zero ROI from holiday mobile alerts. Um… what?!? Why do them, then? Either they produce results (which I suspect they do) and you should use them, or they don’t and you should walk away. What’s the benefit of interrupting your customers if they’re not interested and it won’t pay off? Something screwy going on with this one. For instance, BuzzFeed reports that Target is rolling out a new pilot program to track customers in stores and, one would assume, offer them mobile alerts when it’s appropriate. Does anyone here think Target expects “zero ROI”? Anyone? Yeah, neither do I. Stay tuned for more.
3. Business Insider reports that Amazon shut down its product ads to prevent Google from data access. They’re also preventing you from accessing that information, so, that sucks.
4. Biznology offers a great look at how to include video content in your buyers’ journey.
5. The Wall Street Journal discusses Apple swapping its online ‘store’ for ‘buy’ buttons in a move that’s long overdue. I suspect you’ll see a number of e-commerce experiences move in this direction in the coming months/years.
6. Mobile Commerce Daily says American Express swipes in Apple Pay for corporate card holders, a huge transition for the credit card giant — and a huge boost for mobile wallets overall. One of the main reasons this is such a big deal is, as eMarketer shows, mobile wallet users are more into the web than you are. These help underscore the reasons I believe mobile payments will soon rule e-commerce (and commerce overall). Quite simply, it’s a game-changer leading to increasing e-commerce growth.
7. Finally, Smart Insights offers a look at “The Digital Marketing Landscape 2015,” which itself makes a nice complement to the top 15 digital marketing and e-commerce posts of 2015. Check ’em both out when you get a chance.

If you’re interested in learning more, make sure to check out these “6 Major Stories About Millennials and Mobile Commerce” these “9 Marvelous Mobile Marketing and E-Commerce Columns: The Top Posts of May” and other entries from our E-commerce Link Digest series, including these “8 Amazing E-Commerce Posts Winning this Week”, these “10 Damn-Good Digital Marketing Posts,” another “10 Spectacular Mobile Marketing and E-Commerce Essays”, and this set of “6 Major Stories About Millennials and Mobile Commerce” too.

And if you want learn even more about how your customers’ changing behavior shapes e-commerce and marketing, be sure and register to receive a special report I’ve produced in conjunction with hotel marketing firm Vizergy, “Digital Hotel Marketing in a Multiscreen World.” While it’s targeted specifically at hotel and resort marketers, the lessons apply to just about any business. You can get your free copy of the report here.

You can also check out these slides and video from my recent webinar, “Digital Marketing Directions: Three Key Trends Driving Your Marketing Next Year”:

And, finally, you might want to take a look at some of our past coverage of the e-commerce, mobile commerce, and digital marketing overall, including:

• 10 Key Posts about Millennials and Mobile: E-commerce Link Digest
• The Secrets Behind “It’s All E-commerce” for 2014
• The Zen of Digital Marketing Strategy
• 7 Steps to E-Commerce Heaven
• Today and Tomorrow: Mobile and The Changing Customer Journey
• Mobile Makes E-commerce Even More “Frictionless”
• Your 2014 Internet Marketing New Year’s Resolutions – Thinks Out Loud Episode 56