11 Excellent E-commerce and Mobile Payment Entries: E-commerce Link Digest

Looking to drive results for your business? Click here to learn more.

Happy Friday, Big Thinkers! We’re going to skip the setup for this week’s E-commerce Link Digest and just get you right to these 11 excellent e-commerce and mobile payment entries from the past week instead. Enjoy:

1. Kicking things off this week, Angela Everitt has a great piece on Brand Quarterly that says, when it comes to “Thought Leadership: Do Less, But Do It Better.” Here’s the thing: that’s true for everything.
2. In fact, that focus on execution was the point of this week’s episode of Thinks Out Loud, our weekly digital strategy and e-commerce podcast, that advised, “In Digital, Don’t Be Your Own Worst Enemy.” Be sure to give it a listen when you get a moment, OK?
3. Shifting gears, the fine folks at eMarketer asked “Will Internet Users Start Using Mobile Payment Apps Anytime Soon?” While only 1 in 5 respondents said they’re likely to start using one in the next year, usage data says otherwise. eMarketer projects almost $62 billion in spend on mobile payments next year. And, given the crappy, er, I mean, less than optimal rollout of EMV chip readers in stores — no, seriously, which stores make it clear whether we’re supposed to swipe or insert our cards? — retailers are inadvertently creating a great environment for driving usage.
4. On a highly-related note, Leena Rao on Fortune reports that “Apple Pay Now Accounts for Three-Fourths of U.S. Contactless Payments.” So there’s that.
5. On Mobile Commerce Daily, Brielle Jaekel explains “Why Universal Mobile Wallets Will Eventually Overtake Retailers’ Offerings.” The whole article is worth a read, but the simple answer comes down to utility and Millennials. Time will tell.
6. Meanwhile, over on Forbes, Niall McCarthy highlights a fascinating infographic that shows what universal wallets have to contend with, noting “Starbucks Holds More Cash On Its Loyalty Cars Than Many Banks” have in deposits. Um… damn.
7. When you put all of the above together, it helps explain “Why Mobile Payments Will Rule” and “Why I’m Bullish on Mobile Payments and Messaging.”
8. For more on this topic, don’t miss “A Quick Snapshot of the State of Mobile Payments” that we put together for you a few weeks back.
9. Moving into other aspects of e-commerce, Stephie Grob Plante makes “The Case for the American Mall” over on Racked and notes, “malls aren’t dying. They’re changing” Or at least the good ones are. Great read and well-worth paying attention to no matter what business you’re in as the challenges malls face today will confront us all eventually — assuming they’re not already.
10. Picking up on that thread, I recently posted an update to an alder post that asked, “Will E-commerce Kill Retail?” Shore answer: No. Long answer: Well, read the post.
11. Of course, if you’re looking for even more useful information than we can fit into this collection of 11 excellent e-commerce and mobile payment entries from the past week, be sure to check out these “13 Excellent E-Commerce and Digital Strategy Insights” from our ongoing E-Commerce Link Digest series, as well as these “32 Killer Resources to Improve Your Digital Strategy: The Top Posts of 2016 (So Far).” You’ll be glad you did.

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”:

Finally, you might enjoy some of these past posts from Thinks to help you build your e-commerce strategy and your digital success:

• 6 Mobile Commerce and Strategy Insights: E-commerce Link Digest
• Content is Still the King
• The Digital Strategy Myth
• Why Mobile Payments Will Rule
• Driving Seamless Experiences in 2016 (Thinks Out Loud Episode 149)
• Mobile is So Much Bigger Than You Think (Thinks Out Loud Episode 140)
• It’s Not “Mobile First.” It’s “Customer First.”
• 8 Killer Entries About Improving E-commerce Experience: E-commerce Link Digest