Has the Mobile Internet finally emerged as a primary retail channel in 2013

Back in 2000, I worked with a former colleague from business school to raise investment for what we now refer to as a location based mobile application. The application was known as ZagMe enabled customers to send offers to users of the service in their location such as a shopping mall  (BBC Zagme News report). Unfortunately the technology platform was based on WAP which proved unreliable and costly to use. Today companies such as Foursquare have taken the concept to a mobile broadband customer base happy to use and act on location based offers. However, 2013 has seen the break through of the mobile device including tablets etc. as a primary channel for online purchasing. Retailers have rushed to adapt to the new format and even bring out their own optimised devices such as Tesco and Aldi launching bespoke low cost tablets. According to mobile experience management platform Artisan (www.useartisan.com ), 77% of consumers intend to make purchases through a mobile and/or tablet app this holiday season.

This statistic suggests that using mobile devices to purchase through sites such as Amazon, John Lewis etc. is more likely to be the norm rather than the exception.  In a recent survey, OFCOM forecast the number of mobile broadband subscribers to be in the region of 5.1 million.  With sales of Tablet computers of every type likely to be the most sought after gift this Christmas, that number is sure to grow dramatically and with it the opportunity for retailers to grow their online sales channel as well as location based sales by offering incentives to bring users into High Street stores.

Sadly all this furious activity in mobile sales comes to late for Zagme which succumbed to the dotcom bust when trying to raise a second round of finance.  Todays location based apps have a much brighter future!

Amazon to side step Phorm!

In an increasingly heated debate over privacy, Amazon UK has stated that it will not allow the online advertising system of Phorm to scan its web pages to produce targeted ads.

 

Amazon is one of the most popular sites in the UK and indeed worldwide and its decision to block behavioural targeting of the type promoted by Phorm is a huge blow to the approach and will no doubt influence other major sites such as eBay to review their policy. 

 

This decision will be a major embarrassment to BT who had hoped to roll out Phorm’s technology later this year under the name Webwise.  Both BT and Phorm have come under fire from privacy campaigners over the the “secret” trials that BT conducted last year.

 

In a statement, Amazon UK said: "We have contacted Webwise requesting that we opt out for all of our domains."  The company declined to comment further on the reasons behind its decision.

 

In response, Phorm said: "There is a process in place to allow publishers to contact Phorm and opt out of the system, but we do not comment on individual cases."

 

Last month the Open Rights Group wrote to the chief privacy officers at Microsoft, Google/Youtube, Facebook, AOL/Bebo, Yahoo, Amazon and Ebay urging them to opt-out of Phorm. Amazon is the first company to give any sort of response at all but are unlikely to be the last.

 

Earlier this week the European Commission said it was starting legal action against the UK over its data protection laws in relation to Phorm's technology.  The European Commission has described the technology as an "interception" of user data and wants UK law to reflect more explicitly the need for consent from users in order for the service to be implemented.

 

Given the recent announcement of Google to introduce their own form of behavioural tracking on to users search queries, it will be interesting to see whether Amazon et al decide that they wish to avoid all forms of intrusive targeting and whether the EU will take on the behemoth Google.

The Kindle 2 – is it a sequel worth reading?

This morning Amazon announced its second-generation ebook, the Kindle 2.

The new Kindle 2 is lighter (well its 3 grams lighter!), is a more contemporary design and it can now hold approximately 1,500 books.  This is many times larger than the original 200 titles of the original Kindle and there are up to 230,000 titles to choose from the Amazon Kindle Shop.

The most interesting development is the new Text to Speech feature which can read any book to you in one of three speech rates, and in either a male or female voice.

Sadly the Kindle 2 is still only available in the US.  Over here we just have the Sony Reader eBook which can have just 160 books and is exclusive to Waterstones or the iRex Iliad which at £449 is a great incentive to continue to buy the “real” thing.

So when will we see the Kindle 2 in the UK?  It is suggested that the problem lies with tying up deals with mobile operators or maybe it’s a problem of translating all those 230,000 titles from American into the Queen’s English.  Whatever the reason, when it eventually arrives the ebook will become a definite “must have”.  Interestingly, Google is also reported to be offering a browser tool running on Android, Google’s mobile OS, that allows you to read books via your Android enable mobile.  It can’t be long before a Android enable ebook emerges, then the ebook market will be a little more dramatic.

Is Amazon about to enter the Grocery business in the UK?

It was recently reported that Amazon is to take on the major supermarkets with the launch of an online food store in the UK and Industry experts say the ambitious plans are a huge threat to Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons.

However, speaking in the Grocer, Amazon’s UK MD, Brian McBride has denied that they have any such plans, as the company “had enough on its plate” adding that “it’s a bit of a speculative story”.

So what is the background to this story.  Amazon is undoubtedly an incredibly successful online retailer and has a massive customer base for its range of DVDs, books, electrical products and most recently opened new clothing offering.  In the US, Amazon have indeed launched an online grocery service called Amazon Fresh, which was piloted in 2007 and is limited to Seattle and the surrounding area.

Unlike the US, the UK has a plethora  of main supermarket groups running successful Internet Grocery services as well as the privately funded Ocado service delivering Waitrose products.

Despite claims in the Daily Mail at the end of January, that Amazon could easily roll out a grocery service in the UK as “due to the shorter delivery distances”.  I suspect Ocado might disagree.  Amazon have been running the “trial” service for almost two years and is still limited to their home town of Seattle.  It still has not rolled out to other lucrative metropolitan markets in the US let alone considered expanding in the UK.  Equally I wouldn’t necessarily accept that Amazon is entirely on top of its delivery game in the UK judging by some recent delivery experiences of my own.  It is one thing to deliver a book or DVD, it is quite another to deliver ones weekly shop.  Maybe a better plan may be a JV with Ocado would be a better option extending the Amazon online brand magic to the newly independent internet grocer.

In the meantime, I don’t think Tesco’s or ASDA will be factoring in UK competition just yet.  Lucky the snow came along before the newspapers wrote any more "speculative stories".