The Tap Economy Part 1: Screen Commerce

Mobile first

In their study, PayPal concluded: “Businesses must offer mobile-optimized experiences if they are interested in attracting and maintaining younger consumers, such as Gen Z and Gen Y. Across all age groups, nearly 80% of the consumers we surveyed have shopped via smartphone – yet only 63% are optimized to accept mobile payments. That’s a 15-percentage-point gap in businesses who are missing out by not taking advantage of the explosive growth of mobile commerce.

“Looking to 2020 and beyond, there is more potential than ever for merchants to improve the shopping experience for all consumers while addressing preferences of unique markets. Merchants can take advantage of the rise of mobile and social commerce by working with a partner that enables them to create better digital experiences, while helping them capture more sales, and ultimately drive growth.”

The massive expansion of the mobile channel continues. According to Ericsson: “By 2025, 500 million additional smartphone users are expected in India In the India region, the average monthly mobile data usage per smartphone has seen an extraordinary increase in recent years, becoming the highest in the world.”

And the tap economy is alive and well. What is changing is how business design mobile experiences for their customers. According to Rob Sandbach, managing director at Manchester-based digital design agency Indiespring, it’s all about connecting with individuals: “Personalization is creeping into every aspect of our lives and apps are becoming enablers of hyper-personalization. Take car insurance, for example. Typically you pay a premium based on a profile of your age group and gender which isn’t exactly fair if you’re a young male who is an exemplary driver. Still, you have to pay a high premium because you fit into a demographic that is generally viewed by insurers as a bit unruly behind the wheel.”

“We’ve been working with an insurer to create an app that tracks your driving behaviour meaning your premium can be tailored to your driving style,” says Sandbach. “It’s personalizing your insurance to your competence behind the wheel while acting as an incentive to make the roads safer. This is a great example of where apps are going. Gimmicks like FaceApp that become an overnight success will still come and go, but there’s this bigger opportunity to use apps to change society and create fairer products and services. We can expect to see a lot more of this.”

What does the future of engagement look like across the mobile channels?

“We will see a continued increase in consumer demand for new, intuitive and innovative digital experiences,” explained James Harvey, EMEA CTO, Cisco AppDynamics. “Both virtual reality (VR) devices and augmented reality (AR) experiences will change the way consumers engage with brands and businesses over the coming years. The customer experience will continue to be redefined by these technologies. As they become widely adopted in new ways by consumers and businesses alike, they offer new ways for businesses to interact with their consumers, providing richer user experiences.”

Harvey concluded: “Many businesses are already investing heavily in digital innovation across mobile devices and applications in a bid to drive customer loyalty and revenue, but failure to monitor the performance of these digital applications and services puts them at significant risk of error and then losing those customers. It’s business-critical that companies not only invest in future engagement technology, but also in the technology that provides visibility and control over these innovative digital services and applications.”

The smartphone and app are a formidable combination that has changed how consumers buy. For businesses already embracing the omnichannel across their supply chains, mobile will become their primary communications channel for customer service and for sales. Your company need a mobile-first response to the changes now taking place across the commercial landscape.