Online Retail – There’s An App For That…
Apple is the latest retailer to create an app that allows direct purchase from the users mobile device. It comes at a fortuitous time as their website (and AT&T’s for that matter) are overwhelmed by customers trying to pre-order the latest iPhone as demonstrated by Digg founder, Kevin Rose‘s latest tweet:
“sweeeet got my iphone v4 pre-order in, pro tip: use the iphone app “apple store” to order, much faster..”
Others online purveyors have taken to mobile commerce with astonishing success – take eBay as a shining example. In March, they related the following stats to the NYTimes:
“Eight million people shop eBay on their iPhones. Mobile commerce generated $600 million in merchandise volume last year, and eBay expects that to increase to $1.5 billion this year.”
That’s some serious cash – amazing what putting a mini shopping engine in the palm of a customer’s hand does.