Business-to-Consumer Application

In-store navigation

Consumers find products more easily when in a shop.

A consumer comes into a store is scans an RFID tag to turn their phone into a shopping assistant. They can now search for any product in the store and know exactly where it is, how much it costs, and any other information necessary to make a purchasing decision.


Comparison Shopping

Consumers use their mobile phone to access information about product characteristics and price for related products.

A consumer is in shop. She uses her mobile phone to access a web-based comparison shopping application. By scanning a bar code on a product, she is able to see the price of this product in different shops in her area. Having seen that the product is reasonably priced, she decided to buy it. Using a similar set-up, consumers could also access test results from consumer organizations or customer reviews.






Information and Extended Packaging


Consumers access additional information about products through their mobile phone.

A consumer is in foreigner country. He buys some medicine in a pharmacy, but wants to be sure he has understood the dosage instructions given by the pharmacist properly. He scans the bar code on the pack and finds is able to read the dosage instructions in his own language.
A consumer is worried about allergens in a product she has just bought. By scanning the bar code on product packaging, she is able to access a full range of product information including information about which allergens the product contains.
The same concept could be used to provide consumers with nutritional information as well as instructions related to product handling, warranty or recycling. A consumer could also check whether food was GM-free or Halal/Kosher certified.




Data-rich products

Consumers access information about products through their mobile phones.

A consumer buys a television. Full access to product instructions and guarantee are available using a mobile phone to scan an RFID tag embedded inside the product throughout its cycle.


Self-scanning

Consumers in the supermarkets use their mobile phone to scan products as they do their shopping

A consumer is in a shop. He uses his mobile phone to scan RFID tags placed on the shelf each time he takes product. When he has finished shopping, payment is automatically added to his mobile phone bill. By storing data from self-scanning, consumers could create a mobile shopping list which could then be shared with online shopping application.


Authentication

Mobile phones are used to check whether or not a product is genuine.

A consumer is watching television. She sees a news report about a counterfeit pharmaceutical product. Using her mobile phone, she scans a bar code on the product packaging. She connects automatically to an anti-counterfeiting application that checks the product’s authenticity and tells her that the product is genuine.




Payment

Mobile phones are able to make payment anywhere, anytime.

A consumer walks into a small shop to buy a newspaper. By moving her mobile phone close to a RFID-enabled device on the cash desk, payment is deducted from supply of electronic money stored on her mobile phone.
At a vending machine, a consumer can buy a canned drink by moving their phone close to a RFID-enabled phone reader. Payment is deducted from the person’s mobile phone bill. A consumer pays his bills by simply scanning the bar code on the bill and using his mobile phone to process payment.





Ticketing

Mobile phones are used to distribute and redeem tickets.

A concert-goer buys concert tickets online. When she pays she gives her credit card number. A unique bar code is sent by SMS to her mobile phone. She gains entry to the concert by showing the bar code to a reader at the entrance.
A traveler needs to take a metro train. He has bought an electronic ticket that has automatically credited ten journeys to his mobile phone. At the ticket barrier, he moves his mobile phone close to an RFID-reader which deducts one journey from his account as the gate opens.




Coupons

Mobile phones are used both to capture and redeem coupons and discounts.

A consumer sees an offer for a new product in a store. By scanning a bar code with her mobile phone, she is able to take the offer with her to the shop. At the cash-desk, she shows the bar code on mobile phone to the cashier. It is scanned at the same time as the rest of her shopping and the discount automatically calculated.





Loyalty Schemes

Mobile phones are used to send targeted promotional coupons.

A consumer sees an advertisement for a brand-loyalty scheme. She can accumulate points by scanning the bar codes on products that she has bought. When she has a certain number of points, she receives an SMS with discounts on further products.


Loyalty cards

Mobile phones replace physical loyalty cards.

Having signed up for a supermarket loyalty scheme, a unique bar code is sent to a consumer’s mobile phone. Whenever he shops at the same supermarket, he shows the bar code at the cash desk and accumulates points based on the total amount he has spent.


Recall

Mobile phones are used to access information about product recall easily.

A consumer is watching television. She sees a news report about a defective pharmaceutical product. Using her mobile phone, she scans the bar code on the product packaging. She connects automatically to an application that checks the products serial number and tells her that the product does not need to be recalled.




Interactive TV

TV viewers can interact with what’s happening on screen using their mobile phone.

A consumer watches a dating program on TV. Each of the potential dates is wearing a t-shirt with a bar code. Using her mobile phone to scan the bar code, she received extra information about the person and decides whether she is still interested.
A bar code runs under TV advertisement for a product on TV. By scanning the bar code the consumer can purchase the product using their preferred shipping and billing information that is preconfigured.


Catalogue shopping

Mobile phones are used to place order for products in a catalogue.

A consumer receives a catalogue by mail from a catalogue shopping company. Each product on sale is accompanied by a unique bar code. By scanning the bar codes, the consumer can buy products directly from the catalogue in a similar way to Amazon’s “1-Click” buying functionality. A consumer accesses a web-based catalogue on his mobile phone which he can browse and use to order products.



Trial of digital/non-digital media

Mobile phones are used to trial books, magazines, music and video.

A consumer moves their mobile phone close to the shelf with an advertisement for a new magazine. Their mobile phone reads and RFID tag on the shelf and downloads a preview of an article from the magazine. Using rich media techniques, the consumer could also have the impression of turning the magazines pages on their mobile phone as well as zooming into the article to read the text.
This concept could be extended to other types of media. For example, a kiosk in a music store could allow consumers to download a song extract or an intelligent movie poster could allow consumers to download a film trailer.


Personal Safety

Mobile phones are used to alert current location.

A person takes a taxi at night. By moving her RFID enabled phone close to a unique RFID tag placed in a taxi, she is able to automatically send her current location and her expected time of arrival to a friend by SMS.


Text to voice

Mobile phones translate text to voice for elderly or visually-impaired consumers.

By passing their mobile phone close to RFID tag, an elderly or visually impaired consumer can hear information about product or promotion.

Business-to-Consumer Applications

Store Location

A map is displayed on a mobile phone showing where consumers can buy a product.

A consumer is visiting the website for a product he likes. He is intrigued by a bar code on the web page. Information next to the bar code explains that by scanning the bar code with his mobile phone he can save a link to a web page that will show a map of where that product is available in relation to where he and his mobile phone are. Next time he’s in town, he uses his phone to consult the map and is presented with different options for finding the product.

Business-to-Consumer Applications:)

These applications revolve around making life easier and richer for consumers and deepening the relationship between consumers and businesses, so that consumers feel they have more say in what they purchase. One way to categorize these applications is to look at where they fit in the purchase cycle.

Advertising and Promotion

Advertising and Promotion information is sent direct to mobile phones.
A consumer is in a shop. She is interested in new cosmetic product but hesitates to buy. She notices she can view an advertisement for the product by taking the picture of the bar code. She does this and views the advertisement.

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A consumer notices billboard advertising for a handbag while walking down the street. By moving closer and activating the Bluetooth function of its phone, she is able to download a coupon to get 30% off the product in any shop today. She does this and receives the coupon in an electronic format on her mobile phone. This bar code will be read by a reader at the cash desk if she buys the product. She then uses her phone to find the location of the nearest shop.

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Success factors for mobile commerce ^^

Mobile commerce is an emerging market. Therefore, there are significant opportunities and risks. The temptation at this stage is for key players to impose their own rules based on their own business models.

Although this can be beneficial for a few in short-term and in some markets may be the only way to start doing mobile commerce, in the long-term this will have a negative impact on business because lack of interoperability and higher operating costs will create barriers to growth and adoption. However a dynamic market needs an environment that favours innovation and diversity of stakeholders.

This section defines four success factors which are key to making mass mobile commerce happen across the world:

1. Innovative business model. Companies that want to take advantage of the opportunities presented by this new technology will have to understand how this technology fits with existing business models.

Retailers and manufacturers have to consider that they have the opportunity to become providers of services as well as providers of products.

Mobile Network Operators need to consider how mobile commerce can be integrated with existing tools for revenue generation such as SMS and MMS as well as the huge potential to drive data traffic.

Mobile Phone Manufacturers need to consider how to provide mobile devices that suit the needs of the market but also drive the market in new directions.

Solution Providers need to understand how to collaborate with different players.

2. Consumer adoption. Mobile phones are already starting to become a basic device available to everyone anytime, anywhere.

For mass adoption of this technology to take place quickly, consumers must:

Be able to access services as easily as possible
Be convinced that the services are useful and make a difference in their lives
Be confident about the costs of these services
Be confident about the source and reliability of the information delivered
Be confident about respect of privacy and personal information
Be confident that security measures protecting their devices are effective.


For consumers to adopt any of these new services on their mobile phones confidently, they need to be able to use these services whatever kind of mobile phone they buy, whatever kind of subscription contract they have signed and whatever mobile network operator they have choosen.

For service providers, this means that choices need to be made to support interoperability and openness, rather than to develop and use private model. Business model need to be developed to make sure this is possible.

Once there is global, interoperable platform available, service providers will be able to focus their resources on creating and launching new services or on transferring existing services to mobile devices, all based on system that is trusted by consumers.

3. Technology availability. Without certain technology mobile commerce is impossible. The full potential of the mobile phone as an ubiquitous object is only released when local interaction technologies are embedded, such as the combination of camera and image recognition software and ways of exchanging and communicating wireless information with products, point-of-sale and other devices. The integration of the secure element, such as a tamperproof chip card, inside the mobile phone will provide security and trust for handling valuable data.
Support for high quality display of the information to the users, supporting state of art internet technologies are required to provide a satisfying and consistent user experience.


4. Interoperable system. Interoperable systems are essential to mass adoption of mobile commerce. Through proprietary systems may function well in limited situations, they are a barrier to any large-scale implementation.

Mobile marketing :)

Mobile marketing has potential to fundamentally change the way consumer marketing occurs. Instead of a campaign-based approach, there is a shift towards a dialogue where consumers are willing to share information and marketers can make use of that information in a more valuable way. Throughout the history, businesses build up a relationship with consumers in which each considers the other as a trusted party. Four key factors distinguish mobile marketing:

Permission-based(form of mass marketing, consumers need to give their permission before being marketed to).
Targeted (by agreeing to share information about themselves and their buying habits, consumers allow businesses to improve the relevancy of the offers they send out).
“Live” (due to nature of mobile phones, responses can be processed to give real-time visibility of reaction to specific offers).
Two-way (using mobile devices, consumers can not only respond to offers but also request specific types of information or interest as well as sharing information with their mates).


Mobile has remained a much more trusted channel than email. Very strict rules have regulated marketing to mobile phones. As a result, spam is not a problem in the same way that it is for emails.

The main feature that differentiates mobile marketing from other channels is the ability to send the right message to the right person at the right time and so trigger a better response rate. Even though other channels can reach highly targeted groups, there is a little control over time.

Mobile commerce vs ecommerce

Internet plays a huge role in history of communication making its own contribution to the way that businesses do business and the way that consumers interact with businesses. Businesses automated many processes from ordering to customer service. A clear example is the way that spending on advertising is already shifted from traditional off-line media to online and digital media.

Mobile commerce refers to ecommerce but in more personalized way available to a wider audience. Moreover, m-commerce defines to the opportunity to connect information with objects in more direct way than has been possible until now.

What is special about mobile phones is the fact that they have massive adoption globally. Many more people have access to mobile phone that to a computers and this means that m-commerce has the opportunity to connect not just big businesses but also small business and consumers on a massive scale. In this case, mobile phones have the potential to bridge the digital divide and allow organizations and individuals to reach out to one another more easily than ever before.

We are moving into a world where digital goods are becoming as important as physical goods. Due to the internet, value is created not just by goods themselves but by the exchanges of those goods. Organizations that can make easier that exchange have a notable competitive advantage in this networked world.