Starbucks Improves In-Store Experience With Nationwide Mobile Ordering

What Happened
Starting today, Starbucks is rolling out a new Mobile Order and Pay feature in its branded mobile app. First tested in Portland back in December and now available at more than 7,400 stores nationwide, the new feature allows its customers to preorder and pay for their coffee and food before they arrive at the designated store for pick-ups, therefore eliminating the need to wait in line and vastly improving its in-store customers experience.

What Brands Should Do
By adding this convenient new feature to its already uber-popular app, the Seattle-based coffee shop chain is able to bring significant added value to its customers, while also driving more customers to its loyalty and rewards program. With mobile payment now reportedly counting for more than 20% of its sales, Starbucks leads as a frontrunner in courting today’s mobile-first customers and unifying its physical stores with digital sales channels, which provides a good example for retail and CPG brands to follow.

 


Source: Mashable

Pinterest Dives Deeper Into M-Commerce

Read original story on: TechCrunch and Re/Code

Pinterest is about to give mobile apps a visual boost: the company just announced a partnership with Apple that would allow mobile users to download iOS apps without leaving Pinterest’s app. Apple has opened an official “App Store” account on Pinterest to showcase curated apps.

Moreover, Pinterest is also looking to launch a “buy” button in the next 3 to 6 months, further integrating mobile commerce into its framework. Twitter rolled out its “buy” button about 7 months ago to lukewarm receptions. But if Pinterest could leverage its great visual designs into its m-commerce contents, it might work like magic.

Why in-app commerce is on the rise

Why in-app commerce is on the riseThe promise has hung around mobile for years: Just pay with your phone. When any extra inconvenience can result in a lost sale, ease and convenience are paramount. The mobile promise of engaging with a customer anywhere, and immediately converting that engagement to a sale, has been the penultimate retail fantasy. So why has it taken so long to start to see this behavior?

Well, the funny thing with a fantasy is that reality can often be a letdown. Getting back to one’s roots camping off the beaten path in a forest is great, until facing the realities of bugs, bears, and rain (unless that’s your thing – it’s not mine). Mobile might have been promising ease and convenience, but the experience for several years has been anything but. Want to buy something with SMS? Well, the carrier is going to take a large cut of that transaction, and the bill is going to appear on the user’s phone bill (which is a pain point for many US consumers). Enter payment details online? Good luck navigating that WAP page. So what’s merged the fantasy with the reality? Continue reading “Why in-app commerce is on the rise”