Following this autumn’s
disappointing performance and with the retail sector feeling the pressure of
slow growth and increased competition, retailers are betting on Black Friday
and Cyber Monday to compensate for falling profits. Large scale discount days
have been institutionalised in the global retail landscape as opportunities for
retailers and brands to increase revenue and reverse decreasing footfall. With
£281m predicted to be spent on Cyber Monday alone, the retail sector is
expected to grow by 2.9 per cent during the 2014 holiday season.
But this year’s festive
shopping season will be defined by mobile commerce as the dominant trend with
an estimated 16.4 million individuals in the UK making purchases on their mobiles. Shopping habits are changing
dramatically with consumers increasingly forgoing traditional retail channels
for the flexibility, speed and convenience of mobile platforms. Retailers and
brands need to be mobile commerce-ready in order to not only capture consumer
attention, but also successfully translate it into sales.
Dan
Wagner, eCommerce veteran and CEO of Powa Technologies, comments: “Online purchases are expected to reach a phenomenal
number this Black Friday and drive the much anticipated retail growth. But
price cuts alone are not going to be sufficient to lure consumers in physical
and online stores. Retailers need to have a mobile commerce strategy in place
that can mirror the myriad of devices that their customers are using and enable
them to complete purchases any time, any where”.
PowaTag gives shoppers
the power to complete purchases using an array of triggers, including scanning
print material, Bluetooth beacons, audio tags and social media.
Consumers can buy a
product straight from any form of advertising or with a tap of a smartphone.
Sales are finalised in just three seconds using pre-entered payment and address
information.
Dan adds: “Consumers today are
seeking greater levels of control and freedom in how and when they purchase goods. The
delay between impulse and sale can prove detrimental and this is the type of
missed opportunities retailers can no longer afford. Being able to engage with
consumers then and there is essential in order to enable on the spot purchases
and limit the risk of ‘abandoned baskets’. Retailers much like consumers need
to be empowered through the right technology in order to make this festive
shopping period a success.”
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