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The mobile shift is now for companies, software developers

We're long past the point where companies and software developers are in the middle of a shift to a mobile-only mindset. We’re already there and any company not thinking the same way at the moment is in danger of losing their customers to others who already possess the mobile mentality.

Photo courtesy of Button.

October 9, 2015 by Will Hernandez — Editor, NetWorld Media Group

We're long past the point where companies and software developers are in the middle of a shift to a mobile-only mindset. We’re already there and any company not thinking the same way at the moment is in danger of losing their customers to others who already possess the mobile mentality. 

That was one of several messages delivered by executives from various companies enabling mobile commerce at last week's TAP conference in New York City. Button, which dubs itself as a company that provides a contextual commerce platform connecting the mobile app economy, hosted the one-day gathering in the heart of Manhattan. 

I sat in on the conference's morning sessions and gleaned some interesting observations from panel participants. 

It was Kelly Graziadei, the director of global marketing solutions of Facebook, who really set the tone on what companies should be thinking about with mobile. 

She related to the audience a quick story about a Facebook company meeting led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg that changed the social network's focus to mobile.

"We had a moment at Facebook that we didn't move fast enough to embrace mobile, and that we decided we were going to become mobile first," Graziadei said about the meeting. 

From then on, she said, Facebook has focused on how to make the mobile experience better for consumers while giving marketers the tools to better reach their customers on smartphones. 

"The change in consumer behavior is something to think about with mobile," Graziadei said. "[Consumers are] looking to discover. Brands know things about them and consumers expect brands to use that info to make things more entertaining."

And that eventually is supposed to lead to a purchase. 

"We want to give consumers the flexibility to discover on mobile but be able to purchase anywhere, whether it's the phone or in-store," Graziadei said.

Her comment about in-app purchases came just a couple of days after Twitter made some e-commerce news of its own. 

The social media network officially rolled out its 'Buy Now' button feature to enable consumers to purchase products, digital goods and services within Twitter. Bigcommerce, Demandware, and Shopify are among the e-commerce sites that will integrate the 'Buy Now' button into their platforms. Adidas, Best Buy, and PacSun announced that they will use the feature to promote their products, also.

Twitter tested the feature at various times over the past 18 months. 

Christina Cordova, who leads the business development team at Stripe, told audience members how 'Buy Now' buttons, whether of the Twitter variety or in third-party mobile wallets, can improve the overall app experience for consumers and how to best implement them. 

"What works wells for Pinterest will not work well for Twitter," she said. "Keeping it native to the experience should be a priority. People are building [apps] for the user experience that consumers want.

"For us, it's also about the payment. What in terms of payments works in mobile. People are exploring Apple Pay and Android Pay and other experiences that keep credentials stored."

Executives also touched upon some other topics related to the current mobile app economy:

• Serge Kassardjian, global head of Android media apps business development at Google: "You're going to see a big company that’s going to change the way beacons are working and change the way you interact [with brands]."
• Steven Rosenblatt, chief revenue officer at Foursquare: "For us, it's about creating contextual experiences. What's important to you as an individual depending on where you're at? It’s about taking this massive amount of data and helping marketers understand that."
• Jack Groetzinger, co-founder of SeatGeek: "Adding Apple Pay was good for us. It's really the first time buying something on the Internet was easy. When we added Apple Pay, we saw a 220 percent increase in conversion rates. You're going to see that more and more as it becomes easier to buy on phones."

About Will Hernandez

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Will Hernandez has 14 years of experience ranging from newspapers to wire services and trade publications. Before becoming Editor of MobilePaymentsToday.com, he spent two years as the content manager for PaymentsJournal.com, a leading payments industry news aggregator and information hub published by Mercator Advisory Group. Will spent four years covering the payments industry as an associate editor for multiple publications in SourceMedia's Payments Group based in Chicago.

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