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Mobile Commerce Slowly Taking Hold Among Retailers
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Cellphones can function as tools to help consumers shop smarter or more efficiently. In South Korea, for example, shoppers can place orders at fast-food restaurants using their cellphones and receive a call when the food is ready, Conroy said. In Japan, many cellphones are equipped with bar-code scanners for customers to check prices or even the quality and freshness of produce.
This year, CrossLink is launching a program with national retailers that it calls "text to buy." Consumers who register their personal information -- such as shipping and billing addresses and credit card numbers -- will be able to purchase products in certain commercials by sending a text message to a specified number. Beasley said the service will be tested in four locations and, if successful, will expand to 300 more.
"It turns any type of advertisement, any type of communication into a purchasing opportunity," he said. "It's kind of like impulse buying at its best."
Beasley said mobile technology is most easily applied to services that are instantaneous, such as a restaurant sending out a text message to drive lunch traffic or music and videos that can download in a few seconds.
Retailers are also considering equipping employees on the sales floor with specialized high-tech cellphones. At the convention this week, Motorola unveiled a phone with a built-in bar code scanner that would allow workers to check product prices and receive calls and text messages from the boss at the same time. Goodbye, loudspeaker pages.
Despite these technological advances, consumers remain protective of their phones. While they may be willing to share their e-mail addresses to make a purchase or join a mailing list, shoppers are much more hesitant to grant stores access to their cellphones.
"A mobile device is like, 'I'll lend you my tooth brush.' It's very personal," Balboni said. "Mobile devices are one of those last barriers."
