Google Inbox = Lower Promotional Email Conversion

Google recently beta launched an offering called Inbox available via desktop, iOS and Android. Inbox is Google's attempt to re-engineer email. As email continues to drain hours of each day, I generally feel Inbox is a step in the right direction for those of us who seek prioritization in our inboxes. The general premise of Inbox is to provide a river of emails bundled by category (as shown in the pic below). Many retailers rely on email as the #1 driver of site traffic and purchases. With Google isolating and bundling all promotional emails into the promo tab, it's safe to say that email conversion will continue to decline. Bundled promotional emails are relegated to a spam like folder and with one touch can be eliminated. 

Google Inbox bundled categories

Google Inbox bundled categories

Apple Pay First Impressions

Setup - Simple

Comments: Was forced to add a card because the current card within my Apple iTunes account isn't supported by Apple Pay. 

Brick & Mortar Use - Simple

Comments: Phone lights up when in close proximity highlighting the card choice. Once ready, placing your finger on the fingerprint sensor leads to a completed transaction in less than 2 seconds. User is alerted of the successful transaction with a push notification. With that said, no simpler than swiping a credit card and whilst Apple launched with some of the US' largest retailers, many are missing.

App Use - Simple

Comments: User places finger on fingerprint sensor which auto populates the shipping address, billing information and proceeds to checkout. User is alerted of successful transaction with a push notification. The benefits of app usage are much higher than brick & mortar. Setting up new user profiles and/or credit cards via mobile shopping is the major reason why so many users never checkout. It is painful. Apple makes the process simple and will inevitably improve the conversion rates for the apps utilizing Apple Pay. 

Browser Use - Not yet available

Comments: One could argue that Apple is holding off on a launch for mobile browsers to incent developers for iOS only development but one should expect a version for mobile Safari at minimum. 

Bottom line: This launch has been the most ambitious to date, yet Apple pulled it off. Simple, seamless and an extensive launch list for both Brick & Mortar and Apps. The benefits within Apps greatly outweigh Brick & Mortar but Apple seems to be the catalyst to get the mobile payment game started. 

Apple Pay Launch Partners - Apps

In an earlier post, I outlined the brick & mortar retailers that will accept Apple Pay beginning on October 20. The list is far smaller and completely different for apps: 

airbnb, Apple, Cherish, Disney Store, Fancy, Groupon, Hotel Tonight, Houzz, Instacart, lyft, MLB.com, OpenTable, Panera, Spring, Staples, Target, Tickets.com, Uber.

Interestingly, the only retailer that will accept in-store and through app is Apple. 

Apple Pay Launch Partners - Brick & Mortar

Today's Apple news brought the expected hardware announcements but more importantly outlined the Apple Pay launch partners for October 20:

Aeropostale, Apple, Babies R Us, BJ's, Bloomingdales, Champs, Chevron, Duane Reade, Extra Mile, Foot Locker, FootAction, House of Hoops, Macys, McDonalds, Nice, Office Depot, Panera, Petco, RadioShack, Six:02, Sports Authority, Subway, Texaco, Toys R Us, Walgreens, Wegmans, Whole Foods.

An impressive and extensive list. I would assume that select locations for each retailer will launch October 20 with remaining locations soon to follow. Barring any major setbacks this is undoubtedly the most concerted, wide ranging effort for mobile payments yet. 

Beacons Go Well Beyond Coupons

That’s too bad, because while it is easy to think only of coupons, advertising and data collection when we think of beacons, the reality is that these little transmitters could also make the world around us richer, more useful and more interactive.
They could enrich museum experiences, deliver the right recipe in the grocery store aisle, take us on interactive tours of cities and towns, let us quickly and easily check in to hotels or even pay at the gas pump. And used properly, sure, they could also deliver the right coupon at the right time.

We are in the early stages of beacons but on demand self service experiences are already underway. Cover allows customers to pay restaurant bills without waiting for the bill from the server. NFL stadiums are using beacons for on demand food ordering. MLB stadiums are serving stats and news through beacons to complement your game experience. Retailers are providing recipes through apps like Epicurious. The number of use cases are endless and developers will continue to launch services well beyond coupons. 

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/16/technolo...

Alipay Eyes US Market

Alibaba will provide marketing support for these retailers to raise awareness of their brands in China, Alipay says, and an Alibaba-affiliated logistics company is expected to remove some hurdles that traditionally present themselves when shipping goods into China. Alipay will take a cut of sales in exchange for its services, though the company declined to provide details on how much.

Alibaba's pursuit of the US market continues. Alibaba has yet to formally announce the results of 11 Main but providing Western retailers the option to access Alibaba's Chinese network is invaluable. Payments are step 1 but fulfillment is a bit more difficult when shipping from the US. Companies like Borderfree specialize in cross country/border shipments but unavoidable processing and duties often lengthen the shipment times and overall cost.

Source: http://recode.net/2014/10/15/alipay-to-u-s...

Way Too Many Clouds

The number of cloud services I use has become endless. Prior to outlining a consolidation goal, I thought it would be worthwhile to outline each service:

  1. Personal photo store and sharing: Dropbox (Carousel) - Huge fan of the UI and simplicity. Downside is limited storage...unless you want to pay.
  2. Work files: Box - Much more accepted in corporate environment and have grown up with Box as free service for over 50 GB. 
  3. Work file sharing: Quip and Slack - Love both too much to figure out which to keep.
  4. Personal files: Google Drive - Use Google Docs on personal laptops and/or Chromebook, no Microsoft apps.
  5. Contacts: Google - For fear of leaving iOS, not wanting to export or Office contacts vanishing with job change.
  6. Music: Amazon Cloud - Lots of storage with a few MP3 purchases and the ability to import AAC, MP3, etc. 
  7. Books: Amazon Kindle - Simply for portability on various operating systems and devices.
  8. Notes/Reminders: iOS Notes - Left Evernote after the debacle a year or so ago. I should probably go back.
  9. Exercise: Nike Running - Only because it has my history. 
  10. Social Messaging: iMessages - Leaves out texts and can't be access on 2 of my machines, need to transition to Facebook Messenger for full continuity.

10 is just too many. Ambitiously trying for 7 by year end. Any ideas?