By Chuck Martin
While mobile payments around the world may still be just getting off the ground in many cases, some seem anxious for them to get under way.
During a session during the first day of the two-day OMMA at SXSW conference, one speaker strongly suggested it was time for mobile payments to be moved along, as well as other in-store mobile shopping activity.
“Who doesn’t want to take out their phone and scan in stores?” asked Pamela Naumes, director of brand engagement at Wm. Bolthouse Farms on the panel What Do Marketers Want from Mobile?
Naumes also lamented that the status of in-store mobile payments is not going to change anytime soon.
“Unified payment systems are a real point of frustration,” she said.
Inferring that mobile is more of a pull than a push medium, Naumes also suggested that useful information should be served all the time that mobile consumers are looking for it.
This echoed similar comments from several speakers throughout the day. Many focused on using mobile for more personal interactions, ranging from social to commerce.
Much of the day’s discussion involving mobile was about how to better serve each customer individually.
The execution of mobile payments was viewed as one of those ways.
Chuck Martin is Editor of the mCommerce Daily at MediaPost and writes the daily MobileShopTalk column. He is the author of “Mobile Influence,” “The Third Screen,” and “The Smartphone Handbook.” He is CEO of Mobile Future Institute. Chuck Martin is a frequent Mobile Keynote Speaker and Mobile Marketing Speaker internationally. He also addresses Social Media in Mobile.
