MoMo Detroit – July 11th – Mobile Commerce / Mobile Banking

Forrester Research indicates that mobile commerce is expected to reach $10 billion by the end of 2012, and will experience annual compound growth at the rate of 39% over the next 5 years. Recent studies are filled with statistics that indicate significant growth in all areas of mobile commerce, such as:

• 41% of smartphone owners have made a purchase from their mobile phone (Chadwick Martin Bailey)
• 74 million consumers in the U.S. shop from their mobile devices (InMobi)
• 13.1 million consumers access retail content via mobile phones with 8.2 million of them visiting mobile commerce websites (ComScore)
• Again from Forrester, in the past six months, mCommerce has grown by 25%, faster than any other mobile channel
• 10% of banking customers use mobile to check balances or transfer funds
• Over 2 billion tickets were sold via mobile in the past year
• Juniper Research analysts predict that mobile ticketing will reach 15 billion tickets delivered by 2014.

However, while the anticipated growth rate is substantial, the channel is not without its challenges, for example:

• Retailers are still slow to embrace the technology as they deal with issues such as determination of ROI and identifying which devices to utilize
• Statistics indicate that only 29% of retailers have a mobile strategy
• Concerns about mobile security are still a big issue with consumers; a majority indicate they would use it if they could be certain their mobile number would be kept private

To bring SE Michigan into the conversation about mobile commerce, Mobile Monday Detroit is focusing its’ July 11th meeting on the topic of ‘Mobile Commerce / Mobile Banking’. Speakers for the event include: Thomas Emmanual Beals, President / Founder of MBO, Bryan Yohe, Data Sales Account Manager at Verizon Wireless and Jeff Alderman, Director of Online Marketing for North American Bancard.

Beals has over 20 years in the technology industry, with the last 9 years specifically focused on mobile. His firm, MBO, delivered the first barcoded ticket to a mobile device in 2006, and has since been featured in publications and news outlets worldwide including: ABC News, Business 2.0, Maxim Magazine and ZINK. Presently, he is focused on implementing mobile strategies that encompass SMS, barcoded tickets and coupons, mobile apps and Bluetooth kiosks. MBO’s growing list of clients includes: the Detroit Red Wings, Lucky Brand Jeans, Goodwill, Motown Recording Artist KEM, Fox Theatre, Sesame Street Live, and a variety of radio stations and non-profit organizations.

Beals presentation will focus on the evolution of mobile commerce thru the lenses of consumer behavior, infrastructure, device capabilities and services, as well as the opportunity that exists at the point at which those four critical components intersect and the best way to harness that opportunity.

Yohe’s position at Verizon Wireless entails assisting business customers in finding the right mobile applications and customized wireless solutions to help them meet various bottom-line objectives, such as increasing productivity and revenue, improving compliance and reducing costs. He is an 11 year veteran of Verizon.

Yohe’s presentation will provide a high-level view of the capabilities of M-commerce when machines are speaking to each other over a 4G LTE network, and will answer questions about the technology and the impact those capabilities will have on businesses, consumers and the wireless industry.

Alderman joined North American Bancard in 2009. He is responsible for all marketing aspects of the company including subsidiaries such as: Pay Anywhere, CDI Technology, and Capital for Merchants. Prior to joining NAB, Alderman spent eight years as Director of Online Marketing & Business Development for American Blinds, Wallpaper & More. In that role he built the ecommerce division, implemented major online marketing campaigns, and was directly responsible for the company’s market expansion. Through his efforts he propelled American Blinds into a top internet retailer and category leader.

Alderman’s presentation will focus on the shift toward ‘going mobile’ that is occurring in our everyday and business lives, where he indicates the payments industry is no exception to that shift, and that the latest industry news is focused on mobile payments and exploring what it means to the industry. He explains, “Nearly 75 million people in the U.S. own a smartphone (comScore) and in 2010, Americans charged $3.7 trillion to credit and debit cards (Nielson). Forrester reports that 50% of that commerce is going to be affected by the mobile phone as evidenced by the prevalence of mobile payment options in the App Store or Android Market.” To provide some perspective on what those numbers mean, Alderman will discuss:

• The adoption of mobile payments by the payment industry
• How payment processors, merchants, and customers are adjusting to mobile payments
• How the industry intends to deal with the ever-blurring line between traditional and mobile payments

July’s Mobile Monday Detroit event takes place at Compuware headquarters in Detroit on July 11th at 5:30. p.m. The meeting is free to attend, but registration is required at http://meetup.com/Mobile-Monday-Detroit . Parking validation is available for those who park in the Compuware deck directly behind the building.