Yesterday my colleague John Wood pointed out challenges Google Android faces versus the iPhone while also noting that Android has a lot going for it, mass distribution and low price among them. With so much attention focused on the iPhone as a consumer friendly device and the darling of marketers, it’s easy to forget that the ultimate goal of any mobile marketing activity is to drive sales.
To what extent might Android be a better m-commerce platform than the iPhone? I’m not entirely sure, but this November 10, 2009 article on Forbes.com titled, “All Eyes On Mobile Commerce” highlighted a key difference between the iPhone and other platforms that marketers need to consider if mobile commerce is in their sights.
“Apple’s iPhone users create an iTunes account upon iPhone registration, if they did not already have one, where credit card information is stored for future one-click purchasing. This enables over 50 million iPhone and iPod owners to purchase media or games on a mobile device, inputting their password to access their iTunes account.”
“T-Mobile, which will launch four Google Android handsets by the holiday season, has been working with Google to integrate the Android Market into its billing system by Thanksgiving. Historically, which may or may not still be relevant, bill-to-carrier models have been less attractive to the mobile merchant due to delays in payments and the high cost. Given the billing cycle of the operator, payments can be extended 45 days to a couple months.”
Getting paid fast is important in any transaction and so for the foreseeable future Apple’s model seems to represent an easier path toward booking revenue – for Apple at least. You can be certain Apple is considering broadening the iTunes model to include other products given the ready-base of buyers able to transact rather simply. Apple could become an Amazon.com like player quickly if it wanted to, slowing mobile commece on other platforms.
It’s doubtful that mobile will serve as a standalone handheld shopping cart for purchases of all kinds any time soon, given shopping behavioral differences between impulse and considered purchases. Yet, as the article points out, all well known online stores, from Amazon to Wal-Mart, are heading in this direction, and technology vendors like IBM are gearing up their e-commece platforms for the mobile channel.
