Stores Magazine - October 2007 - (Page 8) CONSIDER THIS / EXECUTIVE EDITOR’S PAGE StORES® The Fourth Channel BY SUSAN REDA STORES Magazine 325 7th St. NW, Suite 1100 Washington, D.C. 20004 202/626-8101 ull disclosure before I begin: I don’t own a BlackBerry, a Treo or an iPhone. Every now and then I still fat-finger the buttons on my cell phone, and text messaging is purely a novelty for me. That’s why it will come as a surprise to anyone close to me that I am an advocate of mobile commerce (otherwise known as m-commerce). After meeting with several retailers and vendors active in this space last month at the Shop.org Annual Summit, I’m convinced shopping from a hand-held, Internet-enabled device has the potential to be the retail industry’s fourth channel. They talked about putting the power of shopping right in the palm of the consumer’s hand, and I think they’re on to something. U.S. consumers spent $5 billion on mobile media content in the second quarter of this year. Research complied by Telephia, a San Francisco-based provider of syndicated consumer research to the telecom and mobile media markets (recently acquired by the Nielsen Co.), shows that 40 percent of that total was spent on text messaging and downloads and the purchase of tangible items on the mobile Internet. I asked an executive at Telephia when the time will be right for multi-channel retailers to get into the m-commerce game. His response: “Three quarters ago.” Truth be told, it may still be a little early for some; the demographic sweet spot appears to be under 30 and skewed toward men. Still, a boat load of retailers cater to shoppers in this segment: If they’re not on board with m-commerce — or at least preparing to make a move — they’re going to have a lot of ground to make up. I didn’t think m-commerce was for me — at first. In fact, I gave a few hip 30-something retail executives a chuckle when I told them how long it took me to figure out how to connect to the Internet on my phone. I also didn’t realize that there was more to shopping from a hand-held device than just keying in a website address as I would on my laptop. With just a brief tutorial, however, I got up to speed. Here’s what makes me think this is a space worthy of retailers’ attention. Tickets Now, Buy.com, Moosejaw Mountaineering, FTD, Best Buy and Godiva are already doing business via hand-held devices. Rumor has it that the nation’s largest bookseller will be the next to sign on. These brands validate the space. I don’t expect m-commerce to overtake other retail channels anytime soon. But it has already captured the attention of a very influential demographic — and proven simple enough for a tech neophyte like me to figure out how to buy chocolate for a friend. Heck, I may need a BlackBerry after all. F RICK GALLAGHER Publisher Vice President 202/626-8103 FAX: 866/640-8136 E-mail: publisher@nrf.com SUSAN PATTERSON Assistant Publisher 202/626-8102 FAX: 202/661-3042 E-mail: pattersons@nrf.com EDITORIAL SUSAN REDA Executive Editor 516/437-1245 FAX: 866/640-8138 E-mail: editor@nrf.com HARRY LISTER Managing Editor 202/626-8199 FAX: 866/640-8137 E-mail: listerh@nrf.com MARY ALICE ELMER Senior Copy Editor 202/661-3047 FAX: 866/640-8134 E-mail: elmerm@nrf.com LUCY D. REDDAWAY Creative Director ADVERTISING & MARKETING MIKE GRIBBIN Advertising Director 410/893-8003 Mike Gribbin Therese Draddy Tim O’Connell Molly Deise Terry Baker Dan McClure Executive Publishing Inc. 900A Main St., Suite 103 Bel Air, MD 21014 410/893-8003 FAX: 410/893-8004 E-mail: advertising@stores.org CIRCULATION ELENA CAIOLA Senior Director, Circulation and Information Management 202/626-8146 FAX: 866/640-8139 E-mail: circulation@nrf.com DORIS MASON Circulation Assistant 202/626-8172 FAX: 866/640-8140 editor@nrf.com At STORES, we appreciate hearing our readers’ thoughts and comments. Please address your correspondence to editor@nrf.com, or contact me at (516) 437-1245. 8 STORES / OCTOBER 2007 For high-quality article reprints (minimum of 100), including e-prints, please contact Reprint Management Services at 717-666-3052. WWW.STORES.ORG http://Shop.org http://WWW.STORES.ORG
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