We Wish You A Mobile Christmas

The red cups are back at Starbucks which officially signals the start of the holiday season, right?

In all seriousness, with Thanksgiving around the corner, holiday shopping will be in full force if it hasn't already started for some of the eager beavers. With the increases in online shopping, industry experts agree that this will be the year for mobile. TechCrunch ran an interesting story on what this will mean including specific mention of trends in mobile and tablets. The basic gist is that retailers' investments in apps and integration of PayPal onto their sites will address the pending increases in online shopping.

But what I found most interesting was the integration of mobile into brick and mortar shopping. People are using their phones more and more to do comparative shopping at stores and find the best deals with apps like eBay's RedLaser which allows shoppers to scan a barcode and find products across multiple online and local stores including prices. Another app, ShopKick, is taking this even further by awarding loyalty points and discounts to consumers for going into participating merchants and performing actions like scanning bar codes or trying something on. The points can be redeemed for gift cards at the same participating merchants. So instead of killing traditional shopping, mobile is actually making it more rewarding. Brilliant!

http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/13/how-google-ebay-and-paypal-are-gearing-up-for-a-very-mobile-holiday-shopping-season/