The Ideas Blog
Forrester: E-Commerce To Reach Nearly $300 Billion in U.S. by 2015
http://mashable.com/2011/02/28/forrester-e-commerce/
After a healthy 12.6% increase to $176.2 billion in 2010, U.S. online retail sales are expected to reach $278.9 billion in 2015.
Online shopping will continue to cannibalize in-store shopping as consumers become more familiar and begin, in many cases, to prefer the convenience of online shopping, Forrester says.
Increased Internet connectivity via devices like smartphones, tablets and game consoles will also drive growth, as well as new e-commerce models like flash sales (i.e. Gilt Groupe, Neiman Marcus Mid-Day Dash), daily deals (Groupon, LivingSocial) and digital downloads of media (Netflix, iTunes), all of which have enjoyed rapid adoption in recent years.
E-commerce growth in 2010 was driven primarily by existing online shoppers who increased their online spending in traditional categories like books and media, and also began to purchase in less popular categories like furniture and home appliances. Thirty percent of growth was attributed to the 5.5 million consumers who shopped online for the first time in 2010.
E-commerce now makes up 8% of total retail sales, says Forrester — 11% if grocery sales are excluded from the equation.
In Europe, online sales grew by 18% in 2010 compared to 2009, and they are expected to grow 13% in 2011, Forrester stated in a separate report. The number of online buyers in Europe is expected to grow from 157 million to 205 million by 2015; total sales are forecast to reach 133.6 billion euros.
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Try it.
Want to learn more about the spectacle of the Chinese Mobile scene?
This is a great opportunity to learn about the China Mobile scene as major industry players will be attending along with discussion topics around the changing state of mobile and apps. Discussion will involve smartphones, mobile advertising, investment opportunities, carriers, devices and new wave of innovations.
Event starts promptly at 8.30 AM, Guangzhou. FabriQate will be presenting at 15.30.
Please feel free to send in questions and comments directly via our twitter @FabriQate and we will try to address those topics in the Q&A; as well.
See English translation of the event website here:
Latest App Stats: Apps Continue to Overtake Mobile Web (Study)
We have always thought that Apps with the ability to utilise native functions of the mobile phones, would eventually outpower the mobile websites. RWW has recently put out a very interesting post (below) that shows some very useful statistics as well.
At last week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the GSM Association (GSMA) partnered with mobile analytics firm Zokem to publish highlights from Zokem’s recent smartphone research study. Its report found that mobile applications are overtaking mobile Web browser usage in terms of monthly use. In addition, apps are now second only to messaging in usage activity, beating both voice and Web for the #2 spot.
Zokem’s January 2011 study looked at over 2,200 smartphone users in both the U.S. and the U.K. Although apps are growing in popularity, they haven’t yet become the top usage category on smartphones – messaging is still #1. Messaging, which includes text, multimedia, email, and instant messaging, accounts for 671 minutes of usage per month (active on-screen time).
Meanwhile, apps (maps, gaming, entertainment, productivity, social networking, etc.) are a very close second at 667 minutes of usage per month.
Voice (531 minutes) and Web browsing (422 minutes) are much further behind.
Although, in total, apps are overtaking the Web in terms of usage, there are certain categories where the mobile Web is still used heavily. News, search and commerce categories receive more usage from mobile Web browsers, with 86%, 85% and 66% of mobile Web browser users using them monthly, respectively, says Zokem.
In comparison, only 22% of Web browser users use Web-based email and only 18% use Web-based games. Instead, native apps for email are used by 76% of smartphone users and native apps for gaming are used by 45%.
In general, multimedia and other entertainment is most popular within native applications, with the one exception being adult entertainment. This category sees 15% of Web browser users accessing such sites per month. That finding is likely related to the restrictions on adult apps per Apple’s iTunes guidelines, which does not permit adult content.
Why are Apps Winning?
Zokem’s CEO Hannu Verkasalo shares some thoughts about why apps are dominating this space over on GSM’s Mobile Apps Briefing website. “According to Zokem’s research, one of the most fundamental aspects is perceived usability and overall user experience,” he says, in describing the success of apps.
“Mobile web browsers are no doubt evolving, with the most recent smartphones supporting HTML 5, Flash and other powerful web technologies – which is a good thing. However, there are still elements – like the small screen, rendering power of smartphones, limitations of web-site based application logic, offline use etc. – which make web browser based applications in most cases unsuitable, or user interfaces sub-optimal for mobile screens. It is easier technically to guarantee how an app looks, how it works, and how it delivers value to the user compared to web apps,” he concluded.
Verkasalo said other factors that have contributed to apps’ success over Web include the ease of monetization within app stores and the growth of the mobile app ecosystem.
We Googled it, but couldnt find the “Number 4″ website!
So you all have probably seen this new science-fiction movie heavily advertising on TV called “I am number 4″.
In the UK as their TV advertisement draws to a close, there is a strapline that says “Google for Number 4” at the bottom of the trailer.
So we did.
But we couldn’t find their website, nor did any relevant marketing microsite show up in the first 5 results (or the page).
There was a PPC box at the box clearly trying to pull us in – but come on, we thought the whole page would have been full of interesting related links. Clearly they didn’t think that in the UK, the search results would be significantly different than in the US. That is why you localise marketing campaigns and not run it from the headoffice!
This is interesting to us, because we work with a lot of movies on digital campaigns, and these are some of the obvious SEO mistakes that movie websites make (the website, which we eventually found buried on a later page, is built Flash with no effort to set the metatags / metadescriptions correctly).
We love it when tech companies have a bit of fun.. (hint: @Dropbox)!
So one of our favourite tech companies out there (and our pick for Top 10 hottest apps) is Dropbox.
So recently, one of our new staff members who was syncing his dropbox over a rather slow connection – noticed that the estimated time left was getting longer and longer.
51 minutes… 3 hours… 9 hours.. . 28 hours… 8 days.. and then finally.. it just said: “This might take a while. Grab a Snickers”!
gotta love the humour that sneaks in. And we hope more tech companies can find creative outlets like this. Have you seen any others? send in your thoughts.
(Interestingly, they can sell that space to a company like @Snickers or @Cadburys and earn some free money. They should contact us about these marketing monetizations.. !!!)
Facebook updates Brand Pages: 5 steps to make the most of the new setup
The first thing you’ll notice is that Face book Pages are once again made to look like Face book Pro files. You have lit tle dif fer en ti a tion any more between the pub licly view able, often more com mer cial page, and an indi vid ual’s private pro file. This lack of dis tinc tion from an inter face stand point can be con fus ing to con sumers.
Below is a break down of the changes in the order that Face book presents them in their new Page tour.
1. Photos: Take ‘Em, But You Can’t Leave ‘Em
When the pho tos across the top of Face book pro files first appeared, peo ple were in a panic. Now any one could tag you in a pho to graph, and it would auto mat i cal ly show up at the top of your page. You can, how ev er, “X” them out, if and when you notice them. You can also remove your name from pho tos when tagged by oth ers. On Pages, fans can not tag or post an image and have it show up at the top. They appear based on images you post to your own Page wall as well as images where you tag your Page.
Be strate gic: If pho tographs are part of what you do, this is a nice showcase. If images aren’t as rel e vant to what you’re con vey ing, this can begin to look ran dom and dis tract ing. Upload sev er al key images to your Page’s photo area and remem ber to keep it pruned in order to present a cohe sive and clear visu al mes sage.
2. Navigation: Farewell Page Tabs, We Knew You Well
Not to sound the panic alarm, but tabs as we know them are gone. Face book tries to assure us that this is fine because it is “Just like on peo ple’s profiles,” but that brings us back to the ques tion “Why does a busi ness want their Page to look like a per son’s pro file?” The reduc tion in promi nence of the tools that helped com mu ni cate your com pa ny’s calls to action is a blow to the effec tive ness of Pages.
Be strate gic: One thing that the new nav i ga tion forces you to do is to exam ine what super flu ous tabs you used to hide next to your six vis i ble tabs. Now all some one has to do is click the “More” link below the first six “tabs” and see the entire list of links includ ing Dis cus sions, which most Pages hide or remove to avoid divert ing com ments from the Wall to yet anoth er area that requires com mu ni ty man age ment.
3. Wall Filters: And The Top Posts Are…
Face book is pro vid ing two Wall fil ters: Show ing posts by your page and top posts from every one. This osten si bly gives peo ple a way to see the most “inter est ing” sto ries first. Unfor tu nate ly, this doesn’t mean they see the stories that are most impor tant or rel e vant to the mes sages you hope to commu ni cate to the pub lic. If you’re the only one post ing updates, this becomes moot. But imag ine what will hap pen to the view for Pages where the fans post very fre quent ly.
Be strate gic: For best engage ment, you will want to show “Every one” as the default set ting. For more con trol — which isn’t always advis able if you are look ing to pro vide peo ple with com pelling, inter ac tive con tent — set the default view to just your Page posts.
4. Admin View: Sign-In as a Page on Face book
You, as the Page or the brand, can now inter act with other parts of Facebook. Before, you could only post to other parts of Face book as your self, the admin behind the Page. While you still can not post to peo ple’s per son al Face book pro file Walls as a Page, you can post to other Pages as a Page. This can be use ful, but also con fus ing and poten tial ly dis as trous.
You have to make sure that before you post to a Page that you are in the prop er set ting (human or brand). Also, for less scrupu lous brands, this is a new oppor tu ni ty for spam. You may need to be more dili gent about checking for posts from your com peti tors dis play ing their brand to your fans. You can view most recent and hid den posts while in Admin view
Be strate gic: A good use of Page-to-Page Wall post ings is when you have mul ti ple Pages for brands you own. Or when you want to do co-promotions with busi ness part ners who have Pages. If you man age Pages for mul ti ple part ners, you could also do some thought ful cross-posting, with your clients’ per mis sions, of course.
5. Set tings: Get ting in Con trol
One of best Page changes for brands is that you can now get e-mail noti fi cations when some one posts to your Page or com ments on your post. This has been a long time com ing and an invalu able fea ture for help ing you mon i tor your Page activ i ty. You can change your e-mail noti fi ca tion set tings for each Page.
In Set tings, you can also set the default to how you post –- as your self or your Page -– and spec i fy which fea tured pages will appear down the left side of your Page. To choose the pages you want to show up under Favorite Pages, go to “Edit Page” and choose “Featured.” This is sim i lar to choos ing your fea tured friends. You can also fea ture Page own ers or admins if you so choose. This is a big change from the pre vi ous ly hid den iden ti ties of admins.
Be strate gic: While there will be much debate about whether or not you should post as a brand or as a per son, the best prac tice is to post as yourself. One of the tenets of social media com mu ni ca tions is trans paren cy. Post ing behind the ban ner of your brand is fine on your Page, but mov ing into other spaces as a brand can be inva sive and unwel come.
You can get to your e-mail and post ing pref er ences by going to “Edit Page” and “Your Settings.” If you own mul ti ple Face book Pages, you can switch over indi vid u al ly or take the plunge and upgrade them all at once, but you’ll still have to go into each admin area to manip u late indi vid ual Page set tings.
From Mashable : How Brands Can Make the Most of Facebook’s New Pages
http://mashable.com/2011/02/11/new-facebook-pages-brands/
The biggest mobile companies in the world (2010 Full Year results)
Tomi Ahonen (blogger, author) has done a lot of work and pored through financial statements and has come up with the world’s largest companies in mobile, having removed and eliminated away other revenues. We start by appreciating his work.
| Rank | Country | Company | Mobile revenue | Type of business |
| 1 | Vodafone Mobile | UK | US$67Bn | mobile operator |
| 2 | Nokia Mobile | Finland | US$66Bn | handset manufacturer |
| 3 | China Mobile | China | US$65Bn | mobile operator |
| 4 | Verizon Wireless | USA | US$62Bn | mobile operator |
| 5 | Telefonica Movil | Spain | US$55Bn | mobile operator |
| 6 | T-Mobile | Germany | US$50Bn | mobile operator |
| 7 | AT&T; Wireless | USA | US$49Bn | mobile operator |
| 8 | Orange Mobile | France | US$47Bn | mobile operator |
| 9 | TIM | Italy | US$40Bn | mobile operator |
| 10 | Samsung Mobile | South Korea | US$38Bn | handset manufacturer |
| 11 | NTT DoCoMo | Japan | US$37Bn | mobile operator |
| 12 | Sprint Nextel | USA | US$36Bn | mobile operator |
| 13 | America Movil | Mexico | US$31Bn | mobile operator |
| 14 | KDDI Mobile | Japan | US$25Bn | mobile operator |
| 15 | LM Ericsson Mobile | Sweden | US$24Bn | network infrastructure |
| 16 | China Unicom | China | US$22Bn | mobile operator |
| 17 | Motorola Mobile | USA | US$21Bn | handset manufacturer |
| 18 | Huawei Mobile | China | US$19Bn | network infrastructure |
| 19 | Softbank Mobile | Japan | US$18Bn | mobile operator |
| 20 | Alcatel-Lucent Mobile | France | US$16Bn | network infrastructure |
| 21 | Apple iPhone | USA | US$13Bn | handset manufacturer |
| 22 | SK Telecom | South Korea | US$12Bn | mobile operator |
| 23 | RIM | Canada | US$11Bn | handset manufacturer |
| 24 | Telenor Mobile | Norway | US$11Bn | mobile operator |
| 25 | MTS | Russia | US$10Bn | mobile operator |
| Source: Tomi Ahonen | ||||
State of the Web – by Oatmeal
So Oatmeal has become one of our favourite comics about web stuff.. here is the Winter Edition. You can find out a lot more about this from Oatmeal
UPDATE! Tumblr used my artwork!
These magnificent beasts are now a permanent part of Tumblr!
What types of apps are the most popular?
And what do they say about your Personality?
What do people download the most?
According to the survey results, games (38%), social networking (35%) and music (29%) are downloaded the most, while social networking (31%), games (29%) and utilities (25%) are used the most often.
Analysis of data including app genre, variety and usage revealed personality categories linked to smartphone behavior that Pinch summarized into six archetypes called “Appitypes.”
How the research works
Our relationship with our phones continues to change and evolve. Recent research commissioned by Nokia suggests we are now a world of “app dependants” with 55% of smartphone users relying on apps to significantly benefit their lives. This figure suggests that apps are being used as important life tools – and as usage levels rise, so do our phones’ ability to learn more about us and become even more useful.
“With so many apps available, people can pick the ones most relevant to them,” Pinch said. “The intimacy we share with our phones stamps our personality onto them. They know our tastes, our needs and even our secrets. If you ever want to really know someone, take a look at their apps – you may be in for a surprise!”
The research shows that it is not about the number of apps people have, but about finding ones that are the most useful. More than 70% of users surveyed have up to 30 apps on their smartphones, with 20% saying that they delete all similar apps from their handset if they hear about a better one.
“Apps are becoming intrinsic to the way we live,” according to Pinch. “Our relationship with them has turned from occasional use into a real dependency. It is because of this that our personal app ‘collections’ represent our unique needs, personality and interests. We can learn much about a person’s behavior via a mix of their choice of apps, personality variables, use variables and competence variables.”
“What is really interesting about this data is that we are seeing app habits in new ways,” Pinch said. “Two-fifths (43%) of those questioned rely on their apps many times throughout the day – but in different contexts. The beauty of mobile devices is that they can be used with such versatility. For example, the business person can come home and hand their phone over to their kids to play games on.”
