Mobiquity

For every life-changing technological advance, there are many failed attempts to fix problems that may exist, but result in only taking up space. When Square arrives in 7,000 Starbucks this fall, it will be a measure of how well mPayments change consumer behavior. Currently, it is unclear if people waving a smartphone over a device similar to the one on which they swipe their credit card is change enough to motivate consumers to adopt mPayments. To Mobiquity Vice President of Mobile Insight Gene Signorini, it is not so much about the technology itself that changes how consumers shop, but altering the retail experience. “Credit, debit and cash all work pretty good in the United States. Those payment options aren’t really broken,” Signorini says. The draw for retailers to adopt mPayments is clear. It allows them to track individual’s purchases in detail. The question is will earning that free cup of coffee for every 10 you buy or saving a couple minutes in line be enough to motivate customers to adopt mPayments. We will have a far better idea of this by early 2013.