Shop Till Your Cell Phone Drops
Mobile payment is the Holy Grail for retailers, breaking down the final barrier to those impulse purchases. The internet has given us the ability to buy anytime; mobile buying would allow us to buy anywhere.
For a culture known for its free-spending habits, Americans have seriously lagged Europe and Asia when it comes to shopping by cell phone.
But Amazon.com's TextBuyIt, a mobile payment service that was introduced today, may start to change all that.
"This is a big step, and now a lot of other people are going to be taking a close look at getting into the mobile payment market," says Michael Gartenberg, vice president and research director at Jupiter Research.
Companies like PayPal, Obopay, Gomobo have all experimented with various ways of letting consumers buy via text messages, but there's no big player yet in mobile payments in the U.S. market.
What Amazon has that others do not is a huge customer database, product inventory, and a trustworthy name that Gartenberg thinks may be enough to kick-start consumer interest, paving the way for other services.
Still the mobile purchase market remains tiny, so Edward Weller, a senior analyst with ThinkEquity Partners, doesn't expect the service to be a big driver of Amazon's U.S. revenue anytime soon.
TextBuyIt is functionally similar to products already out there. After registering your information online with Amazon Payments, it allows you to text an ISBN, UPC, or product name to Amazon, and in a matter of minutes complete a purchase.
Jeetil Patel, a senior analyst with Deutsche Bank Securities, notes that in addition to allowing consumers to buy books at the touch of a button, TextBuyIt also gives Amazon a mobile platform for delivering digital content like ringtones, songs, and video.
"This now addresses smaller pieces of digital content, and allows for more of a digital products sell in," Patel says.
And don't forget Amazon's potential in the more mobile-centric markets like Japan and Germany.
Amazon's international sales are more than $2 billion, up 46 percent last quarter alone. With the dollar weak, what better time than now to focus on all things foreign.
Liz Gunnison
Loading...
Thank you for registering as a Portfolio.com Insider. Your comment has been added.
Create Your Public Profile- ACBJ to relaunch Portfolio.com
- May 20 2009 1:44PM EDT
- 44, Day 97: On Golf, Swine Flu, and a "Hallmark Holiday"
- Apr 26 2009 5:39PM EDT
- 44, Day 96: Where's the Suggestion Box?
- Apr 25 2009 2:10PM EDT
- 44, Day 95: Let Them Have Student Loans
- Apr 24 2009 6:49PM EDT
- Stressing Out Over Stress Tests
- Apr 24 2009 2:14PM EDT
- King of the Private Equity Hill
- Apr 24 2009 8:23AM EDT
- 44, Day 94: What's in Obama's Wallet?
- Apr 23 2009 6:39PM EDT
- Madoff Clawback Campaign Targets Ex-Clients
- Apr 23 2009 3:00PM EDT
- Merrill, Muzzle, and the Mob
- Apr 23 2009 1:45PM EDT
- 44, Day 93: Earthly Concerns
- Apr 22 2009 7:14PM EDT
- Stanford Prosecutor Arrested for Assault
- Apr 22 2009 5:47PM EDT
- IMF Downgrades the Global Economy
- Apr 22 2009 2:00PM EDT
- Ackman Opens His Target Slate to Questions
- Apr 22 2009 11:51AM EDT
- Freddie Mac Acting CFO Found Dead
- Apr 22 2009 8:42AM EDT
- 44, Day 92: About Those Interrogations
- Apr 21 2009 5:53PM EDT






