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Mobile Pushes the Envelope in Merchant Delivery Services With consumers discovering the power from within their smartphones, mobile-powered delivery services have widened dramatically, satisfying the crowd’s increasing appetite for instant gratification. By Phil Talbot - go to guy mobile ordering saavi As mobile devices have become a daily companion (i.e., from classrooms to offices to homes), getting one’s hunger addressed for a Burger King or for an item at Walmart’s is now but a matter of tapping a mobile screen ad. Stephen Burke, VP of Mobile at Resource (Columbus, OH), confides mobile “plays a natural role”. He sees that the impulse to have a same-day delivery is being best met by mobile. Burke added that though this trend is being “fueled by Amazon” and other major retailers, this is indicative of an emerging consumer behavior: ‘I want it and I can get it now’. Merchants to the Quick The list is growing; merchants rush to the scene to answer a consumer hunger that is growing by the day – by leaps and bounds. For instance, Berger King has fine tuned its BK Delivery program, allowing its clientele to order right from their smartphones for a home delivery. And it’s not only big-named online industry giants (e.g.,Google, eBay) who have sought to leverage mobile towards home-delivery or foster same-day delivery services, quick-service restaurants are also taking a hint. For its part, BK Delivery has made its presence felt all over the country, operating in Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Miami and New York. Lately, it has added Sacramento and Las Vegas to its list. Accessed also via web through its BKDelivers.com site, BK Delivery service initially did not offer home delivery. However, seeing the trend and a big opportunity, it expanded to home-delivery, just recently. Ken Morris, a Boston Retail Partners principal, affirmed this growing trend saying “It is only a matter of time” and other retail segments catch on. Widening the Marketing Horizon Mobile drives the need for home delivery even deeper. Experts see smartphones as an enabling technology, making it easier for an enterprise to deliver better services. Ebay Now – powered by a distinctly iOS app – has made possible for various customers from Manhattan to San Francisco to San Jose to get to their fave retailers (e.g., Target, Walgreen, Best Buy, Macy’s) and avail of same-day delivery for a token charge of $5. Not to be left behind, Google has opened its online Shopping Express, allowing same-day delivery by March of this year. Walmart has also taken its cue and offered its own version of a same-day delivery service. In a way, Amazon.com can be considered a pioneer since it has offered same-day delivery in its service portfolio since 2009. Amazingly, with all the orders being placed and all the technology enabled, what is appearing as a major issue on the horizon is logistics: delivering all those goods on time same-day. About Author Phil Talbot is founder of Saavi.com.au the Mobile Ordering specialists and the resident expert in mobile ordering systems.
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