Peek into the future of mobile shopping

From...

by Jen Davis

(IDG) -- Put wireless technology and e-tail together and you get mobile commerce. Someday soon, say m-commerce advocates, you'll be able to shop online with your cell phone (or other mobile device) just as you can now with your PC.

Sounds cool, but will it catch on? According to market research firm Strategis Group, two-thirds of Americans who use wireless devices have no interest in shopping with them. Still, IDC says m-commerce will pull in $21 billion by 2004. How do you go from indifference to $21 billion in four years? By making m-commerce simple.

In Finland, for example, you can buy a soda via cell phone. Just walk up to a soft-drink vending machine and dial a special code on your phone; out pops your pop, and the cost is automatically deducted from your bank account. In Frankfurt, Germany, you can find a parking space by dialing a number on your phone. The device displays the location of the nearest empty spot, and the cost of the meter shows up on your next phone bill.

MORE COMPUTING INTELLIGENCE

IDG.net home page

The Standard.com

TechInformer: The Thinking Internaut's Guide to the Tech Industry

Haggling moves online

Holiday shopping while you work

Reviews & in-depth info at IDG.net

E-BusinessWorld

Industry Standard email newsletters

Questions about computers? Let IDG.net's editors help you

Industry Standard daily Media Grok

Search IDG.net in 12 languages

News Radio

Fusion audio primers

Computerworld Minute

U.S. companies are working on some novel m-commerce schemes of their own. Take, for example, AirClic Connect -- a joint venture between Motorola, Symbol (the original developer of the bar-code scanners that speed checkout at grocery stores), AirClic and Ericsson affiliate Connect Things. The key to their scheme: mobile phones equipped with thumbnail-sized scanners. The scanners read printed "Web codes" (think bar codes, only smaller). In a variation on the old razor scheme -- sell the handles cheap, make your money on the blades -- AirClic plans to subsidize the phones, then take its cut on transactions.

The AirClic system has several potential applications. Users could scan Web codes on prescription bottles to get detailed dosage information. Kids could scan Web codes in their textbooks and connect to homework help sites.

But shopping is the real killer app: Vendors could embed Web codes in print advertisements. Buyers who liked what they saw in an ad could place an order simply by scanning the ad with their AirClic phone. Here's a look at how this new form of shopping -- and, by extension, other new m-commerce tools -- might work.

APEC leaders worry e-commerce will leave some behind
November 15, 2000
Dot-com shakeout could have positive effects on survivors
November 13, 2000
Global e-commerce initiatives to advance transactions
October 23, 2000
Online retailers hope to deliver what they promise for holiday season
October 11, 2000
EU strengthens consumers' rights in e-commerce
September 25, 2000

Holiday shopping while you work
(NW Fusion)
Haggling moves online
(InfoWorld)
German court bans online 'power shopping'
(IDG.net)
Catalog distribution may signal e-tailers are getting with the program
(InfoWorld)
Can you avoid being a victim of the dot-com fallout?
(InfoWorld)
Remembering retail
(The Industry Standard)
'Tis the season to build loyalty online
(Computerworld)

AirClic Connect

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.