M-commerce could become even more convenient with codes to scannable complete transactions.
Barcodes are already becoming widely popular among smartphone users, but now they are adding yet another benefit, and it is one that is working to the advantage of m-commerce, and that is mobile payments.
An increasing number of merchants are using scannable barcodes for enabling purchases.
They are being rapidly embraced by consumers who are always seeking a faster and easier way to shop. Many different technologies are being used for this purpose, ranging from the more “traditional” QR code, to near field communications (NFC) as it is slowly becoming available on some of the newest models of smartphones.
The Starbucks Card Mobile app provides one of the best examples of the tremendous potential that this technique has for enabling mobile payments. That app has, after all, processed over 42 million transactions by ay of barcodes which are sent to the app and which can then be scanned within the various retail locations.
Further evidence of the potential of this technique is the fact that PayPal is also testing a new application in the United Kingdom, which will make it possible for smartphone users to buy products and services through a barcode unique to the individual and his or her account.
It is also being predicted by some experts in the industry, that cloud based solutions will be used on their own as well as in ways that incorporate barcodes for mobile payments. This is considered to be especially likely if NFC doesn’t managed to make itself popular within the near future.
This is the latest in a series of efforts being made throughout the m-commerce sphere to make smartphone based purchases as seamless and frictionless as possible. As each new effort is tested, the entire process becomes better understood so that technologies can be altered, upgraded, and combined for ever improving results.
LevelUp was another example of a company that was able to generate hype, interest, and use of mobile payments through barcodes. This company created the SCVNGR mobile game, which is now available in eight cities at 3,000 merchants and has raised $12 million in support funding for the growth of LevelUp.
