Mobile Payments

Hear how some of m-commerce’s leaders are driving revenue through mobile based on survey results and a newly published white paper.

Google has inked a distribution deal with the biggest wireless carriers in the U.S. to get its Google Wallet payments app pre-installed on their phones. At the same time, Google is buying technology from Softcard, the mobile payments app backed by the same carriers. The deal will see Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile and AT&T pre-install Google Wallet on their Android phones in the U.S. later this year. The move also involves Google buying some intellectual property from Softcard, formerly known as ISIS. 

To expand its fitness empire, Under Armour has again looked online for growth opportunities. The company announced on Wednesday that it had agreed to buy two makers of fitness-tracking apps, MyFitnessPal and Endomondo, for a combined total of $560 million. Together, the deals are the latest move by Under Armour to create an athletics-minded online network, an effort that began with the 2013 acquisition of MapMyFitness for $150 million.

Apple Pay doubters question whether anyone will swipe their iPhone at a store checkout counter. But as mobile shopping booms, Apple Pay is already showing huge returns for early adopters. It's a small sample size, with Apple Pay only out since late October, but so far iPhone owners with the service enabled are vastly more likely to make online purchases on their phones. Take sports and concert ticket search app SeatGeek, whose sleek new checkout screen boasts a conversion rate up to 30 percent. With Apple Pay, that follow-through rate shoots up to 80 percent.

Amazon.com's bid to be a key player in the world of mobile payments looks like it's taken a step back today. Amazon Wallet, an Android app developed by the company to store loyalty and gift cards, has been pulled from the Google Play store and Amazon's own app store, where links to each are now dead. "We've learned a great deal from the Amazon Wallet beta program and will look for ways to apply these lessons in the future as we continue to innovate on behalf of our customers," Tom Cook, an Amazon spokesperson said in an email to TechCrunch. 

CVS and Apple Pay were never officially friends, but now they seem to have broken up officially, so the drug-store chain can develop its own mobile wallet in partnership with other big-name retail brands, including Rite Aid, which also shut down mobile payments over the weekend.

After accepting Apple Pay at all of its stores on Oct. 20 — Apple Pay's launch day — Rite Aid apparently stopped its support for the technology yesterday, according to a report yesterday in Mac Rumors.

Imagine spilling coffee on your way to a holiday party and needing a new shirt right away. Macy's has a solution: A quick Google search on your smartphone will tell you if that red sweater is stocked at a Macy's nearby, in your size, and at what price. Beginning in November, shoppers can search for an item on their phone and see what's stocked at their nearest Macy's location. Alongside the images are product details like price, size and color, directions to the store, and a link to the item on the retailer's website. 

Despite the flood of online and mobile games in recent years, GameStop remains set on owning the brick-and-mortar gaming space. But the retailer is leveraging mobile commerce with tracking technology like beacons to better understand why shoppers still like the in-store experience and which products they're buying. Jason Allen, vice president of multichannel at GameStop, recently talked to Adweek about how those insights influence traditional media and why the retailer isn't worried about showrooming.

Sept. 9 was Apple's big day. The tech giant introduced its new iPhone and long-awaited Watch. While both of those products may be big news, what's inside them — specifically Apple Pay — may prove to be the biggest headline of all. Apple Pay promises to give consumers a safe, convenient way to make payments, no credit cards needed. With Apple's new iPhone 6 model, a shopper will be able to make a payment without the need to wake the screen display or open an app.