Google Wallet Coming to the UK For 2012 Olympics

Google Wallet apparently will launch next in the United Kingdom, in time for the holding of the summer Olympics starting June 27, 2012, French newspaper Les Echos reports.


It is believed that Google Wallet could debut in the first quarter of 2012. That will require convincing at least some top banks to participate, as well as retailers and at least one mobile service provider.


Google Wallet Reportedly Coming to the UK For 2012 Olympics


It would of course be helpful to have one or more providers of "daily deals" and other promotions. It isn't so clear that paying using a mobile is so much better than using cash or a credit card that people will have incentives to use a mobile wallet service.


But what does provide value for end users are incentives, coupons, discounts and special offers tied with use of mobile wallets. 


For retailers, the ability to target incentives at potential customers when they are in proximity to a retail venue likewise offers clear value. 

Google Offers Partners With 14 Deal Providers

Google has just announced a set of new partnerships with over a dozen niche daily deal providers, which will now be integrated into the Google Offers service, both on the Web and in the Google Shopper mobile applications for iOS and Android.

The new Google Offers partners include Dealfind, DoodleDeals, Gilt City, GolfNow, HomeRun, JuiceInTheCity, kgbdeals, Mamapedia, PlumDistrict, PopSugar Shop, ReachDeals, Active.com Schwaggle, TIPPR, and zozi.


Initially, these deals will be only available to those in the San Francisco Bay area, but this feature will soon arrive to other areas, says Google. Google Offers Partners With 14 Deal Providers 

Some are skeptical about the long-term staying power of "daily deals" services. Certainly not all of the current providers will survive. But if you believe mobile wallet services will succeed, it will be largely on the strength of deals, offers and other rewards consumers receive, as well as the loyalty, retention and customer acquisition retailers benefit from.

$577 Million in Daily Deals Go Unclaimed

"Breakage" is a significant revenue generator in many businesses. Breakage refers to services, goods or value purchase by consumers, but never redeemed.

Nearly 22 percent of deals purchased from Groupon, LivingSocial, BuyWithMe and elsewhere go unredeemed according to a survey from Rice University.

This represents a huge secondary market for re-selling deals, which is precisely what DealsGoRound does. DealsGoRound says such "breakage" represents a $577 million opportunity in the daily deals space.

The study from Rice found that 55.5 percent of businesses surveyed made money on their daily deals promotions, 17.9 percent broke even, and 26.6 percent of businesses lost money.

Keep in mind that 21.7% of their deals go unredeemed, which means the businesses pocket the money.

Almost 80 percent of customers who redeemed deals were new customers, but only 36 percent of them spent beyond the face value of the deal, and the study says that only 20 percent of customers returned to purchase something at full price.

$577 Million in Daily Deals Go Unredeemed

33% Of All Groupon Clones Have Been Shut Down Or Sold

One of the most common Groupon critiques is that the business is easily replicated. Yes, some might say, there are few barriers to entry. But there appear to be many barriers to success.

According to data from deals aggregator Yipit, 33 percent of daily deals sites have been shuttered or sold so far in 2011. That's 170 out of 530 deals sites overall. Growing operating costs appear to be an issue. 

Groupon spent about $7.99 to acquire each subscriber who actually redeemed a daily deal in the first quarter of 2010, according to regulatory filings. By the second quarter of 2011, that figure had nearly tripled to $23.46.

Overall, Groupon spent $378.7 million in marketing initiatives in the first half of 2011, up from $35.5 million in the same period a year earlier, according to regulatory filings. Many smaller websites don't have the war chest to compete, you might surmise.

At the same time, daily-deal sites also increasingly have to hire more salespeople to line up coupon offers from local merchants. Operating costs grow

Yes, there are few barriers to entry, but there appear to be significant barriers to success.

33% Of All Groupon Clones Have Been Shut Down Or Sold

Consumers Are Not Tired of Deals

A survey of nearly 1,000 U.S. online users by Utpal Dholakia, professor of management at Rice University finds that they are not yet tired of daily deals. Quite the opposite: Shoppers who tend to purchase the most daily deals continue to remain enthusiastic about them.

Only 13 percent of experienced and heavy daily-deal users agreed with the statement: "I buy daily deals less often than I used to," according to the study, published in conjunction with Cornell University. Only eight percent agreed with the statement: "I have lost interest in daily deals over time."

BAI/Kelsey, a local media and ad research firm, also has raised its forecast for daily deal revenue. U.S. consumer spending on deals, including daily deals, instant deals and flash sales, will grow to $4.2 billion in 2015 from $873 million in 2010. While the bump in its 2015 projection is only up slightly, the projection for 2011 revenue was revised to $2 billion, up 66% since the March estimate.

Think Consumers Are Tired of Deals?

Virtual currencies and social network payments

If you are a bit confused about the ramifications of mobile payments, so is just about everybody else. The common sense notion is that "mobile payments" is principally about using a mobile phone, in some way, to buy things, in scenarios where cash, a credit card, a debit card or perhaps a check typically is used instead.

At least part of what some of us might say is growing confusion about mobile payments is that "payments" are part of the "buying," "shopping" or "commerce" activity, and there now are growing ways to embed "promotion," "coupons," "offers," "daily deals" and "loyalty" into a shopping experience. You hear the term "mobile wallet," for example, which is how some of these related processes might be integrated and handled in the future.

To complicate matters further, shopping for "virtual goods," or "content" goods, as well as real world goods, are seen as essential parts of the mobile payments business. In other words, you might use your mobile to checkout from a retail location, buy a song or video, as well as purchase virtual goods for use in a game that is played on a mobile.

Then consider a growing interest in the ability not only to buy virtual goods with real money, but then to export virtual money to other applications or retailers, in some cases as another version of virtual currency, but possibly even as "money" in the classic sense.

You can go into a Wal-Mart right now and pay cash (or check) for a Facebook payment card, to be used in virtual gaming with such companies as Zynga. That doesn't seem to trouble regulators. But many believe there are advantages to allowing points, credits or tokens to be accumulated and then redeemed back into some form of actual real world currency. And that means there now are banking and other regulations that come into play.

Virtual currencies and social network payments

10% of U.S. Mobile Users Redeem Coupons, 20% of Smart Phone Users

Research firm eMarketer now estimates 19.8 million adults, or 9.5 percent of U.S. mobile phone users over 18, will redeem a mobile coupon in 2011, including coupons or codes received using text messaging (SMS), applications and mobile web browsers; quick response codes for redemption online or offline; and group buying coupons purchased via mobile.

In 2012,  the number of U.S. consumers who redeem mobile coupons will rise to 28.7 million, or 13.5 percent of adult mobile phone users, eMarketer estimates.

By 2013, the number using such coupons will nearly double, and 16.5 percent of all U.S. adult mobile phone users will redeem a coupon.

Led by smart phone owners, the number of U.S. mobile coupon users will increase by 80 percent  between 2011 and 2013, eMarketer predicts, climbing from 19.8 million to 35.6 million.

Outside of the US, mobile coupons have likewise proven popular among consumers, although adoption is far from uniform. Mobile users in Asia-Pacific, particularly those in Japan and South Korea, constitute something of a vanguard, while in Western Europe usage is most extensive in the United Kingdom.

Among smart phone users, penetration is significantly higher. In 2011, nearly one in five smartphone owners ages 18 and older will redeem a mobile coupon, representing annual growth of 117.6 percent.

Triple-digit uptake rates will be short-lived, but by 2013 almost one-third of smart phone users will be redeeming discounts on the go.

Mobile coupon demand