January 12, 2009
Retail TouchPoints: Microsoft Tag Debut Builds Momentum For Mobile Commerce, QR Marketing
By Andrew Gaffney
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is an excerpt of a current article from the Retail TouchPoints website.
Building on the early successes retailers are experiencing with short codes and other mobile marketing, a new technology platform being ushered in by Microsoft could dramatically change the game by bringing the benefits of quick response and the measurement capabilities of online media to the world of offline marketing.
Debuting at NRF this week, the Microsoft Tag is positioned as a “leap” in mobile barcode technology, allowing consumers to quickly tap into marketing offers in print ads, billboards, print packages or store signage without typing in long URLs or texting short codes. By “snapping” a tag with the camera on a web-enabled phone, users are brought directly to an offer page and can either learn more about a product or complete a purchase directly with their mobile phone.
Utilizing High Capacity Color Barcodes (HCCBs) invented by Microsoft Research, the Microsoft Tag platform employs different symbol shapes in geometric patterns and multiple colors to double the amount of information that can be stored on analog printed media, and also improves the readability on lower quality cameras on mobile devices. The HCCBs also provides added flexibility for marketers to integrate into their existing materials, as the tags can be printed as small as 5/8″ x 5/8″ and no special process is required to print the tag as a color graphic.
The Tag technology is also expected to feed the growing need for ROI as it allows marketers to see when and where customers are responding to ads, across all media with impression activity. It also provides a new way to reach shoppers near or at the moment of truth, as it allows marketers to reach consumers when they are most receptive to products and promotions.
Although still in beta, Microsoft Tag technology is expected to generate a lot of buzz at the NRF Expo this week and many of the industry’s leading players expect the platform could quickly become a widespread solution to enabling cross-channel commerce.
“With Microsoft Tag, shoppers can now scan a code and purchase an item from their mobile phones more quickly and easily than ever before. It’s as easy as–snap, order, pick-up,” said David Bruno, director of product marketing for Escalate Retail, which will be featuring a live retail demo of Microsoft’s Tag technology in Booth 2002 at NRF. “I believe that this will make the mobile channel much more prevalent in consumer shopping patterns and also provides the potential to make traditional marketing much more relevant by increasing the ROI and the immediacy of results from these campaigns.”
Discussion Question: What do you think about the Microsoft Tag? Is this how you envision mobile technology eventually working at the retail level? What would you further like to know about it?
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I was amazed when I learned recently that I could program my DirecTV DVR from my mobile phone. Now there’s Microsoft Tag that will someday enable me to purchase stuff using my mobile phone, whether in the store or elsewhere, and I’m struggling to keep up.
On the other hand, Herb Sorensen mentioned a now-defunct device used to scan barcodes printed in magazines, and does anyone remember that “cat” scanner that was supposed to read codes broadcast on TV? (It was a cat-shaped plastic device–as opposed to a mouse. Very clever.) There were video screens attached to shopping carts, and even hand-held scanners dispensed to shoppers as they entered stores so they could self-checkout as they shopped.
I understand that my AT&T Tilt phone can cook breakfast, though I’ve found no need for that function. But, using it instead of self-checkout in a supermarket could be helpful. Of course, I couldn’t use it for alcohol or tobacco (neither of which applies to me), prescriptions, or random weight items without barcodes–unless, of course, I could find the lookup code for Fuji apples and key it into my phone/scanner. And then there’s the issue of getting a paper receipt to avoid feeling like a felon as I exit the store. From out here in efficiency-land, this seems like a lot of trouble just to use your gadget instead of standing in a checkout line. And think of all the text messages you could exchange while standing in that line! See, no time wasted!
This technology seems more like a wish from Microsoft, for Microsoft, than something that empowers consumers and makes their shopping experience easier.
Mobile phones will continue to increase in utility, but this is not the answer.
This is way-too-cool. The latest “Killer-Ap.” If we believe that the search engine is the new Yellow Pages, and that people research online before buying ANYWHERE, then we have to believe this will be wildfire. I wasn’t able to download the app to my phone, which adds fuel to my fire to go get a new iPhone. I’ll be using spreading the word about this to everyone today.
It’s a bold move, but by no means a slam dunk. This fits in with the growing merger of online and offline retailing. The basic concept is that the internet provides a vast “cloud” of information which can be virtually present anywhere, anytime–and certainly in stores, too. The question is, how to connect the shopper with this cloud, at the same time they are connecting to the world of commerce.
Cell phones are the most ubiquitous personal electronic devices in the world, and many already have all the functionality necessary to access that cloud. One can essentially think of a cell phone (particularly with camera embedded) as a “mouse” that accesses that “cloud.” The stretch is NOT that far conceptually. And it is unlikely to take decades to get there.
But some of the hurdles include standardization and consumer acceptance. Several years ago there was an effort to provide consumers with a simple scanning device they could use to scan a code in a magazine, for example, to connect to further content. I know Forbes magazine was a participant in this effort, which apparently went into the black hole.
I repeat: it is bold move, farsighted. There are a lot of those out there right now, some already exhibiting significant measures of success. It remains to be seen which initiatives will prevail in the brave new retail world aborning, but the baby will arrive, no matter how painful the birth.
I disagree. This technology essentially puts a “scanner” in the hands of a shopper. It could fundamentally change the retail environment. Imagine being able to scan and purchase your own products without having to pass through a checkout lane. The job of technology is to wring inefficiency out of the systems it touches. And I think anyone would agree, standing in a line to check out is one of the most inefficient things you can do in a given day.
This is only another 2D barcode similar to the QR code which is in common usage in Japan and beginning to spread to Europe and the US. Do we need yet another means of confusing the public? The industry should concentrate on a standard code and push that to the consumer.
QR codes can do everything that the MS tag can do and already have proved that they work. Try googling QR codes and see how much information is already available and who is using it.
I am currently investigating its use for my clients in Bermuda and have set up http://www.Quick.bm to show how it can be used
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I was amazed when I learned recently that I could program my DirecTV DVR from my mobile phone. Now there’s Microsoft Tag that will someday enable me to purchase stuff using my mobile phone, whether in the store or elsewhere, and I’m struggling to keep up.
On the other hand, Herb Sorensen mentioned a now-defunct device used to scan barcodes printed in magazines, and does anyone remember that “cat” scanner that was supposed to read codes broadcast on TV? (It was a cat-shaped plastic device–as opposed to a mouse. Very clever.) There were video screens attached to shopping carts, and even hand-held scanners dispensed to shoppers as they entered stores so they could self-checkout as they shopped.
I understand that my AT&T Tilt phone can cook breakfast, though I’ve found no need for that function. But, using it instead of self-checkout in a supermarket could be helpful. Of course, I couldn’t use it for alcohol or tobacco (neither of which applies to me), prescriptions, or random weight items without barcodes–unless, of course, I could find the lookup code for Fuji apples and key it into my phone/scanner. And then there’s the issue of getting a paper receipt to avoid feeling like a felon as I exit the store. From out here in efficiency-land, this seems like a lot of trouble just to use your gadget instead of standing in a checkout line. And think of all the text messages you could exchange while standing in that line! See, no time wasted!
This technology seems more like a wish from Microsoft, for Microsoft, than something that empowers consumers and makes their shopping experience easier.
Mobile phones will continue to increase in utility, but this is not the answer.
This is way-too-cool. The latest “Killer-Ap.” If we believe that the search engine is the new Yellow Pages, and that people research online before buying ANYWHERE, then we have to believe this will be wildfire. I wasn’t able to download the app to my phone, which adds fuel to my fire to go get a new iPhone. I’ll be using spreading the word about this to everyone today.
It’s a bold move, but by no means a slam dunk. This fits in with the growing merger of online and offline retailing. The basic concept is that the internet provides a vast “cloud” of information which can be virtually present anywhere, anytime–and certainly in stores, too. The question is, how to connect the shopper with this cloud, at the same time they are connecting to the world of commerce.
Cell phones are the most ubiquitous personal electronic devices in the world, and many already have all the functionality necessary to access that cloud. One can essentially think of a cell phone (particularly with camera embedded) as a “mouse” that accesses that “cloud.” The stretch is NOT that far conceptually. And it is unlikely to take decades to get there.
But some of the hurdles include standardization and consumer acceptance. Several years ago there was an effort to provide consumers with a simple scanning device they could use to scan a code in a magazine, for example, to connect to further content. I know Forbes magazine was a participant in this effort, which apparently went into the black hole.
I repeat: it is bold move, farsighted. There are a lot of those out there right now, some already exhibiting significant measures of success. It remains to be seen which initiatives will prevail in the brave new retail world aborning, but the baby will arrive, no matter how painful the birth.
I disagree. This technology essentially puts a “scanner” in the hands of a shopper. It could fundamentally change the retail environment. Imagine being able to scan and purchase your own products without having to pass through a checkout lane. The job of technology is to wring inefficiency out of the systems it touches. And I think anyone would agree, standing in a line to check out is one of the most inefficient things you can do in a given day.
This is only another 2D barcode similar to the QR code which is in common usage in Japan and beginning to spread to Europe and the US. Do we need yet another means of confusing the public? The industry should concentrate on a standard code and push that to the consumer.
QR codes can do everything that the MS tag can do and already have proved that they work. Try googling QR codes and see how much information is already available and who is using it.
I am currently investigating its use for my clients in Bermuda and have set up http://www.Quick.bm to show how it can be used