Author: Rebecca

Airlines see a mere 13% of volume on mobile devices according to new report.

A recent report from Netherlands-based global multichannel payment company Adyen revealed that travel made up 15.5% of mobile transactions on its global payments network in Q1 2016. While m-payments made up 32% of overall online payments in this year’s first quarter, in the travel sector, the share plummets to 15%. According to Adyen, these findings show that there is opportunity to extend the reach of smartphones and tablets in the travel industry.

Compared to other industries, the travel sector sees significantly fewer mobile transactions.

The report – Mobile Payments Index 2016: Travel Edition – shows that while accommodation services see 17% of volume on mobile devices, airlines see only 13%. Also, tablets are the preferred choice among mobile devices when it comes to booking in the travel industry.

President of North America at Adyen, Kamran Zaki, stated that the travel sector is seeing notably fewer browser-based payments happen on mobile compared to other industries. Zaki added that “an average of only 15 percent of online payments take place on a mobile device, compared to over 30 percent across all verticals” among airline and accommodation merchants on the Adyen platform.

However, airlines investing in mobile offerings are seeing higher m-payments activity.

Even though only 13% of transactions for airlines are occurring on mobile, Adyen’s report also pointed out that the airlines investing in their mobile offerings are actually seeing higher than average activity in regard to mobile payments.

For instance, European airline Transavia has a share of mobile payments that is 65% higher than the average.

Adyen CCO Roelant Prins said “We are moving to a future where many loyal travel industry customers will make their entire journey in-app, from initial booking to final checkout, with payments as a key step in that journey.” He added that aside from in-app, travel merchants who invest in optimized experiences for web browsers across key types of devices are already seeing a significant increase in their mobile transaction volume.

Adyen believes that the travel industry has more opportunity to take a larger share of m-payments by branching into other mobile services like smartphone check-in among other convenient customer services.

Codes for baseball-themed mobile games are the new prize to be found inside America’s favorite junk food.

Cracker Jack, America’s favorite caramel coated popcorn and peanuts mix, which is famous for the iconic prizes found in each bag, is trading in its traditional toy surprise in a new approach to appeal to mobile consumers. Soon, those who dig into their bag of the sweet treat will find Cracker Jack mobile game codes instead of the classic toy.

Mobile technology will bring the new iconic prize to life.

The mystery prize that was once found in each bag of Cracker Jack will be replaced with stickers featuring digital codes for mobile games, providing mobile users with “baseball-inspired mobile digital experiences.”

In a recent press release, Haston Lewis, the senior director of marketing at Frito-Lay – the company that owns Cracker Jack – said that “The new Prize Inside allows families to enjoy their favorite baseball moments through a new one-of-a-kind mobile experience, leveraging digital technology to bring the iconic Prize Inside to life.”

According to the Huffington Post, the new prizes will be available in four themes: Dance Cam, Dot Dash, Baseball Star and Get Carded. The Blippar app, which is available for both Android and iOS, will be required to activate the prize.

The new Cracker Jack mobile game codes sticker prize is part of a broader marketing effort to maintain consumer appeal.

Not everyone who loves the tasty popcorn snack, which has been around since 1896, is likely to be happy with this prize change. For some, these little toys have become collectibles. In fact, Cracker Jack prize collecting is actually a serious hobby for many long-time fans and there have been several books published on the subject. However, be that as it may, companies need to make changes to ensure that they continually remain relevant to present day consumers.

A spokesperson from Frito Lay, Joan Cetera, commented that the change in prize design is part of a much larger marketing effort to stay relevant within a fast-changing consumer landscape.

In addition to the new Cracker Jack mobile game codes, the brand’s logo and packaging will also be restyled.