How In-Car Technology is Shaking Up the Mobile Commerce Industry

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How In-Car Technology is Shaking Up the Mobile Commerce Industry

Bryan Karas

August 31, 2018

I came across a very interesting article about how in-car technology is giving a new meaning to mobile commerce – that people spend upwards of 200 billion dollars each year while on their commute.

Visa and Pymnts.com reported that “nearly three quarters of all commuters surveyed, and 82% of millennials with long commutes, said they would shop more if the ability to shop and pay were integrated into their car.”

Instead of bombarding you with endless stats…check out the report here. They even laid it out in a nicely designed infographic.

Large automakers like GM, Ford and Toyota have already invested in the development of “connected car” integrations – skills ranging from streaming music to automatic payments at gas stations.

Hitting a roadblock…

Besides the safety issue, a topic that was only briefly discussed in the article, there are a few other problems design engineers face.

For this to work it needs to be a seamless experience. Olabisi Boyle, senior director of IoT at Visa said, “to aid in creating that ‘adoptable’ consumer experience, we are looking at the various driver personas, as vehicles today are used for different purposes — family car, ride sharing, weekend adventures, ride-hailing and more.”

And don’t forget that little ‘smart’ thing sitting in your cup holder…

People love their smartphones and have already learned how to use them and navigate through them – even while driving. So the question becomes…what does the in-car digital dashboard even look like?

When the rubber meets the road…

With in-car commerce predicted to reach $750B by 2030, it makes sense that automakers and advertisers want to take advantage of a chart that continues to trend up and to the right.

In terms of monetization, GM already has a system in place that recognizes when a car’s gas tank is low and presents coupons to nearby gas stations. But besides gas and parking, what are people spending money on while commuting?

Apparently a lot of food…and retailers like Starbucks, TGI Fridays, Applebee’s, Dunkin’ Donuts and Wingstop are exploring how their customers are using in-car commerce systems…

It should be interesting how this evolves over the next six to 12 months. But if you’re a business that relies on repeat purchases and customer loyalty then keep your eye on this as another channel to increase the lifetime value.

Alcohol Brand Uses Geo-Targeting to Increase Sales at Airport Duty Free Stores

So transfer all this in-car tech to on-foot tech (aka your smartphone) and you have the geo-targeted mobile ad campaign that Pernod Ricard ran at airports across the UK. The location based ads appeared once it recognized a user at the airport. Then it directed them to the nearest duty free shop. Will this happen in the car? You tap on an ad and GPS directs you to the nearest store….