Mobile Trends 2013: Wallets, Coupons and Mobile Shopping Research On the Rise

As we zoom towards 2013, we thought we'd ask mobile experts the world over what surprised them about the past year, what they expected in the coming year and what they think needs a bit more attention.

Todays interview is with David Wachs of ePrize.

What surprised you about the mobile advertising industry in the past year?

I think the number one surprise in the mobile marketing industry this year was the number of QR codes that led to non-mobile friendly sites. While we expect these numbers to decrease in the coming year, creating an easy access point through QR or text, and then following that up with a bad site experience is just a pure failure. One example was a QR code we saw on an L train in Chicago for another state's tourism bureau. When the code was scanned, it led to a full desktop experience that could not be viewed on many/most phones. Brand experiences MUST be optimized for mobile browsers.

What do you think will be the biggest mobile trend for 2013?

I think 2013 will be the year of coupon "save to phone." Whether is this iPhone's Passbook, Windows 8's Wallet or a solution from Android, retailers will be finally testing mobile wallets. While the infrastructure and adoption of full mobile transactions are a little further out (a 2014 initiative), mobile coupons will initiate these retailers into this transactional mindset and pave the way for end-to-end mobile transactions, via NFC or other technologies.

What is another 2013 mobile trend that you feel is being overlooked and not given enough attention?

Another interesting trend is the mobile shoppers use of their device in shopping research: Approximately one in three online U.S. consumers have performed one of several mobile shopping research activities in the past three months, according to a study from the e-tailing group and PowerReviews. Data from The 2011 Social Shopping Study indicates that a leading 33% of online consumers have both checked for sales and specials and looked up store information such as hours, location and maps via mobile device in the past three months. (Source: marketingcharts.com)

About David Wachs

David Wachs is the founder and President of Cellit, which was purchased by ePrize in 2012. Previously, Wachs worked as a financial analyst for Credit Suisse First Boston. Wachs also spent several years as a management consultant for DiamondCluster International. Wachs is a dual cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. He holds a B.S. in Economics and a B.S.E. in Computer Science Engineering. David frequently speaks on mobile technology and has presented for the Direct Marketing Association and Advertising Research Foundation. David has also been interviewed by and quoted in multiple news outlets, including FOX News, Bloomberg Radio, and

The Wall Street Journal.

Thanks, David! Read more mobile trend predictions for the new year...