$8,71 Million. That’s the figure that US mobile transactions topped last year – with a foreseeable 210% increase in 2016 on the cards!
This means brands are starting to rethink the whole shopping experience – and backing these decisions financially. Apps are now seen as a new type of “mobile storefront” for brands because of their increased speed and convenience – so much so that brands will do anything to get their users through the figurative door of their new mobile storefronts.
Instant gratification and social interaction are the driving force for these apps, that are reminiscent of the personal shoppers that high-end department stores provide, informed by the data that is collected about shoppers from each click and browse.
Knowledge management – the currency of today
In today’s world, brands are seeking not only to build lasting relationships with their customers, but to create tailored experiences to suit their needs – and through all our loyalty cards they get to understand a little more about us.
I love loyalty cards! I have one for all the stores I do my shopping at, especially my favourite coffee shops. The data that is collected by these stores is very often used to tailor our shopping experiences – for example, if you’re always buying pork chops at Pick ‘n Pay, Pick ‘n Pay will start sending you text messages about the specials they have on pork chops. Today, the more you know about your customer, the more you have the upper hand. But here’s the thing: in order for the company to know anything about you, you have to shop with them, thus the drive to make the app (online) experience as seamless and as enjoyable as possible.
“Jesus: Drink this water, and your thirst is quenched only for a moment. You must return to this well again and again. I offer water that will become a well spring within you that gives life throughout eternity. You will never be thirsty again.
Woman: Please sir, give me some of this water, so I’ll never be thirsty and have to make this trip to this well.
Jesus: Then bring your husband to me…
Woman: I do not have a husband.
Jesus: Technically you are telling the truth. But you have had five husbands and are currently living with a man you are not married to… Believe this: a new day is coming – in fact, it’s already here- when the importance will not be placed on the time and place of worship but on the true hearts of worshippers… The Father is spirit, and He is seeking followers whose worship is sourced in truth and deeply spiritual as well. Regardless of whether you are in Jerusalem or on this mountain, if you do not seek the Father, then you do not worship…
… The woman went back to the town, leaving her water pot behind. She stopped men and women on the streets and told them about what happened.
Woman: I met a stranger who knew everything about me. Come and see for yourselves; can He be the Anointed?” – John 4:10-30
Before apps; before the internet; before marketing gurus decided that the customer was going to be king, there was someone who was driven to get to know you and me – Jesus. We can open His book, the Bible, or even just our hearts to experience him anywhere at any time. As much as we think we need to spend time with Jesus for him to really know us, it’s actually us who have to spend time with him to really get to know him. He already has more data than any app could store on each of us, because he loves each of us like crazy, and yet we still choose to find satisfaction in other people and other things.
If you want to know about Jesus, this man who desires a relationship with you and knows everything about you, why don’t you click on the banner below?