Vodafone makes headway in m-commerce market with acquisition

Friday, June 8, 2012 - 15:20 by Graham Miller

UK mobile network provider, Vodafone, has recently become the controlling force of m-commerce company Vouchercloud and is now looking to push its smartphone shopping options, in a way that allows it to stand toe to toe with rivals like O2.

Vouchercloud basically allows people to use their smartphones to get coupons and codes that will help them earn money off, when conducting safe shopping online or in a number of major high street outlets.

Vodafone has since announced that it will be looking to integrate the capabilities of this company into its own mobile services, through active m-commerce platforms, although at the time of writing, it has not given further details on what this might involve.

Vodafone spokesperson, Tobin Ireland, said that the rapid expansion of the online voucher market was having a major impact on the way that its customers were harnessing their handsets.

Mr Tobin pointed out that consumers now wanted to be able to save money and earn loyalty points through safe shopping online, as well as being able to get real world price reductions as a result of their smartphone usage.

It looks like Vodafone will follow in the footsteps of competitor O2, which has its own voucher and loyalty point scheme, known as Priority Moments.

Using location based information, it is possible to get discounts and deals at retailers and restaurants which are in close proximity to the smartphone user, via Priority Moments. Ten million users have already begun to harness this platform, which means that Vodafone can clearly see that there is demand which must be satisfied.

M-commerce services are becoming increasingly ubiquitous irrespective of which mobile network provider you choose, although these firms will, doubtlessly, leverage differences in their offerings to catch your attention further down the line.