Coming soon ...

Steve Jobs has passed away but his legacy in the tech sector, giving us things we didn’t know we needed, remains. I’ve been having a look at Simply Tap a new service launched by Mobile Money Network (MMN). MMN is a new mobile services business that brings together a network of retailers, advertisers and banks to provide consumers with a simple way to find and purchase goods and services from their mobile phone.

Why is Simply Tap interesting? Well for a start there are some credible players behind it. Best Buy Europe, mobile payments firm Monitise and Carphone Warehouse founder Charles Dunstone are all investors and Sir Stuart Rose is Non-Executive Chairman.

In an interview with Econsultancy, MMN CEO John Milliken explained how Simply Tap will work from a consumer point of view.

“Step one: Customer completes a one-off registration with the Simply Tap service. They securely store their personal details, preferred payment card and delivery address.

Step two: Customer sees a product they want in a press advert, in a catalogue, online or in store and either tap the product details in to the Simply Tap application or send the code via SMS.

Step three: Customer confirms the order and the product is paid for and delivered automatically.”

What’s so appealing? Once you’ve signed up it’s just one step to purchase (or two if you include confirmation). It brings spontaneous shopping to a new level.

According to Marketing Week, Selfridges and Dwell are expected to be among 30 high street retailers involved with Simply Tap. “Tens of thousands of products including fashion, homewares, accessories and technology will be available to purchase through Simply Tap next month.”

This is an intiative involving big brands, retailers, banks and the media. Traditional media in particular have much to gain from this – it’s a great means of promoting fast direct response from print advertising.

So why should we be sceptical about this? Well the obvious one is consumer resistance to purchasing via their phone. Whilst this is not an insignificant hurdle, it’s difficult to see the Simply Tap service not having legs long term. Everyone enterprise in the mix (media, retailers, brands, phone companies) has something to gain from it’s success, as does the consumer.

Check out Marketing Week on Simply Tap.