Cingular Wireless launches integrated mobile commerce services
The availability of these services marks Cingular's aggressive entry into the mobile commerce arena in time for the holiday shopping season. Three new mobile commerce services, which are powered by InfoSpace, are now available: Secure Wireless Wallet, Rewards, and Shopping. Cingular Wireless customers can access these services through the "My Wireless Window" service, which costs less than $7.00 per month.
"With InfoSpace's integrated mobile commerce platform, we are now able to offer our customers an easy way to shop using their mobile phones," said Stephen Carter, president and CEO of Cingular Wireless. "Cingular customers can enjoy being among the first able to shop wirelessly for specific products and services, redeem valuable rewards from local and national merchants, and place orders for products instantly and securely, all on their mobile phones."
My Wireless Window Wallet
Cingular Wireless customers begin the mobile commerce experience by registering for a secure Wireless Wallet online at the 'My Wireless Window' Web page to store shipping and purchasing information, including methods of payment, allowing the consumer to take advantage of the Shopping and Rewards services. Next, after the shopper searches for products and selects the items to purchase through the Shopping engine, the Wireless Wallet delivers the shopper's shipping and purchasing information for the designated products to the merchant's Web site. The information is delivered through a secure online process, and the merchant processes the transaction.
My Wireless Window Rewards
Customers can save by purchasing products and services from merchants participating in My Wireless Window Rewards, an electronic/paperless promotions program using the existing credit card infrastructure system. To benefit, consumers search for deals from participating online or offline merchants by metropolitan area or product category, or register for customized alerts online, which will notify them when new merchant deals are available.
Consumers then purchase the goods or services at the participating merchant's online or offline location using a payment method registered in their Wireless Wallet. Next, the rewards are matched and automatically credited to the consumer credit card statement or other designated accounts, through secure transaction processing, without the use of special codes or paper coupons.
My Wireless Window Shopping
My Wireless Window Shopping empowers consumers with the information they need to make informed purchasing decisions. Cingular Wireless customers can search for a product by UPC/ISBN, name, manufacturer, category, or keyword and receive information such as MSRP, product descriptions, and online merchant pricing from an expansive database containing millions of products. Nine searchable categories are available at launch: books, music, video, consumer electronics, computers and software, sporting goods, health and beauty, toys and games, and office supplies. When shoppers select a product, they can choose to purchase directly from the merchant using their wireless handset and the information entered in their Wireless Wallet, or buy it from a nearby brick-and-mortar store. Orders can be placed via the wireless handset, and shoppers receive the products they purchased to the shipping destination designated through the Wireless Wallet registration process.
Participating merchants selling their products through the InfoSpace shopping engine don't need a special WAP Web site to be part of the mobile commerce experience.
Edited by Ellen Jensen
Managing Editor, Wireless Networks Online