Interesting Stuff

New research reveals the majority of large UK businesses see social media as key to marketing and business strategies however they are struggling to find effective ways of measuring its effectiveness.

Of the 650 companies interviewed only 28% of the smaller companies and 42% of larger businesses said they measured their performance against defined social media objectives.

Figures released today from the IMRG Capgemini Quarterly Benchmarking Index reveal that the percentage of online sales via mobile devices could reach 20 per cent by this Christmas.

Tina Spooner, Chief Information Officer at IMRG, explained: “Mobile has placed retailers, symbolically perhaps, in the palms of consumers’ hands, removing many former borders and expanding the contexts and times that engagement can happen.

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Open High Street, an online food and drink delivery service, is being trialled in Hereford with backing from the Government.

The pilot, run by a consortium of providers, offers consumers within the HR postcode area the opportunity to buy online from local shops. If successful the service could be extended throughout the UK.

McDonald’s is currently trialling PayPal mobile wallets enabling consumers to place and pay for orders. The service will be available via dedicated smartphone app or the mobile web with the intention of cutting queuing times.

A PayPal spokesperson said that in addition to mobile ordering and payment options, participating stores are instituting a separate customer line to pick up the meals.

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Image with thanks to smenzel

Panasonic have built an Android app allowing users to remotely operate appliances, view energy savings and program settings.

The electronics giant is also introducing connected air conditioners, refrigerators, washer-dryers as well as smaller devices such as blood pressure monitors and calorie meters.

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This year digital music sales around the world are set to increase by over 17% to £5.5bn, compared to a 12% fall in worldwide CD and vinyl sales, a report by Strategy Analytics reveals.

The report also predicts that streaming sales – listening to tunes on the likes of Spotify and Deezer – are set to take over as the leading revenue growth engine for the music industry.

Aviva car insurance customers are being offered the opportunity to earn themselves a 20% discount thanks to a new app called RateMyDrive.

The driver behavioural app will monitor motorists taking part in the test for 200 miles, including acceleration, braking and cornering. The data is then turned into an individual 'score' which helps determine the motorist's premium.
 

The Department of Health in the Philippines have tested a recent upgrade to the countries SPEED (Surveillance in Post Extreme Emergencies and Disasters) system to provide data on disease outbreaks during natural emergencies.

SPEED enables health officials and workers to use mobile phone text messages to send reports on communicable and non-communicable health conditions, and to monitor health trends.

Until recently staff at Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust have been spending up to 45 minutes trying to track down vital medical equipment. The Trust is now trialling a real-time location tracking system to tag items, such as cardiac monitors, portable ventilators and specialist wheelchairs.

The tags communicate with a web-based system that can be accessed by clinical staff who can then trace the movement of devices around the hospital.

It has been announced that all 7,000 US Starbucks branches are to adopt the innovative payment technology

The adoption of Square in Starbucks is a major turning point for the business that began as a side project to Twitter. Initially payments will be made using Square’s swiping technology however in the future customers will be able to pay by just giving their name as stores will be able to sense when an existing user has come in.