Mobile Transactions & Marketing: Uber, Venmo, & Tablelist

The age is upon us where only products or services that bring ease to our lives are the ones that prevail. Long gone are the days of waiting by the curbside with your hand out, hoping a free taxi will pull up alongside. Uber, the San Francisco based startup now valued at over $18 billion, has taken the leap into the next generation with its smartphone based ride sharing system.

Uber Co-Founder and CEO Travis Kalanick explains, “In the beginning, it was a lifestyle company. You push a button and a black car comes up. Who’s the baller? It was a baller move to get a black car to arrive in 8 minutes.” Millennials love services like Uber because the current pace of life is fast and every second counts. Uber was one of the first companies to become well known for its seamless mobile payments system. The company Venmo was born shortly after, and ever since its launch, it has revolutionized the way people pay for things. Venmo is a free digital wallet that allows you to pay or request money from your friends, for example, to split a lunch bill or pay for half of a cab or for a night out. Venmo has literally killed cash - harder than credit and debit cards have done. And then there are companies that have taken these mobile payment systems and turned them into something that again, is convenience based. A recent startup called Tablelist has changed the way nightclubs and bars get patrons to come to their venues. Instead of standing in long lines waiting to pay the cover charge or have issues with paying a bottle service tab at the end of the night, everything can be done through the Tablelist app before the night even begins.

These companies are the basis of what is yet to come. Thousands of new services will begin to spring up, all utilizing the easy nature of mobile payments, and the best part is, they don’t need to waste a lot of money on hard marketing. These companies, Uber and Tablelist in particular, have figured out how to use the world of digital marketing to their favor. Although it may not seem like marketing to the untrained eye, the rewards and incentive programs that these companies use to get people to get their friends to sign up is one of the most powerful tools that these companies have. For Uber, every friend that signs up both you and them get a $20 credit towards a ride. For Tablelist, a credit ranging from $25-$75 that can be used towards a night out. Partnering with companies such as Google maps or Opentable are the ways that these companies use digital marketing to spread the word about their services. Now if you type in a restaurant into Open table, you can make the reservation, pay the bill (at select places for now), and then have the option to call an Uber to take you there, from within the app. With Tablelist, you can book a table and then something will pop up asking you if you’d like to be reminded to book an Uber 30 minutes before you are supposed to arrive. These small brand placements are what marketing in this age are all about. No one walks around with their eyes on their surroundings anymore. Everyone is dialed in, to some device or the other, which is why digital marketing is the most important marketing method, especially to companies whose services are mobile based.

#Uber #Tablelist #Venmo #Millennials #brandsmillennialslove #marketing #DigitalMarketing #MobileTransactions