Mobile Commerce

Target has been named 2013 Mobile Retailer of the Year, the highest accolade in mobile commerce and retail. The honor tops the Mobile Commerce Awards handed out each year for outstanding work that moved the mobile commerce needle for retailers, financial services firms and marketers. Here is the list of all the 2013 honorees. While Target ended the year on a sour note thanks to a data breach

With the holiday shopping season in full swing and the number of mobile transactions at an all-time high, retailers must be proactive about mobile security or face significant revenue loss, backlash from customers and degradation in brand trust. Here are three ways to make your mobile transactions more secure:

The evolution of technology within the retail and e-commerce space is shaping how consumers behave and interact with brands and savvy, smart retailers know that understanding shoppers’ behavior is key for success. These retailers realize they can utilize technology to capitalize on consumer needs and customize offerings to help significantly increase their bottom lines. Here's how companies are using technology to provide added value to consumers. 

The unprecedented adoption of mobile devices will make this holiday season the most connected in history. Consumers are turning to their mobile devices for information, promotions and discounts, giving marketers the opportunity to transform each interaction into a personalized customer experience across every channel — email, SMS, apps, social and the web.

This year will mark a major milestone for tablets and their influence on Internet retailers. We believe tablets will draw even with smartphones, and account for 50% of the total value of U.S. retail sales made over mobile devices.

As the holiday season swings into gear so does competitive shopping, with consumers scoping out merchandise in physical stores and then comparison shopping for the lowest price on their mobile device, dubbed "showrooming." In an effort to combat or "embrace" this phenomenon, some retailers, led by Best Buy, have implemented strategies including price matching to convert more shoppers into buyers. Nobody is winning in this new game — not manufacturers, retailers or consumers.

The burgeoning mobile market continues to create new complexities for brands and retailers, especially as consumers increasingly use mobile devices to shop, and mobile payment, loyalty and gifting capabilities continue to advance. However, as mobile wallets continue to generate buzz, the rate of mobile payment adoption remains slow. For example, in its "Mobile Wallets for the Masses" report, research firm Yankee Group stated that while nearly 70 percent of consumers are interested in adopting mobile payments, less than 14 percent have actually completed a mobile transaction in the past six months.

Compuware Corporation, a technology performance company, today announced the top three mobile performance trends so far this holiday shopping season. This is based on its analysis of the mobile performance of top U.S. retailers between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday. These trends reveal the critical importance of mobile performance during the holiday shopping season and the impact it can have on a business. 

U.S. shoppers made Cyber Monday the biggest online shopping day in history with a 20.6 percent increase in online sales, according to the latest cloud-based analytics findings from IBM. Mobile sales led the way, exceeding 17 percent of total online sales, an increase of 55.4 percent year-over-year. Cyber Monday also capped the highest five-day online sales period on record — from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday — which grew 16.5 percent over the same period in 2012. 

With consumer usage of smartphones continuing to skyrocket, it's past time for your brand to have a mobile presence, be it a mobile-optimized site, app or both. To help your efforts in generating sales from mobile devices, consider the following eight tips: