Mobile Commerce

M-commerce is a critical part of any retailers' multichannel offering. Here are some numbers revealing how important a good mobile offer is to today's consumers, from Foolproof's 'Going Mobile' study.

Modell's Sporting Goods has added a mobile component to its MVP loyalty program. The sporting goods retailer is using Key Ring Reward Cards’ mobile coupon and customer acquisition platform to introduce mobile into its loyalty marketing mix for its 150 retail locations. Key Ring provides a mobile acquisition and notification channel that catches consumers when they're primed to enroll in loyalty programs.

Last December, at the height of the Christmas shopping season, Amazon.com aggressively promoted its price-checking mobile phone application by giving shoppers 5 percent off items on Amazon that they scanned while in brick-and-mortar stores. The application, which compares store prices with Amazon's, brought the practice of showrooming — already very familiar to retail store clerks — out of store aisles and into public prominence.

IBM’s fifth annual Online Retail Holiday Readiness Report has uncovered that 2012 may just be the year of mobile. Based on data from more than 500 U.S. retailers, the report found that online mobile sales increased 88.8 percent in the second quarter of 2012 compared with the same quarter in the prior year. IBM is forecasting that mobile sales will reach 20 percent of total online holiday sales this upcoming season, and that mobile traffic will close in on 25 percent. However, despite the growing trend in mobile shopping, social is lagging, according to IBM.

As the head of Sephora Digital, Julie Bornstein oversees the international cosmetics company's online and technological operations and strategies. For the last several years she's worked to integrate technology into the brand's physical stores and to make Sephora a force in online sales. Bornstein talked to Wired Business about the importance of offline retail in an online world and how technology can enhance the real-world retail experience.

Based on the e-tailing group's audit of 168 metrics on 50 mobile sites, the mobile shopping experience has shown strong improvements in overall efficiency of the experience with more consistent cross-channel branding and evolved merchandising, coupled with a proliferation of promotional tactics. A more direct connection between the mobile consumer and their closest store location facilitates shopping the consumer's way.

Build-A-Bear Workshop announced that it's introducing a newly imagined store design in six markets across the U.S. in 2012. The new store design, which has been over two years in the making, merges the Build-A-Bear Workshop's hands-on bear-making process with technology to enhance the customer experience. “I'm very excited about the enhanced features that will allow us to continue to lead in the interactive retail space,” said Maxine Clark, founder and chief executive bear of Build-A-Bear Workshop.

Following in the footsteps of Target's and American Eagle's nationwide rollouts, Macy’s announced Wednesday it would begin offering shopkick rewards at its more than 800 stores. Using shopkick's app for iPhone or Android devices, shoppers can collect points, or "kicks," by visiting and performing certain tasks in Macy's stores. They can then exchange their kicks for Macy's-specific rewards like gift cards, as well as for more general rewards, including song downloads, restaurant certificates, movie tickets, Facebook Credits, charity donations, etc.

Cyber Monday was the busiest shopping day last year. Up 29 percent over 2010, Cyber Monday's purchasing surge was no doubt due to a number of deals offered by retailers. And with the deal the U.S. Postal Service is planning for online merchants this holiday season, Cyber Monday 2012 could be even better.

Mobile shopping rose while social media sales fell, providing an indication of where U.S. retailers may invest in order to capture the attention and loyalty of the digital consumer, according to a new report from IBM. The IBM Retail Online Index, a cloud-based analysis of the online retail sector, reported that retailers experienced 15 percent growth in sales from mobile devices but saw a 20 percent decline in sales traced to social media based on a much smaller base over a three-month period.