Mobile Commerce

The Sportsman’s Guide, a sporting goods brand in the portfolio of Redcats USA, today announced the launch of a redesigned mobile website, offering a state-of-the-art design that optimizes mobile access to the site, making shopping from a mobile device faster, easier and as convenient as shopping from a home computer.

Verizon Wireless and American Express announced they're partnering to let customers order goods through their phone by typing in their phone number. During the coming months, Verizon will start integrating American Express' Serve, a digital payment and commerce platform, into its phones and tablets. Unlike other initiatives, designed to let consumers pay by tapping their phone to a payment device at a store, Serve will let buyers make online purchases while on the phone.

Cabela's, an outfitter of hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, has announced the launch of its iPhone and Android rich app to complement its mobile-optimized website, which launched earlier this year through mobile commerce provider Digby.

Flush with $100 million in new funding, Square is continuing to grow like a weed in the mobile payments space. The company is now processing $4 million in mobile payments daily and is on track to reach over $100 million in transactions in July. And COO Keith Rabois says that he expects the company to double this volume by October.

Scanbuy's ScanLife Mobile Barcode Trend Report illustrates the continued phenomenal growth in barcode scanning. The report reflects the accelerated adoption of mobile barcode technology, including QR codes, by code publishers and end-users as well as the various changes that have developed around the use and scanning of these codes.

While all eyes in the online retail space seem to be on social networks and smartphones these days, we’re seeing an emerging trend with tablets that could be the most interesting of all.

ShopRunner is letting its fashion-savvy members shop their favorite brands and track their orders via an iPhone application. The app lets consumers receive access to deals that can be combined with free shipping.

Nokia has launched NFC Hub, an online service designed to make it easy for businesses to begin adopting near-field communication (NFC) tag reading solutions. Nokia told NFC World that over the next 18 months it will be focusing on the marketing aspects of NFC rather than the mobile payment side, as it asserts NFC tags will initially have a broader scope in the marketplace than mobile payments.

Michaels announced it's rolling out a mobile-optimized site app as well as mobile coupons with the objective of driving in-store traffic. The retailer has zeroed in on mobile initiatives as a way to reach time-pressed customers. The company is using QR codes and SMS to engage with its customers, and is now targeting smartphone users with mobile discounts.

Sephora North America announced its iPad app is now available on the App Store. The app offers a fully integrated digital beauty experience that brings diverse social feeds into one fun, magazine-like format. The Sephora app also includes up-to-the-minute beauty news and information from Sephora's Facebook and Twitter feeds, its BeautyTalk community, Beauty And The Blog website, and newly revamped YouTube Channel, providing the latest beauty trends and advice.