Mobile Marketing

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Victoria's Secret's new iteration of its iPhone application plays up a message center where the brand will continuously push out content. In-app messaging and push notifications play a significant role in how the lingerie retailer brings back repeat traffic to build sales. While these kinds of features may appear to be small changes, the overall effect has a much bigger impact on how Victoria's Secret is lining up its app to be a key part in its mobile, digital, social and in-store strategies.

Timberland is one of the retailers using very close-range mobile messaging to communicate with consumers, offering discounts and promotions to people once they're in-store. Known as proximity marketing, Timberland has been working with a company called Swirl, which has a mobile app of the same name and can message consumers in-store and within a certain range outside the store. Rachel Panetta, head of retail and e-commerce marketing for Timberland, spoke with eMarketer's Christine Bittar about this technology and how it drives store sales.

Leveraging the newness of online shopping, the auction site was wildly successful until the mid-2000s, when companies that had been internet pioneers — think MySpace and eToys — started losing their appeal and cash flow. In 2007, posting losses for the first time in its history as a public company, the future of eBay was uncertain. "It was clear the world had innovated around eBay and eBay had stayed with the same formula," eBay CEO John Donahoe told The New York Times in 2012. 

Learn to meet the needs of the always-connected shopper by evolving your marketing strategies, notably making mobile a top priority.

Merchant ads can be found in Amazon.com search results — labeled "sponsored" — and now the company is making merchant ads available in search results on mobile devices. Because advertisers are likely to see an increased number of impressions and clicks to their ads as a result, merchants should closely monitor and evaluate their campaign budgets. Amazon allows its merchants to spend more for exposure in search results through its advertising programs. Amazon Product Ads are links to products available from other websites, while Amazon Sponsored Products are advertisements for products available on Amazon.com.

The digital marketing initiative known as "My Weekly Ad" is helping CVS Caremark grow sales and deepen engagement with loyal customers by providing them with personalized versions of the retailer's weekly ad. The My Weekly Ad program was launched last fall and during a presentation at the IRI Summit CVS Caremark SVP of merchandising and retail pricing

Retailers are relying too heavily on coupons at the expense of more effective digital tactics, according to data from an analysis of ThinkVine customers with average annual sales of more than $1 billion. With the retail market shifting to omnichannel marketing in response to changing consumer behavior, marketers need to rethink the way they plan, forecast and optimize their marketing to keep pace.

Staples is testing a SMS program to see how customers respond when they receive offers on their phones as part of a broader strategy to cater to mobile shoppers both in-store and online. The text messaging test is being promoted via signage in all stores and is the office supplies retailer's first attempt at leveraging SMS to activate shoppers. During the test, Staples will be focused on how to deliver content that's relevant to consumers on an ongoing basis. "We're in the early stages," said Faisal Masud, executive vice president of global e-commerce at Staples. 

In 2014, technology investments will account for more than 30 percent of Nordstrom's CapEx investment plan, up from roughly 20 percent in previous years. The retailer is also refreshing stores more efficiently by letting the customer experience — rather than the age of the store — drive the process. To keep pace with the ongoing evolution of retail, Nordstrom is also adjusting its investments to better support its multichannel growth strategy and achieve greater mobile execution. It's very clear that advancements in technology, specifically in e-commerce and mobile, are redefining the customer experience across all channels.