Mobile Marketing

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.

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.

Amazon launched a new app to support AmazonFresh on Android phones. Users can shop complete grocery and selected Amazon.com aisles, choose home delivery times, view past purchases, and place orders. The app also enables users to scan the barcodes of products and automatically add them to a shopping list.

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.

The back-to-school shopping season is a perfect opportunity for marketers, especially in retail, to get in front of their target customers who are hungry for information to make purchases. Last year we saw a lift of 500 percent in mobile searches for retail and consumer electronics categories over the summer months.

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.

The new ScanLife Mobile Barcode Trend Report illustrates continued growth in barcode scanning and reflects on the accelerated adoption of mobile barcode technology, including QR codes, by code publishers and end users.

Best Buy launched the first campaign under the new partnership between mobile shopping application ShopSavvy and vertical ad network Longboard Media. The campaign is currently running with targeted and location-based feature offers, local store inventory, and branding content delivered when ShopSavvy users scan relevant products with their smartphones at Best Buy locations.

Retail giant IKEA is establishing itself in the mobile space via an integrated campaign that not only drives consumers to its locations, but also helps build the company’s email and SMS database.