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Mcommerce investment earned back by Crocs in 2 months

| March 10, 2014

The company’s move to create a smartphone specific website has rapidly paid for itself.

According to two execs from Crocs, their recent decision to create a website that was specific for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets has been a tremendous success, as the mcommerce site was able to earn back the money needed for its creation within a period of only two months.

The channel has clearly shown itself to have tremendous profit potential, when used correctly.

This information was revealed at the “Increasing Mobile Conversion through an Emphasis on Usability and Design” session at eTail West. Also speaking were execs from Skava and the Wyndham Hotel, with Artisan Mobile’s CEO, Bob Moul, acting as moderator. Throughout the discussions regarding the advantages of mcommerce, the global ecommerce mobile product manager from Crocs, Keith Baltus, pointed out that while the conversion rate that is currently generated over smartphones may be quite low at the moment, every little bit goes a long way in terms of elevating the results that are achieved.

The affordability of mcommerce makes it possible for some experimentation.

Baltus admitted that he had felt “pretty conservative” about the forecasts that he was expecting from the mobile commerce website. He felt that there would likely be an incremental revenue increase of about 5 percent per locale per device. That said, he has now seen that they essentially “blew that out of the water”. Within the first two months of having launched the smartphone friendly site, they’d already paid back their investment.Mcommerce - Crocs

Until the new site for mobile shopping was put into place, Crocs had been relying on a desktop site that would render for mobile. However, this latest investment brought a new second website that was dedicated specifically to smartphones and tablets and the effort has caused mcommerce conversion rates to spike. In fact, in some of the company’s Asian markets, there has been an increase of close to 100 percent.

As the discussion continued, Baltus pointed out that conversion over smartphones rose by 50 percent and tablet based conversions received a 10 percent boost. He underlined usability as one of the primary drivers of the improvements that were recorded. Crocs notes that smartphones currently account for 7% of its e-commerce revenue, with tablets accounting for 13% of total e-commerce revenue.

Wearable technology can “stick it in your ear”, literally!

| March 10, 2014

Researchers in Japan are now testing a very small computer that can fit into the human ear.

As wearable technology explodes, particularly in the form of smartwatches, researchers in Japan are taking things a step further and are developing a tiny personal computer that a user can wear in his or her ear.

Users would control this device with a click of the tongue or a blink of the eye.

This wearable technology weighs only 17 grams and is completely wireless. It uses Bluetooth to connect with other devices and is equipped with a battery, speaker, microphone, compass, GPS, barometer, and gyro-sensor. Computing in the form of wearables is believed to be the latest thing in tech, but this latest development is easily among the smallest and most hands-free that has made its way to the headlines.

Other forms of wearable technology are notably larger, such as Google Glass, and Samsung Galaxy Gear 2.

This particular wearable technology for the ear is being called the “Earclip-type Wearable PC”, for the moment. It has microchip and data storage, which gives users the ability to load software. This, according to Kazuhiro Taniguchi, an engineer at the Hiroshima City University. The designs for the device are based on the traditional Japanese flower arrangements known as “ikebana”.wearable technology Earclip-type Wearable PC

Taniguchi explained that the team of mobile developers created the device so that people would be able to think of wearing it in the same way that they would think about wearing earrings. The prototype for the gadget was demonstrated in black and had an overall comparable look to the sports style earbuds that wrap around the ear, or a single ear telephone headset.

The researchers are working to have this wearable technology ready by the holiday shopping season in 2015. At that time, users will be able to connect the device to their mobile devices such as an iPod or other gadgets that allow the user to navigate through various apps. All the user will need to do is change his or her facial expression, such as through a nose wiggle, a tongue movement, a raised brow, or even clenched teeth. Within the device inside the ear, infrared sensors detect the facial movements and respond accordingly.