Tag: retail mobile commerce

Macy’s continues engaging mobile consumers

| January 24, 2013

Macy’s finds success through focus on mobile space

Retail giant Macy’s has been working to engage mobile consumers in a more dynamic way recently. The retailer has seen its customers evolve over the years, with more people becoming apt to use their mobile devices to shop and make purchases. At times, these consumers have been difficult to appeal to because of the lack of mobile services the retailer employed in the past. Over the past two years, however, Macy’s has established a strong grip on mobile consumers and continues to look for ways to engage these people with the services they have come to expect from the retailer.

QR codes and application overhaul provide better service to consumers

In the months leading up to the 2012 holiday shopping season, Macy’s began to use QR codes to direct consumers to digital content that could be found on the retailer’s mobile website. The company also launched a major overhaul of its mobile application, updating the platform to be more accommodating of mobile commerce. Macy’s saw 44% of the applications existing users download the updated version of the application before Black Friday last year. The overhaul spurred a 19% growth in the application’s user base.

Mobile commerce proves popularmacy's mobile consumers

In the retailer’s 39,000-square-foot store in Herald Square, New York City, store associates make use of mobile devices to provide information to customers concerning inventory and particular, often difficult to find, items. These devices are also used to process mobile payments. Macy’s recently began accepting mobile payments made through the use of Google Wallet and the retailer is part of a pilot project for Isis, one of the main competitors of Google Wallet, in Utah and Texas.

Macy’s finds balance in mobile focus

Macy’s has positioned itself to take advantage of the growing interest consumers are showing in mobile commerce. The retailer has managed to make itself stand out from amongst the competition by finding ways to engage mobile consumers and, more importantly, direct them to physical stores throughout the country. A focus on mobile consumers has, in the past, backfired for many retailers, leading many consumers to stop coming to physical stores. Macy’s seems to have found the appropriate balance to avoid this pitfall.

Sephora sees big results from mobile commerce

| January 23, 2013

Sephora Mobile CommerceSephora finds promise in focus on mobile commerce

Mobile commerce has been a very strong boon to the retail industry. Beauty products specialist Sephora has seen major gains through its focus on mobile commerce and consumers with mobile devices. Sephroa director of mobile and digital store marketing Johnna Marcus notes that the company saw a significant increase in mobile orders over the past year, as well as an increase in mobile traffic. The company is expected to see similar results in 2013 as it continues its focus on mobile commerce.

Company sees 167% spike in mobile orders

According to Marcus, Sephora saw a 167% increase in mobile orders in 2012 and a 75% increase in online traffic from mobile devices. The company attributes these results to its ongoing campaign to engage consumers through a variety of mobile initiatives and services tailored for mobile commerce. One of the measures Sephora has taken to engage mobile consumers comes in the form of an application, which provides users with an array of “personal assistant” features that could be useful in shopping.

Retail mobile commerce expected to account for $37 billion in 2013

A recent report from eMarketer, a leading market research organization, predicts that consumers will purchase more than $37.44 billion in retail goods this year. All of these purchases will be done from either a smart phone or tablet, thanks to the growing variety of mobile commerce services being made available to consumers. Sephora expects to see a significant number of its sales come from the mobile space.

Sephora not alone in focus on mobile commerce

Sephora is not the only retail company that has high hopes hinging on mobile commerce. Indeed, mobile commerce seems to be all the rage within the retail industry, with many companies working on ways to directly engage mobile consumers and encourage mobile shopping and spending. Much of the interest surrounding mobile commerce in the retail industry may come from the strong results retailers saw during the 2012 holiday shopping season, when many of their most ambitious mobile commerce initiatives paid off.