Mobile Marketing best at fostering brand-consumer relationships

Research finds most retailers have still not adopted a mobile strategy.

While reading Response Magazine the other day, I ran into a few articles that looked at the adoption of mobile at various retailers. While nothing shocks me, it still resonates that most businesses are operating without a concerted mobile and social strategy.

Consider some of these statistics:

• Only 33 percent of businesses currently have a mobile strategy in place. All respondents to a survey suggested they plan on having one in the next 12 months (source: King Fish Media).
• Less than 20 percent are currently conducting mobile commerce, mainly through the mobile web, and respondents suggest it will grow next year – in 2012.
• 24 percent reported that their mobile strategy “exceeded or performed as expected” while another 30% had not measured it at all.
• 34-percent of the group said they would be keeping track of results.

As retail continues to embrace mobile marketing and mobile commerce, data analytics and reporting will become the focus and centerpiece for this key channel. Another statistic from the survey also found that forty-one percent of those surveyed said “future mobile marketing programs will need to show a positive return” for them to continue with such initiatives. Without key metrics in place, it will be like the wild-west with direct response and brand marketers shooting into the air versus shooting fish in a bucket.

At QWASI, we recently unveiled our updated Synchrosy Methodology for enterprise clients. Specifically within retail, we have had great success helping our clients analyze their business through a variety of lenses and then we create solutions that drive the desired interaction and/or transaction. It is different for each business, so our engagement approach varies too. However, based on the variety of ROI metrics retailers embrace, it’s most effective for their management team to monitor and track while staying in the drivers seat running their day-to-day business.

We hope you’d give us a chance to introduce your business to Synchrosy and drive results with a fresh, innovative and results-oriented mobile and social strategy.

May 26, 2011 in Blog   |   No Comments

The Mobile Shopper Unleashed!

Black Friday 2009 was a success for mobile retailers – those who target and offer services for shoppers on the go. And while retailers are reviewing their sales targets and scrambling to hit end of year numbers for Christmas 2009, the holiday shopping season most notably will prove to be the year mobile commerce has arrived.

New Apps like Price Scanning and Deal Alerts are help driving the frenzy across online and traditional brick and mortar stores. While most retailers were hoping for greater consumer spending, some figures early figures on mobile retailing over the three-day Black Friday weekend are sure to raise a few eyebrows:

According to the Yankee Group, some of the surprising news include:
* Mobile Payments are More Popular than ever: The WSJ reports that the number of mobile online payments made through Paypal on Black Friday is 650% higher than it was last year.

* Mobile Product Search has Grown: Siva Kumar, the chief executive of TheFind.com (a product search engine), has stated that the number of searches on mobile devices on Black Friday grew from 5,000 last year to 200,000 this year.

* Price Comparison Shopping Apps are More Popular: ShopSaavy, a comparison-shopping application for the iPhone, has reported that 1 million users scanned at least one product with the App’s barcode scanner over the three-day Black Friday weekend.

It’s no wonder that consumers are using their mobile phones more than ever in the discovery, research, planning and actual shopping. Data from the Yankee Group’s Consumer survey indicates that the holiday shopper of 2009 will not only be far more price sensitive than his 2008 predecessor, but will also increasingly rely on sales and price comparison tools when he does decide to spend his hard earned dollar.

That’s where mobile steps in to solve the challenge of comparison shopping. Today’s Smartphone provides access to pricing and product review information, product availability at the store level. It’s certainly becoming the “emerging as the tool of choice for any holiday shopper” looking to save some dough.

If you’re a retailer looking for mobile commerce solutions, consider many commerce services and applications from QWASI including:

Text Ordering

Using SMS, this service allows customers to order via any cell phone, anytime, anywhere through a few texts.

Mobile Apps

Launching an iPhone App or Blackberry App targeting on-the-go shoppers. However, not all apps are worth building. Consult before building an App.

WAP Site

The place most retailers start – this allows anyone with a data plan to access product information, reviews and checkout. Check out the QWASI PCI compliant shopping cart.

SMS Alerts

Drive sales online or in store with alerts and notifications. Include CTAs (call to action) including click-to-call, trackable WAP site links,  MMS and other push methods.

Mobile Loyalty

Allows companies to offer specials and promotions vis SMS. Track activity and reward/incentivize customer activity.

Mobile Optimized Email

A must for email today. Browser detection can quickly format the message for readability on smartphones.

Store Locators

Utilize SMS or WAP and tapping into Google Maps and other local-based services, let shoppers find you while out and about.

Custom Application and Interactive Programs

Building mobile mash-ups and multi-mobile commerce apps, provide multiple campaigns targeting mobile shoppers.

Check out QWASI’s Mobile Retail methodology and let QWASI take your company mobile and start generating new sales from today’s mobile consumers.

Call QWASI @ 877-747-9274.

December 7, 2009 in Blog   |   No Comments

Prom gone Mobile

QWASI launches integrated mobile marketing campaign for David’s Bridal Prom Mobile

PHILADELPHIA, May 6, 2009 – QWASI, a leading mobile marketing company, announced the launch of David’s Bridal Prom Mobile which allows girls to access the latest fashions for prom on their mobile phones. The Prom campaign was launched on QWASI’s Mobile Marketing Platform that enables David’s Bridal to tap into the power of mobile marketing. The campaign includes SMS promotions, a mobile site with a click-through slideshow of the retailer’s latest fashions, a store finder and send-to-friend capabilities.

Teenagers- or anyone for that matter- can text the keyword “PROM” to 74362 to get content on their cell phones, vote for their favorite dress styles, and get special targeted promotions leading up to the big day. They can also browse styles at the new mobile website, http://m.davidsprom.com,

“We have seen a positive reaction to our initial mobile marketing messages from our customer base. We utilized the mobile channel to communicate an urgent ‘last chance to enter’ message for a scholarship contest running on davidsprom.com. The mobile call to action produced a spike in contest entries 24 hours following the message, notes Carol Steinberg, VP, Internet, David’s Bridal Inc.

David’s Bridal launched their mobile initiative at the start of the Spring 2009 prom season. Interactive by nature, teenagers are the heaviest users of text messaging; according to a 2008 Nielsen Mobile report, the typical U.S. teen mobile subscriber (ages 13–17) now sends or receives 1,742 text messages per month (compared to making or receiving 231 mobile phone calls).

“We’re excited to see the early results from this text messaging campaign. It’s obvious that teenagers desire to engage in mobile campaigns. Brands have realized that it’s important to reach customers and David’s Bridal is clearly demonstrating the power and reach of mobile marketing,” says David Geipel, Co-Founder QWASI, Inc. “We created a complete mobile experience for their customers that helps teens identify their styles and browse dresses directly from their cell phone. They can then receive additional targeted offers, share the mobile site with their friends and have access to a store finder to locate local stores. Mobile is all about relevancy and interaction and they’ve nailed it in this one.”

QWASI provides agencies and retailers of all sizes the means of driving in-store traffic, increasing order size, building customer loyalty, improving communication and reaching new customers through an interactive mobile ordering solution. The Mobile Marketing and mCommerce Platform makes it easy for catalogers, ecommerce, retailers and brick-and-mortar companies to quickly realize the benefits of mobile through measurable mobile marketing campaigns.

ABOUT DAVID’S BRIDAL With more than 50 years of experience, David’s Bridal understands the importance of providing teens and brides-to-be with a vast selection of exquisitely crafted dresses, available at affordable prices. Today, with over 300 locations nationwide, David’s Bridal continues to expand its retail store locations, while maintaining its philosophy of superior quality, value and service. To locate a store nearby, consumers can call 1.877.706.PROM or visit www.davidsprom.com.

ABOUT QWASI
QWASI, Inc, is a leading Mobile Consultancy and Solutions provider of interactive applications for over 10,000 clients across the US utilizing SMS (text messaging), MMS, WAP and iPhone applications, Since 2004, QWASI has been providing mobile solutions including mobile marketing, mobile retail & mCommerce (mobile commerce), mobile search, chat and other interactive mobile platforms to Fortune 1000 clients in industries such as eCommerce, Retail, Financial Services, Real Estate and Enterprise Communications. The company has received multiple awards for its CellSigns Real Estate & Publishing services from Inman News and the NAA (Newspaper Association of America). QWASI can be found online at http://www.qwasi.com.

May 6, 2009 in Press Releases   |   No Comments

CellSigns’ client wins a 2008 NAA Digital Edge Award

The Palm Beach Post wins for Best Mobile Shopping Directory

NAA Digital Edge Awards – February 2008

The newspaper industry can’t let Google and Yahoo! and a slew of other international companies come into our local markets and take away mobile advertising revenue. Many of these dot-coms already are offering business directories via mobile, which list area hotels, restaurants and the such. We can’t give up this on-the-go audience. We need to own this local market as we do print and online.

To fight back, the staff of PalmBeachPost.com decided to offer every element of every display ad plus our classifieds via a mobile site and text messaging. Revenue for the first year is close to $750,000 with the largest sale being $40,000 to a grocery store.

Gina Wilcox, the digital development director, along with technical manager Dale Swain, mobile coordinator Shaun Flagg and online GM Dan Shorter created our site at shop.pbpost.com. “You can search about 25,000 goods and services that have appeared in Post ads in the past week. You can search for homes, pizza, cars, jobs or anything else that appeared in the paper. These items are also available on our Shopping channel. We even offer photos,” says Wilcox.

Some are images taken from display ads and then associated with the part of the print ad that was searched for. An example would be searching for a plasma TV and getting all the details in the display ad plus the color photo that ran with it.

We are already seeing people not just searching for plasma TVs but putting in specific UPC codes. It appears they are standing in one electronics store with their cell phone checking out inventories on our mobile site for competitors across town.

We also allow mobile device users without Web services to search via text messaging. They text shop to 72727 and then select a category. It takes a few more steps but they see the same items as on our mobile site.

We think mobile has a tremendous upside, since we know that more people in our market have cell phones and PDAs than have Internet connections.

Our vendor partner is CellSigns.

February 24, 2008 in Press Releases   |   No Comments