'Net Features : digby

Digby Does Location-Based Mobile Marketing

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:50:00 GMT

Multi-channel mobile engagement and commerce solution Digby announced the launch of its LocalPoint platform at the National Retail Federation show this week.

The platform enables brands to create “geo-fences” around their brick-and-mortar stores and other points of interest and embed that data into their applications. This enables Digby, and in turn the brand, to measure app engagement and events such as geo-fence entries and exits, store visits, UPC/QR code scans and other shopping oriented events including store visits. In the end, this enables brands to deliver better (read more targeted) messaging through the branded app.

“Multichannel retailers in particular should recognize that they need a twofold objective with their smartphone presences: enabling sales, but also serving store shoppers,”¹ stated report author Sucharita Mulpuru, VP and Principal Analyst, Forrester Research, Inc. “Because the primary use cases of mobile devices are to support multi-channel experiences (e.g., finding more product information in stores, identifying store locations), it is imperative to include multichannel sales influence in any mobile ROI estimates.”

M-commerce Set for Lift-off

Mike Phillips — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 18:16:00 GMT

A few separate stories this week point directly to mobile commerce, and show that many businesses are preparing for the next big e-commerce trend.

To start, a report by Arc Worldwide titled, "Marketing to the Mobile Shopper," finds that out of 1,800 U.S. mobile phone owners, half of them use their devices to augment their shopping both in stores and online. "Heavy" mobile shoppers use their devices vigorously, while "light" mobile shoppers only use the device for tasks such as looking up store hours and locations -- still considered a mobile shopping experience. According to the report, light shoppers will develop into heavy shoppers, so retailers need to prepare for both.

Next, Digby, a service that helps retailers design and deploy m-commerce sites and apps, announced that they raised another $8 million in funding, bringing their total to $16 million. Some of Digby's high-profile clients include Costco and The Home Depot. They also have a deal with AT&T to power its m-commerce software platform for developers.

Finally, Adobe Scene7 announced that Very.co.uk (UK's largest online and home shopping retailer) is using Adobe Scene7 to make their entire catalog viewable and interactive across mobile devices, including video capabilities (more than 1,800 of them), and functions such as tapping to change the color of a product. Very UK is the first retailer in the UK to use the system.

"We want to provide the best online experience possible for our customers by ensuring the experience on our new mobile app is as engaging as our websites," said Neal Preece, e-Commerce Director at Shop Direct.

M-commerce is in a natural evolution process, as devices become more capable and users more savvy. The "Year of the Mobile" is already in full swing (maybe even passed) and the "Year of M-commerce" is approaching. How will you prepare?

A&F Go Mobile with Digby

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:59:00 GMT

Abercrombie & Fitch have tapped Dibby for some support in going mobile. The retailer selected the provider of mobile commerce solutions to build, manage and operate mobile storefronts for both its Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister Co. brands.

A&F and its Hollister brand can expect to see availability of their sites on all Web-enabled devices, with rich application support, mobile marketing capabilities and in-store and proximity marketing capabilities.

“Providing our users with a superior mobile experience was a key driver for us in choosing Digby as a partner in our mobile initiative,” said Kristi Decker, Director, Online Merchandising for Abercrombie & Fitch. “Digby meets our high standards for delivering a consistent and positive brand experience, while utilizing a software platform that will scale with us as we expand into applications for the iPhone, BlackBerry and various Android devices. Mobile storefronts are our next step in extending the ultimate convenience and flexibility to our young, progressive customer base for whom mobile is a way of life.”

The rise of mobile commerce in retail continues to grow rapidly. According to the most recent Deloitte Annual Holiday Survey, 19 percent of shoppers this holiday season expected to use their phones to assist in their holiday shopping to find store locations, check prices, read reviews and make purchases. Apparel retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch are on the leading edge of mobile commerce, second only to mass merchants in categories of online retailers that are entering the mobile channel.