Frito-Lay is enhancing an in-store promotion via an augmented reality mobile application enabling shoppers to interact with characters from the popular Skylanders Giants game. Users can download the free Skylanders Giants In-Store Adventure app and then scan in-store displays as well as special-edition Frito-Lay variety packs to see one of the characters from the game appear on their mobile device. This is the second year that Frito-Lay and Activision, which makes Skylanders Giants, have partnered on an in-store promotion and the first that includes augmented reality as a key activation mechanism.

Online reservation service OpenTable is testing a mobile payment system to let restaurant diners pay for a meal through the company's mobile application. OpenTable already lets consumers book a restaurant reservation via a Web site and a mobile app. The company is currently testing a mobile payment system in 20 select restaurants in San Francisco and plans to expand to other restaurants later this year, according to the New York Times.

If you've ever made a purchase on your smartphone or tablet, you're part of a rapidly growing trend called mobile commerce. The convenience of mobile commerce (m-commerce) has made it a popular choice among consumers over the past several years, and it has quickly become a large part of today's shopping landscape. Despite this popularity, a new study finds that consumers' expectations for their mobile shopping experience aren't being met.

Japanese retailer Yummie House is piloting a new mobile rewards solution at 10 stores in Shanghai, China. Yummie House is using a joint application from Appconomy and ByteLight that combines the cloud-based Appconomy Platform mobile marketing platform solution with ByteLight light field communication (LFC) technology. LFC readers transmit a signal via short-range light which is picked up by a shopper's camera-equipped mobile device by touching or bringing within close proximity.

Campaigner has just revealed the results of a national survey that it commissioned, in which it was discovered that more than 37 percent of consumers are undecided about the way that they feel about the impact that mobile marketing emails are having on them. Only a small number of them had actually bought anything in their smartphone or tablet because of an email. The survey revealed that only approximately 6 percent of the respondents had actually purchased a product or service over their smartphone or tablet as a result of having received a mobile marketing email. For this reason, many …

Tech-savvy European travelers are ignoring travel agents and instead using mobile and online sites to book their vacations, according to a new report from Tradedoubler Insight Unit. The study looked at 2,500 tech-savvy travelers, defined as smartphone users who shop at least once a month online from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Poland. Among other results, the report showed that one in five of those tech-savvy travelers book their vacation via mobile.

A new survey conducted by online retailer, Kalahari.com, indicates that mobile shopping using tablets is on the rise - but smartphones are still firmly in the driving seat of mobile commerce. According to kalahari.com's 2013 mobile shopping survey, tablet ownership has increased 10% amongst its customers, with 40% of shoppers using the platform to shop online.

Online consumers in the United States are motivated by the ability to conduct transactions across multiple channels with convenience and positive shipping experiences. These are two of the key findings of a new study from UPS and comScore, "Pulse of the Online Shopper." The study of more than 3,000 online U.S. shoppers conducted in February 2013 reveals that overall customer satisfaction with e-commerce is high at 83%. Ease of checkout (81%) and variety of brands and products offered (80%) are among the specific areas of e-commerce with which consumers are most satisfied, while satisfaction rates are much lower for ability …

Mobile payments in China are set for explosive growth over the next few years. A new report from the Internet Society of China shows that consumers are becoming more involved in mobile commerce, showing favor for shopping online with their mobile devices. These devices represent convenient access to goods that consumers are interested in and provide them with the ability to purchase these products wherever they are and at any time. The report predicts that Chinese mobile payments will surpass $1.45 trillion by 2015.