Bonial International Group today has launched a mobile application called Retale to help United States retailers deliver the traditional circular in a new format. A number of other organizations such as the Associated Press have already tried to put out a centralized mobile circular app for retailers, but Retale is confident that it has created the winning solution. Bonial International Group has already launched similar apps in Germany, France, Russia, Spain and Brazil, and it has accumulated more than 500 European retailers already.

Kellogg is taking its augmented reality initiatives up a notch by focusing on entertainment content that brings static packaging to life. The CPG giant is teaming up with Live Nation to roll out an app that lets consumers scan boxes to unlock branded and entertainment content. The app serves up content from four different musicians: Chris Daughtry, Jesse & Joy, Conor Maynard and Kellie Pickler. "We know Kellogg's consumers frequently use their phones for music and entertainment," said Jacqueline Peterson, spokeswoman for Live Nation, New York.

As the percentage of affluent shoppers purchasing on mobile devices continues to rise, the need for well-curated digital applications that mirror the in-store experience will increase. Bringing the responsive and immersive nature of in-store customer service to apps will help brands foster loyalty across platforms. Education paired with aspects that recreate the service found in-store will engage consumers and likely create repeat users. "Apps that recreate the in-store experience are convenient for consumers to sample some of the store's features without leaving their sofas or needing to extend any efforts beyond the use of their thumbs on their smartphones," said …

Leading market research firm eMarketer has released a new report concerning the state of the mobile commerce sector. The report highlights various aspects of the mobile commerce space, shedding some light on the factors influencing its growth and the challenges it faces around the world. Mobile commerce has been seeing strong growth over the past two years as consumers become more integrated with mobile technology. The proliferation of smartphones and tablets has exposed consumers to a variety of mobile services that they are showing a great deal of enthusiasm for. According to the report from eMarketer, mobile commerce now accounts …

Mobetize, a mobile money enabler offering partners technologies for digital and mobile commerce payment services, has signed a partnership agreement with RentMoola to bring mobile rent payments to Canadian tenants and landlords. Under the terms of the deal, Mobetize will provide the technology and RentMoola will offer its PCI-compliant platform which enable property managers to receive mobile rent payments from their tenants. RentMoola allows tenants to use credit cards to make auto-recur and one-time payments from 100 countries. Through the partnership with Mobetize, operators will now be able to promote services such as money remittance and transfer, bill management and …

Strategy Analytics reduced its outlook for near field communications-based mobile retail payments, blaming tepid retailer adoption, slow operator rollouts and limited availability of NFC-capable handsets. Strategy Analytics forecasts that by 2017, 115 million NFC-equipped mobile device owners will spend just over $48 billion using their phones to complete in-store transactions. This past May, the firm projected worldwide mobile payments would reach $1 trillion by 2017, crediting rapid growth of NFC technologies driven by handset and point-of-sale terminal upgrades.

Mobile commerce is beginning to show signs of healthy growth throughout Europe. Many consumers in Europe have become heavily reliant on their smartphones and tablets, and these devices play a significant role in their daily lives. A new report from leading research firm comScore shows that the European mobile retail audience is showing signs of exponential growth as consumers begin to look for more efficient alternatives to traditional payment platforms. According to comScore, the European mobile retail audience has grown by 43% from May to August of this year, reaching 31 million. The firm reports that 20% of all smartphone …

Mobile commerce at Argos more than doubled in the first half of its financial year to account for 16% of sales, one year into the general retailer's digital transformation plan. Some 43% of its total sales were made online, including through its Check & Reserve service, with commerce over both tablets and smartphones growing by 124%, and powered by new smartphone and tablet apps. In all, multichannel sales now represent 52% of Argos total sales - some GBP899m during the period. Meanwhile, sister company Homebase [IRDX RHMB] saw multichannel sales grow by 28% in the half-year.

It has not been a terrific year for eBay, but more of a middling one. After years of restructuring the company and retooling its offerings, the e-commerce company seems to be hitting something of a soft patch that, while far from derailing its comeback, is taking a good amount of the wind out of it. eBay's stock is up 2% so far in 2013. Not bad in itself but lagging the Nasdaq's 30% gain in the same period. eBay rival Amazon is also up 30%, while other big-name tech companies have rallied even higher: Google up 40%, Yahoo up 72%, …

A Boku executive at the Media Tech Summit 2013 conference said that offline media including everything from billboards, print advertisements and television are still a new opportunity with mobile payments. The "Lightning Round: Why You Must Pay Attention - Mobile Payments Are Here To Stay" session gave attendees an overview of all the different types of mobile payments that are available to marketers. Additionally, the executive spoke about why mobile payments are more than simply a fad.