Toys "R" Us, Amazon and Target attract shoppers with the highest mobile capacity, according to a report from Prosper Insights & Analytics. The "Prosper Mobile Aptitude Scores for Toy Retailers" report looked at the top toy retailers' average shoppers to determine which retailers had more mobile-minded shoppers. While Toys "R" Us, Amazon and Target scored the highest, Walmart, Kohl's and Kmart's shoppers showed lower mobile aptitude levels than the general population. "Mobile technology can be a little tricky for retailers," said Chrissy Wissinger, director of communications at Prosper Insights & Analytics, Worthington, OH. "On one hand it provides a great …

French leather goods maker Longchamp is promoting its pre-spring collection, while stoking consumers' interest in holiday shopping with an interactive wishlist application found on its Facebook page. The "My Wishlist" app helps consumers create gift ideas for all the people on their list by selecting items from the pre-spring collection as well as curated gifts from the marketer's men's and women's lines. Looking toward the upcoming season is an interesting tactic that allows Longchamp to be in the moment, yet keep an eye on the future.

Vodafone is rolling out its Near Feld Communications-based mobile wallet service in Europe, and said this is the first European mobile payment service to be based on the open-standard GlobalPayment platform. The Vodafone SmartPass service is the first application designed for Vodafone Wallet and has been developed in partnership with Visa. Vodafone SmartPass can be funded when needed and enables customers to pay for goods with their smartphone at any Visa contactless payment terminal in retailers around the world, including more than 1.2 million in Europe, Vodafone added.

Mobile-savvy consumers downloaded fewer applications and spent less on apps and downloadable content in 2013 than the year before, according to a new report by Deloitte. Deloitte's "2013 Global Mobile Consumer" survey found that the number of app downloads and per app spending decreased 13 percent from 2012 to 2013 in the United States. While the decrease was consistent among smartphone users across other countries surveyed, as well, the app marketspace retains its potential over the long term.

EBay wants to scale up its Connected Glass program at the national and even international level, enabling consumers around the world to touch a glass window and shop products, with purchases completed from a mobile phone. From an initial pilot in New York City with Kate Spade earlier this year, the strategy has been expanded to the Westfield San Francisco Centre mall, where virtual storefronts are in place for Sony, Rebecca Minkoff and Toms. Starting this week, mall shoppers are able to walk up to one of the glass panels, click or swipe it with their fingers to browse products, …

According to the new JiWire Mobile Audience Insights Report the mobile space is ripe for CPG brands, thanks to the new 'always on' mobile consumer. According to the report nearly two-thirds of shoppers are now making mobile lists before shopping and are adding items to those digital lists once they see a mobile ad. In addition, 69% have said mobile ads/content, like recipes, 'enhance their in-store experience'. "CPG brands have an invaluable opportunity to engage and influence consumers at every point in their purchase path thanks to the role mobile now plays in the grocery shopping experience," said David Staas, …

Alibaba, one of China's largest retail organizations, has entered into a new agreement with Intime Department Store. Intime currently operates 37 retail stores in China and had been looking to establish a stronger presence in the mobile sector. This interest aligns with Alibaba's own plans and the two companies have agreed to work together to make mobile payments more accessible to consumers. This will be accomplished by Intime incorporating support for the Alipay Wallet application into its stores. Alipay was launched in January of this year and represents Alibaba's approach to mobile commerce.

Online sales traffic surged 16.3% yesterday compared to Click Frenzy event in 2012 and mobile traffic was up 33%, according to IBM's tracking figures. Australians flocked online to kick-start Christmas shopping and take advantage of discounts. But despite one of the highest smartphone penetrations in the world, the locals aren't sealing the deal on their phones. Traffic spikes during the 24 hour shopathon occurred around 9:30pm and 11:30am as people piled in after dinner, and again during mid-morning breaks.

McDonald's has been experimenting with mobile engagement recently. The company has been adorning food packages with QR codes in an effort to connect with mobile consumers more effectively. Mobile commerce has now caught the attention of the fast food corporation and it plans to begin testing a new NFC-based payment service in Belgium in 2014. McDonald's will be working with Seamless, a Swedish mobile payments firm, for this initiative. Seamless has partnered with the Bpost Bank in order to allow the bank's customers to make mobile payments at McDonald's restaurants located in Belgium. Seamless' Seqr mobile wallet will be used …

When it comes to the adoption of smartphone based payments, one of the biggest concerns of consumers is mobile security, and for good reason, according to the latest data that has revealed that fraud in this area is a growing trend and it is coming at a considerable price. The m-payments market was slow to get started, but it is experiencing some growth. However, at the same time that m-payments are slowly growing, mobile security risks are increasing rapidly and are expected by experts to increase at a more rapid pace in coming years. This problem is expanded when m-commerce …