The mobile sales channel has seen a lot of hype in the run up to Christmas both last year and this year. There's no doubt that many companies have invested considerable sums in their m-commerce channels: according to US consultancy, the E-tailing Group, 30 percent of retailers spent more than $100,000 on m-commerce platforms last year. Surprisingly though, while mobile commerce technology continues to evolve, research from SDL shows that the majority of consumers in the UK (64 percent) are not using tablets or smartphones to purchase gifts any more this year than they did in 2012. This might lead …

Very few entrepreneurs quit their day job outright when they launch a new business version: they're often trying to make things work after business hours until they hit the tipping point where it's "safe" to go things on their own. That means the technology they use to build their initial business needs to be simple (yet professional) and (everyone's favorite adjective) cost-effective. That's the crowd that e-commerce service provider Weebly, a San Francisco-based startup funded by the likes of Sequoia Capital, Baseline Ventures, Ron Conway and Y Combinator, is seeking to attract. The company got its start as a Web …

Customers at participating Tim Horton's stores throughout Canada and the U.S. using BlackBerry 10 smartphones will be able to register a Tim Card on the TimmyMe mobile app and use NFC tap-to-pay technology to complete their order. Future development plans will also see this platform expanded to Android 4.4 devices. Tim Hortons has also launched a barcode payment pilot program in the Niagara region in Canada and at select U.S. Tim Hortons Cafe & Bake Shop restaurants in Maine, Michigan, New York, and Ohio. The barcode technology, which provides a scan-to-pay option once a Tim Card has been registered on …

After integrating Google Wallet Instant Buy into their mobile sites or applications, Rue La La, Newegg and Fancy all saw an increase in conversion rates from standard mobile checkout. The mobile checkout solution's success points to Google Wallet's increased competition with players such as PayPal, but also underscores a shift in Google Wallet's strategy from in-store to online. Rue La La's conversion rates have increased four-fold compare to other Android app shoppers, Newegg has been seeing mobile Web shoppers convert 100 percent more often and Fancy has seen its conversions increase by 20 percent.

Southwest Airlines has added a new option for in-flight Wi-Fi, allowing consumers to communicate via iChat without paying for full Internet connection. The messaging functionality will work throughout the entire flight, from gate to gate. Southwest Airlines partnered with connectivity provider Global Eagle Entertainment to launch the new service. The introductory price for the messaging service is $2 per day, but the cost is subject to change in the coming weeks and months

Just a few years ago, retailers were trying to figure out what the heck HTML5 was. Today, HTML5 is a widely used tool that helps retailers enhance their sites optimized for smartphones and for tablets-desktop e-commerce sites, too-making mobile sites look and function more like their slick, richer mobile app counterparts. 230, or 46%, of the merchants in the 2014 Internet Retailer Mobile 500 use HTML5 in their mobile commerce web sites, while 181 merchants in the 2013 Internet Retailer Mobile 400 used HTML5, according to data in Internet Retailer's Top500Guide.com.

London department store Harrods is using its iPad magazine application to mimic an in-store makeup trial to strengthen mobile commerce beauty sales. Found in the December/January 2014 issue of Harrods' magazine app, the interactive "Makeup Studio" features four high-end beauty lines carried by the retailer. Interactive digital content that allows consumers to "try on" a product or see how an item works mirrors the in-store experience and empowers consumers with a better understanding of products.

Keeping the purchase process short and sweet is driving mobile sales for two merchants using a checkout program from Google Inc. for Android apps and mobile commerce sites that enables shoppers to purchase in two clicks. Google introduced the offering, called the Instant Buy Application Programming Interface, or API, to its Google Wallet payments service in May. Consumers who have signed up for Google Wallet can now check out in Android apps and via mobile sites that have implemented Instant Buy without having to manually enter their billing or shipping information. Consumers use payment information they have stored with Google …

Electronic retailers in China have kicked off an online shopping festival, with the hope of encouraging more consumers to shop using their mobile phones. Known as "Double-12", it follows the success of a similar shopping campaign last month. From consumer electronics to groceries, Chinese consumers are increasingly turning to the Internet for their shopping Hoping to cash in on the year-end spending spree, online retailers have come up with a fresh campaign. On Thursday, apart from the usual consumer items, 16 horses, more than 30 houses and cars from judicial auction - seized in lawsuits by local courts - were …

European c-level executives believe that market expansion presents a real e-commerce growth opportunity in 2014, according to new research released today from CyberSource, a Visa Inc company. The Payment Management Perspectives study, conducted among European executives, revealed that 86% are planning to increase focus on expanding their e-commerce business into new markets in 2014. Emerging economies represent a significant opportunity, with their plentiful active online shoppers, high mobile usage, and untapped consumer potential. However, executives cite that growth inhibitors-including inconsistent data privacy and security standards, market uncertainty and insight, as well as a need for confident fraud management-must be addressed.