After Columbia's first mobile advertising campaign targeting users at hyperlocal level delivered a click-through rate 54 percent above the industry average as well as strong engagement with click-to-call and map elements, the sportswear brand is planning to repeat the strategy this year. The campaign ran during the fourth quarter of 2013 with the goal of driving mobile users into nearby retailers such as Dick's Sporting Goods, REI and Sports Authority, where the brand's products are available. In addition to leveraging location data, ads were also targeted based on users' recent search history on mobile.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts has seen a surge in mobile this past quarter with mobile bookings growing five times faster than Web bookings did ten years ago. In addition to bookings shifting to mobile, general site traffic has also been taking place on mobile devices. Mobile accounts for 42 percent of Starwood's site visits, up from 16 percent just two years ago. "As Tom Friedman recently pointed out in an op-ed piece, we're living in a world of exponential change, where consumers have unprecedented access to information and the ability to use that information in new ways," said Frits D. …

Going mobile and tapping on e-commerce will be key to driving more sales in the luxury market, according to Singapore-based TWG Tea. "Luxury sales is 5 percent driven by mobile," said Maranda Barnes, TWG Tea's co-founder and director of communications & business development. She was speaking at a media briefing for the launch of the company's mobile app. The app also helps address various challenges faced by customers, particularly new ones. With over 800 tea selections on the menu, the process of choosing can be a daunting experience for some, explained Barnes. Having the app breaks down the info through …

Voice-based mobile authentication provider Voicekey has been awarded the second phase of a small business research initiative m-commerce contract by the U.K. government's innovation agency, the Technology Strategy Board. SBRI contracts are being promoted by the Home Office, the U.K. government ministry responsible for internal affairs, as a way to stimulate the development of innovative m-commerce products that prevent fraud and increase accessibility for all. The award of a Phase 2 contract follows completion by Nottingham, U.K-based Voicekey of its Phase 1 contract. Dr Tony Allen, Voicekey's CEO, said in a statement that the Phase 2 contract will lead to …

Mobile commerce has been seeing some strong growth throughout the U.S. Many people are beginning to use their mobile devices to shop online more regularly and these people tend to spend more money through their mobile devices than they would normally spend at physical stores. U.S. Bancorp has plans to take advantage of the growing craze surrounding mobile shopping by developing a shopping application of its own. To accomplish this task, the organization has partnered with Monitise. Demand for new mobile commerce platforms has been on the rise for some time. As consumers become more comfortable with mobile shopping, they …

Cheil Worldwide has released the results of a recent survey concerning the growth of mobile commerce in the United Kingdom. Consumers in the UK have been growing increasingly mobile as they begin to rely more heavily on their smartphones and tablets. As such, they have begun using these devices to shop more frequently. Mobile commerce allows consumers to shop online from a mobile device wherever they are and this concept has become quite attractive to many people in the United Kingdom. According to the survey, the mobile commerce market has grown by 63% over the past five years. The majority …

Priceline.com has launched the newest version of its Android application that was designed specifically for the operating system. The release is part of Priceline's commitment to developing customized native apps for every device and platform. As opposed to creating one universal app and copying it for different devices, Priceline is strategically building unique apps for each device and platform. "Like many companies, we started with a heavy iOS focus, as that's what our customers were using most then," said John Caine, chief product officer of Priceline, Norwalk, CT. "As Android handset usage has grown, we evolved our strategy and today …

While MCX moved one step closer to bringing its proposed mobile payments solution to market this week with the announced Paydiant partnership, an actual launch date has still not been set. MCX, a consortium of retailers working on mobile payments, was first announced in 2012 and had been expected to launch late last year. However, the partnership with Paydiant is an important step as it gives an idea of what the final solution might look like, such as that individual retailers will be able to integrate MCX into their own mobile applications. "MCX will use Paydiant's cloud-based, white label platform …

Generating over $330 million in revenue last year, Line has shown the world how a messaging app can earn boatloads of money. During a visit to Line's Tokyo office, COO Idezawa Takeshi, revealed that games accounted for 60 percent of its revenue. The rest is split equally between stickers and business services like official accounts and branded stickers on Line. As its current business model stabilizes, Line is constantly searching for new ways to engage users while continuing to drive revenues. One of its most recent efforts to do so has been in e-commerce. For example, cosmetic brand Maybelline conducted …

China may have become the most attractive market in the mobile commerce sector. The country's retailers have been showing more support for mobile consumers in recent years, but Alibaba, the country's largest e-commerce group, has grown more aggressive in the mobile sector than any other group. The company has seen a great deal of promise in the mobile commerce space and recently launched the Alipay platform, which enabled consumers to make mobile payments while shopping. According to Alibaba, the Alipay platform has completed more mobile payment transactions in 2013 than PayPal and Square combined. Some 2.78 billion transactions from 100 …