Target is looking to differentiate itself from the string of half-hearted attempts from retailers to drive commerce in real-time while consumers watch television with a new initiative with TBS that launched last night. During last night's airing of "Cougar Town" on TBS, Target set up a second-screen mobile and Web site that let consumers buy the retailer's products featured on-screen in real-time. Second-screen shoppable experiences have been talked about for quite some time, but few have been successful in building long-term engagement and brand awareness, which Target is hoping to tackle with digital and on-air initiatives that tie directly into …

The Alibaba Group, China's largest e-commerce organization, has announced plans to seek listing on the U.S. stock exchange. The company is preparing to launch an initial public offering (IPO), but has not yet released details concerning this process. Alibaba is currently considered one of the most successful e-commerce groups in the world and has been making a strong push into the mobile commerce sector. In order to provide its forthcoming IPO with additional momentum, Alibaba has been pushing to make its new taxi application more popular among consumers. The application takes advantage of a taxi-hailing service.

The People's Bank of China has issued two drafts concerning regulations for online payment providers. The regulations are meant to introduce new restrictions on the digital finance sector in order to provide more protections to consumers and businesses concerning mobile commerce. Mobile payments are still quite new and lack any comprehensive regulatory structure. Without adequate regulation, mobile payment services are not required to adhere to any specific standards, therefore leaving some consumers exposed to possible exploitation due to lack of security. The People's Bank of China has met with several organizations that operate within the mobile commerce field. The central …

Datawind, a Canadian mobile manufacturer that has already been making tablet commerce news headlines through its creation of the lowest cost device in this category, the UbiSlate 7Ci which retails for $37.99 still isn't cheap enough for the company which is now looking to reduce the cost of the ownership of these gadgets. The hope is that this low price will open up tablet commerce to pretty much anybody. According to the CEO of Datawind, Suneet Singh Tuli, "This idea is to bridge the digital divide, it's really that simple, the idea is to overcome the affordability barrier." The company …

Wearable technology is on the rise, but its ability to displace smartphones and tablets has yet to be seen. Smart watches and other wearable devices have attracted a great deal of attention, but many of these devices lack the features that have become commonplace with most mobile devices. PayPal and eBay are looking to ensure that wearable devices have a place to compete in the future and have taken a step to make these devices capable of participating in the mobile commerce space. Both eBay and PayPal believe that wearable devices are a new frontier in mobile technology. Smart watches, …

More than half (55%) of consumers want mobile wallets, according to a new survey from payment technology provider VeriFone. This percentage rises to 70% among Millennial consumers. In addition, VeriFone data shows that 65% of U.S, consumers will continue to use credit and debit as primary payment methods in 2014. Consumers are most likely to use smartphones to small purchases (45%) via smartphone, as opposed to medium (44%) and large (29%) purchases.

MMB, an m-commerce retailer targeting at rural China markets, announced that it secured a new round of financing led by Tencent and followed by chip maker MTK and Sequoia Capital. MMB has received a combined more than 400 million yuan (around US$65 million) of funding from Far East Holding, Sequoia Capital and Tencent during 2007 to 2012. Founded in 2006 as one of the earliest players in Chinese m-commerce sector, MMB is dedicated to provide online shopping service to grassroots users, who live in third- and fourth-tier cities or farmer-turned workers in big cities. Unlike users in cities who have …

Unilever has partnered seven of its brands with digital startups, with the list of companies underscoring where big consumer packaged goods companies are placing their bets in mobile, including on beacon services, music streaming and video. The Go Global program was announced late last year as a way to help Unilever brands such as Vaseline, Hellman's and Surf engage more meaningfully with consumers while helping digital companies grow their reach. One of the partner companies is NewAer, which bills itself as a next-generation beacon platform that enables sophisticated scripting in the device or on the cloud from any beaconing radio …

Priceline wants a bigger role throughout the travel experience, such as enabling hotel check-ins or on-site purchases, and views mobile as essential to realizing these goals. One of the ways Priceline is building on its initial success in mobile is with more contextually-relevant features, including incorporating location into the company's iPad application as well as two new products that are launching this week. Although the goal is to drive sales, Priceline's initiatives are increasingly moving away from viewing mobile solely for last-minute to everyday transactions.

The Consumer mCommerce Shift in the U.S. is rapidly changing. In the latest report by Mob Partner, key indicators lead to a significant shift occurring in the way that consumers shop and the devices they shop with. The report compared mCommerce similar to traditional bricks and mortar retail which both have had to adapt to the rise of ecommerce, the next challenge facing retailers is how they can effectively address the rising numbers of consumers shopping via a mobile device, which offers a more immediate and fluid experience. Mobile Commerce (m-commerce) sales and M-Commerce spending reached $4.7 billion in Q2 …