Major online retailers in India are beginning to aggressively promote their new mobile applications. Flipkart and Snapdeal, two of the largest online retailers in India, are beginning to focus their marketing efforts on the mobile space. A growing number of Indian consumers are gaining access to mobile devices and the Internet, which has lead to a surge in mobile commerce activity. Flipkart has opted to forgo participating in Google’s Great Online Shopping Festival in order to promote its new mobile shopping app. Snapdeal will be participating in the event, however, taking the opportunity to showcase its own shopping app. E-commerce companies throughout …

Several libraries in the United States have begun deploying Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons to be used with an app to reach out to patrons. Many libraries are already using passive radio frequency identification technology to automate the checking out and returning of books, but BLE technology offers libraries a new wireless tool. Capturing the attention of a distractible public is a growing challenge for libraries that have historically been known as a quiet institute rich with books and media, but not much beyond that. Nowadays, people young and old, whether or not they are library users, have become increasingly focused on their …

Krispy Kreme is ramping up its mobile strategy to reward customers and compete with other major quick-service restaurants’ loyalty platforms with the release of its My Krispy Kreme Treats mobile application. Customers in the Nashville, Richmond, Grand Rapids and greater Detroit areas can take advantage of the loyalty app, which offers rewards point for each purchase made that can be redeemed for free products at bricks-and-mortar Krispy Kreme stores.

State Farm is leveraging object recognition technology and partnering with Edmunds.com to launch the CarCapture mobile application that allows users to snap a photo of the back of a car and instantly receive detailed information. Consumers will be able to use mobile to make a more informed purchase decision when browsing for vehicles and be assured that they will be accessing up-to-date information on the car of choice, including make, body type, model and year range. 

Location, location, location. That’s more than just the mantra of the real estate industry. It’s also the focus of modern mobile technology and related services. And in the location space, Google is losing ground — and fast — to its chief rival Apple. There has been significant change at the top of the indoor location technology market, according toABI Research. “Google’s lack of progress has cost it as Apple has taken the bull by the horns and is now driving this market forward,” the research giant recently summarized.

In China, the trend in mobile commerce has been a rapid growth this year, according to a report that was released by the smartphone based payments branch of Alibaba, Alipay. The Alipay report showed that over half of the online transactions that occurred at Alibaba over the first ten months of the year occurred over mobile commerce. In fact, mobile phones were responsible for 54 percent of the online transactions using Alipay from January through the end of October. Comparatively, throughout all of last year, it had represented a much lower 22 percent of total online payments volume for purchases made online through the …

There has been a tectonic shift in the way consumers spend their time online. In October 2014, 52% of the time consumers spent online occurred within smartphone and tablet apps, according to new data provided exclusively to Internet Retailer from web and mobile measurement firm comScore Inc. 40% of online time was spent in web browsers on desktops and laptops and 8% spent in web browsers on smartphones and tablets. Giants are leading the way, with consumers spending quite a bit of time in the mobile apps of such players as Facebook Inc., Google Inc., Twitter Inc., eBay Inc. and Amazon.com Inc

Yahoo Style has dipped its toe into e-commerce with the launch of shoppable gift guides, the first of which features picks by Joe Zee. It’s the latest glimpse into a broader strategy by the tech giant and its chief executive officer Marissa Mayer to gain relevance and grow revenue via original content and an offering Zee said gives the online magazine an edge over traditional print media. “Gift-giving can be tedious and can be hard and sometimes you don’t even know where to start, so for me, editorially, this was a no-brainer,” Zee said.

Executives with youth apparel retailer Pacific Sunwear of California say they will prioritize improving online and mobile sales in the year ahead. On a recent analyst call discussing the company’s third quarter earnings, CEO Gary Schoenfeld says the company will focus improving its web business—particularly its mobile sales—in the new year. Pacific Sunwear is No. 306 in theInternet Retailer Top 500 Guide. “I don't think we are executing online as well as we can,” Schoenfeld said, according to a transcript of the call from Seeking Alpha. “We do recognize our consumer lives more and more through these different channels. 

A tie-up between Alibaba Group Holding Ltd  and Apple Inc. is expected to be reached in the near future, which will open huge avenues for both companies in the Chinese market. Apple’s Touch ID is reported to have been introduced on Alipay’s smartphone app today. After updating Alipay’s mobile app on devices featuring Touch ID, like the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus, users will be able to use their fingerprints to authorize payments, in both brick-and-mortar stores and online stores in China. The updated Alipay mobile app will allow users …