Budweiser is introducing consumers to its new national competition, the Bud and Burgers Championship, by leveraging a partnership with culinary expert David Chang and inviting users to nominate their favorite burgers by uploading a photo or video onto Budweiser’s mobile-optimized site to showcase why it is best paired with the brand’s beer. The beverage marketer, along with Mr. Chang, will embark on a coast-to-coast tour in a bid to find the best burger to pair with a Budweiser, while giving fans the opportunity to be crowned as the creator of the best combination. The Bud and Burgers Champion will also …

Auntie Anne’s is rewarding members of its My Pretzel Perks mobile application and fueling app downloads as well as store visits by offering users a free Original or Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel to commemorate National Pretzel Day during the weekend of April 24-26. Fans of the pretzel brand must download the My Pretzel Perks app by 11:59 p.m. on April 23 to be eligible to receive the free treat, which is redeemable in-store on April 24, 25 and 26. The food marketer also hopes to drive awareness of its products as the promotion coincides with National Pretzel Day.

E-commerce in China grew by 31.4 percent last year, reaching a total market value of more than 13.4 trillion RMB ($2.1 trillion) in 2014, according to data released on Wednesday by the China E-Commerce Research Center (CECRC). The majority of the figure was made up by online Business to Business (B2B) trading, which accounted for some 10 trillion RMB ($1.6 trillion), up 21.9 percent on the previous year, CECRC reported, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency.  But the fastest growing sector was online retail, which expanded by almost 50 percent year on year to 2.8 trillion yuan ($450 billion) in …

The rise of e-commerce in India has triggered a wave of startups that are leveraging the increasing adoption of smartphones to provide mobile payment solutions. Alibaba invested in Paytm at an apparent billion dollar valuation earlier this year, and now MobiKwik is the latest to be flushed with new cash. New Delhi-based MobiKwik has pulled $25 million in funding, led by Singapore-based hedge fund Tree Line Asia. The deal included participation from a couple of interesting strategic investors — Cisco and American Express. Existing investor Sequoia Capital was also in the heavy-hitting Series B round. MobiKwik raised a $5 million Series A in 2013, and it is targeting …

Between ecommerce marketplace Snapdeal and mobile top-up site FreeCharge, there are 40 million mobile transactors. And their apps have been downloaded by 30 million users across India. Kunal Bahl, co-founder of Snapdeal, hopes to add another zero at the tail of both those numbers in three to four years. These are the numbers he gave out at a press conference in Bangalore today to announce possibly the biggest acquisition in the digital history of India. The number that he did not disclose was how much Snapdeal paid for FreeCharge, one of India’s hottest mobile startups which raised US$80 million just two months ago. All …

MasterCard Mobile Transaction Solutions (MTS) is providing the mobile wallet solution for Semble to enable secure contactless payments with a smartphone in New Zealand. Semble is a joint venture between Paymark, the company that processes the majority of EFTPOS transactions in New Zealand, and the country’s mobile network operators – Vodafone, 2degrees and Spark. Simply put, Semble is a mobile app that stores credit and debit card information on your smartphone. Once activated, consumers are able to purchase goods using their Android smartphones and in the very near future, the ability to add additional bank cards, applications and services such …

American Eagle Outfitters is continuing its mobile-minded year by attempting to ramp up mcommerce sales with a new “offers” section within its mobile application, proving that consumers are gravitating to mobile for exclusive offers. Users of the AEO | Aerie app are now able to click the “Current offers” button on the side bar to view up-to-date promotions and details on how to redeem them. Consumers will still be able to scan products, shop the retailer’s inventory and purchase gift cards within the app as well.

Major League Baseball’s official mobile application, MLB At Bat, reached 5 million downloads before the season’s first pitch was thrown, a record for the eight-year-old platform and pointing to mobile’s ability to enhance the consumption of sports events. The mark, coming before the start of the season-opening game Sunday between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, followed the setting of a spring training record for daily use of the app, 30 percent higher than the previous mark last year. The downloads record suggests that MLB is on the right track in connecting with younger audiences …

British apparel and accessories house Burberry is relying on its brand name for an effort on Condé Nast men’s magazine Details’ mobile-optimized site. The ad features simply the brand logo against a teal background, trusting that label’s name alone is enough to entice click-throughs. While placed on the male-centric publication, Burberry’s ad leads consumers to information about its women’s Heritage Trench Coats, perhaps an effort to drive gifting sales in the spring season.

Footwear manufacturer and retailer Clarks is putting a new spin on mobile marketing with an interactive storytelling event through messaging application WhatsApp to drum up sales of its Desert Boot. The Desert Boot has been a staple in cultural events throughout history and Clark is leveraging that to bring it into the mobile and digital world. WhatsApp users will live-chat with different characters related to the history of the boot and receive images, videos, music and messages that create a hands-on documentary.