While a number of food and beverage chains have embraced mobile loyalty, a Chipotle executive said this week that the company will buck the trend and lean on mobile payments – not loyalty – as a way to gather meaningful insights about its customers. During a conference call with analysts on Tuesday to discuss Chipotle’s second quarter results, the executive responded to a question about the chain’s plans in mobile loyalty by saying that internal research has shown loyalty does not drive frequency. 

PayPal is now a standalone company being traded on the Nasdaq and it has adopted a mobile-first strategy. The company has come to establish a very prominent position in the mobile commerce space, where it has become one of the more influential entities therein. As the company has now become separate from its former owner eBay, PayPal will adopt a greater focus on the mobile sector. This focus may further increase the company’s standing in the mobile commerce market. According to PayPal CEO Dan Schulman, PayPal is set to become a mobile-first platform through the development of new mobile products. 

The time period before a consumer takes a trip is an ideal time to target them with retail advertisements, due to a higher likelihood they will convert, according to new research from Rocket Fuel. Luxury travelers are 59 percent more likely than those who do not have a trip booked to make a retail purchase. With luxury guests booking their trips an average of 53 days in advance, marketers have a significant amount of time to reach them before they depart.

Radio groups such as Sinclair Broadcast Group, Cumulus Media, Beasley Media, Digity, Radio One, Delmarva Broadcasting and Saga Communications are targeting mobile users based on current and past locations to drive in-store traffic.  Radio broadcasters are serving their marketing partners successful advertising results through location-based mobile advertisements, driving in-store foot traffic to retailers. 

Kohl’s newly updated iPhone application enables users to view items in the shopping cart that were previously added from desktop or a tablet, potentially diminishing the shopping cart abandonment rate during the upcoming holiday season when mcommerce is expected to spike.

Starbucks, a company already known for its massive successes with smartphone based payments, has now announced that it is launching a mobile commerce program that will allow its users to “click and collect” their coffees in the U.K. The company stated that its customers will be able to benefit from the fastest WiFi speeds that are available through a retailer, in order to help to encourage customers to return to the coffee shops following a recent round of tax controversies.

Retailers may need to become more mobile-centric, as consumers begin relying more heavily on their smartphones when they shop. SessionM, a mobile loyalty company, recently released the results of a survey of 12,000 randomly selected smartphone users in the United States, questioning them about their mobile shopping behavior. According to the survey, 85% of respondents said that they were quite involved in mobile commerce, with many suggesting that their mobile commerce activity increased over what it had been over a year ago. The survey shows that approximately 15% of respondents said that their mobile shopping had increased significantly. Of those interested in mobile …

Google has been testing a new service that will allow consumers to purchasing products directly through advertisements in a move to expand its presence in the mobile commerce space. The new feature, called Purchases with Google, is specifically designed for mobile consumers, giving them more opportunities to shop for and purchase products when conducting searches online. The new service represents yet another step in Google’s plans to become a major player in the mobile commerce space. Google is seeing more competition coming from others that have entered into the mobile shopping space. As such, it is looking for ways to better engage …

Krispy Kreme found the right ingredients in a branded Facebook application game as it attempted to further mobile engagement among customers in Korea and advertise its new strawberry donuts. The global donut and coffeehouse chain sought to promote its Real Strawberries product line to consumers in Korea, and tapped gamification as the marketing channel of choice. The Facebook-based game resulted in 88 percent engagement and 36.4 percent of players interacting with the Krispy Kreme Facebook page in some manner.

Peer-to-peer digital retailer eBay has recently acquired second-hand clothing application Twice to grow its eBay Valet service and mobile presence, gaining access to a new generation of sellers in an attempt to climb back up the retail ladder. Following a recent separation with PayPal and a downfall in number of users in years past, eBay has acquired Twice to further develop its mobile practices and valet selling service, making the seller experience more convenient. As more consumers are seeking on-demand and concierge-like experiences, the space for digital auctions and complicated selling steps has decreased significantly, causing eBay to make serious …