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Steve Madden Expanding Mobile

Andrew Koven, president of e-commerce and customer experience at Steve Madden, led off the Mobile Summit's second day with a sneak peek of some of the m-commerce initiatives the shoe retailer plans to roll out in the next six months. What's in store? A centerpiece will be a Steve Madden Mobile Club the company will use to build loyalty  by sending exclusive offers to consumers directly their handsets.

The company will also rely heavily on providing text-based offers and incentives rather instead of relying on barcodes, in part because standards for barcode technology haven't been established yet and texting is more familiar to most mobile users.

Because music and lifestyle is a big part of the Steve Madden brand, Koven said the company will also roll out a program leveraging  its in-store TVs that allows shoppers to text in to get more information about products worn by featured music artists. The idea is to engage younger customers in particular. Visitors to stores will also see signage about text-based offers and the Mobile Club and staff will be trained to educate and assist shoppers with the mobile functionality. Mobile users will also have the opportunity via Twitter to vote on new shoe designs as another way to boost engagement.

One thing not in Steve Maddens' plans is an app--Koven said he's not sure what the company could do with an app that it can't do  already with a sophisticated mobile site. In the first four months, the site has led to about $300,000 in direct sales and visitors have spent 3.2 million minutes there. But Koven added that Steve Madden is just getting started in mobile. "We're still in discovery mode," he said.

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