• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, August 7, 2014

In the morning keynote at the OMMA mCommerce conference on Thursday, Ryan Craver, SVP, chief of staff, Hudson’s Bay and Lord & Taylor, says retailers shouldn’t have to choose between apps and the mobile Web, but rely on both. But he acknowledged that while most mobile shopping takes place on the mobile Web, the vast majority of time spent on devices is with apps. So even if people aren’t using a retailer’s own brand app, they still need to have a presence in third-party apps people are using in other categories, whether entertainment or gaming. He noted that only the most loyal customers are downloading Lord & Taylor’s app. Craver also said social is becoming hot in the retail realm because of the amount of time spent on properties like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. These platforms are starting to create card-based shopper experiences and add “buy” buttons to encourage e-commerce. “Eventually they’re going to become eBay 2.0,” he said.  

The company has also begun testing location-based solutions like SnipSnap, a location-based app that sends people coupons for discounts based on their proximity to stores. It’s also more recently  begun trialing beacons in-store, and Craver suggested early conversion rates for offers have been promising. But he also pointed out that it’s still very early days for beacons because most consumers aren’t familiar with the technology.