Mobile to the Max: The Consumers Are Ready, Are You?

If you market and sell online, here are facts you should consider: Consumers worldwide have purchased 67 million Apple iPads since the product was introduced two years ago. There are now 218 million iPhones in use. And last year alone, all manufacturers shipped 492 million smart phones.  If your retail web sites and online marketing programs aren’t optimized for these mobile devices, you are missing the fastest growing segment of the e-commerce market.

That’s because web shoppers are no longer tethered to PCs. They are researching and buying products and services on the web in record numbers, but more of them are doing that on smart phones and tablets. In fact, most consumers expect to purchase products from their smart device any time of the day or night. Proof of the mobile evolution can be found in the numbers—Internet Retailer estimates that total U.S. m-commerce sales will reach $20.3 billion this year, up 90% from $10.7 billion in 2011. More web shoppers are switching entirely to mobile devices that allow them to shop anytime and anyplace—and by the middle of this decade, major traffic to e-commerce sites will originate from mobile devices. Is your e-commerce business ready to connect with these mobile shoppers or will they abandon your site and go to your mobile-savvy competitors?

Internet Retailer’s Third Annual Mobile Show:
Where You’ll Learn to Capitalize on the Mobile Revolution

To attract mobile shoppers and convert them to your online customers, you need the cutting edge marketing and e-commerce information that will be presented at Internet Retailer's third annual Mobile Marketing & Commerce Forum, which will be held at the Manchester Hyatt Hotel in San Diego, October 8-10, 2012. Whether you’re new to mobile, or need to refine or upgrade your current technology, you’ll benefit from this information-packed conference, which is perfect for marketers and e-commerce professionals from a wide variety of industries, including retail, travel, hospitality, restaurants, ticketing, financial services and more. It will address real-world issues in a practical manner to help you improve your mobile initiatives, whether those are commerce, marketing or customer relationships.

Here are just a few of the topics that will be covered in our information-packed sessions:

• Current and projected growth rates for m-commerce
• How to build mobile commerce web sites on any budget
• How to create apps that consumers actually want to use
• How the evolution of the iPad has influenced site design and catalog production
• How so-called augmented reality, which could hardly exist without mobile, can boost sales
• Ways to use QR codes to engage customers and increase sales
• How mobile changes search marketing tactics and strategies
• Why marketers should focus on social/local/mobile