There’s just no escaping the fact that in the retail environment of today, attracting and keeping customers increasingly revolves around an enterprises’ ability to interact with and attract shoppers from across an ever expanding spectrum of contact points. The growing and most dynamic of these are electronically generated.

The revolution that has swept through the world of media and information technology over the last decade has transformed the environment for retail operations to such a degree that no area of commerce has been left unaffected. Staying up to date with these advances, and finding ways to creatively incorporate them into an integrated retail marketing strategy, has become essential to gaining customer attention and sustaining commercial viability.

There’s an App for That
Internet has changed the world forever, and every successful retail operation has long since adapted to this reality by establishing a presence online as a key element of their overall marketing strategy. Yet, as recent as the emergence of the internet may seem, the ways shoppers and information seekers use it has continued to change and evolve.

Over the last few years the advances and innovations which have come to mobile internet devices has utterly transformed how people use the internet, and how they interact with shopping and commercial relationships. The percentage of people who now conduct a large portion of their online activity via some form of mobile device has skyrocketed, with no end in sight.

In today’s internet marketplace, retail operations that do not have an application (app) specifically designed for use on a handheld mobile device are, quite simply, missing out on being seen by many potential shoppers, and every day that percentage increases.

The New Word of Mouth
Every retailer knows that the most powerful form of promotion they have available is the buzz of comments they can create within the buying public. A consumer talking to other consumer what really gets shopper’s attention and traffic into your Store. So it should come as no shock that right alongside the incredible ascent in the use of mobile internet devices, there has emerged an explosion in the ways people communicate with each other.

The growth of this social media has transformed the world of word of mouth advertising from a local to a global phenomenon. Retailers who understand this and have adapted to this new landscape have seen their visibility expand, and their reach extend to areas that seemed out of range even a few short years ago.

Generating traffic to both your website, and your brick and mortar locations, has been utterly transformed for retailers who have developed a seamless interface between their web-presence and social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, along with myriad other bookmarking applications.

Mobile eCommerce has arrived and is changing the shopping public’s interaction with the internet – and you – in fundamental ways that directly impact the bottom line of every retailer who is moving with this tidal wave of innovation and change.

What is emerging from this new environment is dramatically enhanced ease of use for shoppers. And there is no greater guarantee of customer loyalty to your operation than making their interaction with you as easy, and effective as possible. The continued growth and development of mobile eCommerce is the cutting edge of that continued interaction – and the key to maintaining and expanding your customer’s engagement at the point of sale – which they now hold in their hand.