ATLANTA–(BUSINESS WIRE)– SiteMinis, a mobile website technology platform and services provider, today announced a joint venture with Google that will enable SiteMinis to offer mobility-enabled customized search components for mobile specific sites. Based on this agreement, Google also will leverage SiteMinis’ technology to extend mobile web solutions to its customers.

SiteMinis enterprise solution answers a specific need in the marketplace; with cross platform branding allowing mobile web APPs to be launched using 90+ % of the iPhone / Android APP components on the mobile web.

“SiteMinis has helped many companies extend their brand by taking their websites to all web-enabled mobile devices without a brand reduction,” said Marci Troutman, CEO and founder of SiteMinis. “This venture with Google allows us to offer a better search option to each of our customers that can leverage the Google Commerce Search experience most companies already have in place.”

As the number of consumers on the mobile web browser grows and continues to evolve, it only makes smart business sense to allow these mobile consumers to search with ease through their mobile experience the same way they are able to on their PC experience. This relationship couples the UX of an APP experience into the mobile web experience with defined search parameters for each customer.

SiteMinis will add the Google search component to their list of products 1Q2012.

About SiteMinis

Atlanta-based SiteMinis, Inc. offers one of the only mobile website platforms that can be deployed across every Web-enabled cell phone and all popular smartphone operating systems such as iPhone, Android, Palm, Nokia, Blackberry, and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile without a reduction in quality of the user experience. SiteMinis develops and integrates profitable mobile e-commerce and informational Web sites that simplify the IT deployment and brand design issues faced by companies doing business on the Internet today. The firm provides M-Commerce technology and consulting services that radically improve, simplify and increase a company’s mobile marketing and branding exposure to attract and engage mobile consumers.

Reach and Frequency is the key while retaining your brand. The mobile web company. For more information, visit www.siteminis.com

Mobile Commerce Daily Pizza Hut is running a targeted mobile ad campaign that aims to drive the company’s mobile sales by encouraging consumers to order through their handset.

The company is running the mobile ads via Pandora’s iPhone application. Pizza Hut is following in the footsteps of its competitors including Domino’s and Papa John’s who have used mobile advertising in the past to bolster mobile sales.

“Mobile ads are a great way to reach consumers with a fast way to purchase on the fly through mobile,” said Marci Troutman, CEO of SiteMinis, Atlanta.

Ms. Troutman is not affiliated with Pizza Hut. She commented based on her expertise on the subject.

Pizza Hut did not respond to press inquiries.

Slice of mobile

The Pizza Hut mobile ad reads “Pizza Hut. Get Your $10 Any. Any Pizza, Size, Toppings. Order Now.”

The Pizza Hut ad

When consumers tap on the banner ad they are redirected to a mobile-optimized page where they can choose to order carryout or delivery.

Additionally, consumers can enter their city, state or ZIP code to find the nearest Pizza Hut location.

Consumers can find the nearest location

Users can also log-in to their account to view past order history.

Running a mobile ad such as this is an effective way for Pizza Hut to not only drive traffic to its locations, but educate consumers about the company’s mobile offerings and have them place orders through their handsets.

Through the mobile ad consumers can also download the Pizza Hut iPhone app to their device which is a smart move to increase the company’s app downloads.

Other efforts
Pizza Hut is not the only pizza chain running mobile ads to drive food sales.

In July, Papa John’s encouraged pizza sales via mobile banner ads that take consumers to the company’s optimized site where they can order delivery or carryout.

The company is ran a mobile banner ad within Pandora’s iPhone app. The banner ad featured the company’s large spicy Italian limited time only pizza for $10 (see story).

“There are multiple situations where a quick meal that can be delivered are in order, and with the ability to order through an app or through the mobile Web, the ad’s bringing this option to mind for a consumer is extremely relevant,” Ms. Troutman said.

Mass merchandiser Target is running mobile commerce-enabled ads to let music fans buy their favorite albums before the upcoming Grammys.

Target is making music sales the focus of the advertising campaign but is also promoting other entertainment-related products. The mobile ads are running on CBS’ mobile Web site.

Mobile tunes
CBS is the network that is broadcasting the 54th Grammy Awards airing on Feb. 12.

Target has bought mobile ad inventory across CBS’ mobile site and Web site.

The ads promote albums from the musicians Adele and The Fray. Each ad features a picture of the artist and encourages users to tap to learn more.

Users who tap on the ads are redirected to Target’s mobile Web site, where they can learn more about the artist and the album.

Consumers can find product inventory by using location

Consumers can choose to either buy the album via the mobile site or find the item in-store. Music fans can type their ZIP code into their mobile device to find a nearby Target location.

Users can also share the albums via email, SMS and Twitter to friends and family.

The ads showcase popular music artists

Consumers can also read user reviews and add the item to their wish lists.

Music to my ears
The Grammy-themed ads are the latest advertising initiative from Target to bolster mobile and in-store sales.

Most recently, Target tapped mobile commerce-enabled ads to give mobile users a sneak peek at an upcoming three-day sale (see story).

The Target ads are an example of a mobile ad campaign that ties well with a publisher’s content.

Target is a sponsor of the Grammy Awards and with CBS airing the awards show, it makes sense for the retailer to place ads across CBS’ digital properties.

Additionally, by making the ads commerce-enabled, Target is able to capitalize on users who are likely interested in discovering and buying new music.

Adele is speculated to be a big winner at the Grammy Awards with six nominations, marking an opportunity for Target to drive sales of the album leading up to the show.

The ads for The Fray promote the band’s new album that is not available in-stores yet, which gives music fans an incentive to pre-order the album via mobile.

“If the mobile Web is properly set up, commerce from the PC site will be identical on the mobile Web with up-to-the minute pricing and promotions, along with a larger reach and frequency to the consumer audience,” Ms. Troutman said.

Results as follows-

More than half of adult cell phone owners used their cell phones while they were in a store during the 2011 holiday season to seek help with purchasing decisions. During a 30 day period before and after Christmas:

• 38% of cell owners used their phone to call a friend while they were in a store for advice about a purchase they were considering making
• 24% of cell owners used their phone to look up reviews of a product online while they were in a store
• 25% of adult cell owners used their phones to look up the price of a product online while they were in a store, to see if they could get a better price somewhere else

Taken together, just over half (52%) of all adult cell owners used their phone for at least one of these three reasons over the holiday shopping season and one third (33%) used their phone specifically for online information while inside a physical store—either product reviews or pricing information.

Detailed findings—online product reviews and calling friends for purchasing advice

There are a number of demographic patterns in these survey findings. Specifically:

• Cell owners ages 18-49 are significantly more likely to use their phones for online product reviews than are cell owners ages 50 and older. Cell owners ages 65 and older are especially unlikely to do this—just 4% did so this holiday season.
• Urban and suburban cell owners are roughly twice as likely as rural cell owners to have recently used their phone to look up online reviews of a product they found in a physical store.
• Non-white cell owners are more likely than white cell owners to look up online product reviews, and those who have attended college are more likely to do so than those who have not.

Detailed findings—cell phones as a tool for online price matching

Online price matching and looking up online reviews frequently go hand in hand. Overall, of the 33% of cell owners who used their phone recently in a store to look up either product reviews or prices online, roughly half (representing 17% of all cell owners) used their phones to engage in both of these activities.

As a result, the same groups that use their phones to look up online product reviews—such as cell owners under 50 years old, non-whites, those with at least some college experience and those living in urban or suburban areas—are generally the same ones that use their phones to look up online pricing information.

One in five “mobile price matchers” ultimately made their most recent purchase from an online store, rather than a physical location

When asked what happened on the most recent occasion where they used their phone to look up the price online of a product they found in a store, these mobile price matchers point to a range of outcomes:

• 37% decided to not purchase the product at all
• 35% purchased the product at that store
• 19% purchased the product online
• 8% purchased the product at another store

Since one quarter of cell owners looked up the price of a product using their phone in the 30 days preceding our survey, that works out to 5% of all cell owners who purchased a product online this holiday season after looking up its price online from a physical store. An additional 9% of all cell owners searched for the price of a product they found in a physical store but ultimately purchased it at that store.

The number of transactions on mobile are big and getting bigger. This information has been predicted over 2 years ago and consumer engagement through mobile is pretty well following the trend lines.

I am amazed at the number of retailers or pure plays that still wrestle with how to approach the mobile space. I know companies that were trying to decide last year at this time what to do and still have not done anything about it.

Want to see a real sobering statistic- look at this from marketing charts.com , 2 in 5 mobile shoppers penalize a retailer for an unsatisfactory mobile experience. Again, nothing new to those of us that are sheep dipped in the mobile space, but the real question is- when are retailers going to jump in with both feet into the mobile water instead of toe-dipping?

Yes, I have heard it all- Our IT department has it all under control; Our budget won’t support the investment; Our strategy is to just do an iPhone APP; Our systems integration process takes quite a while- yada yada yada!

The real winners are those companies that are defining mobile as a real vertical within their eCommerce or Internet group. Where there is a budget, resources and authority- not just responsibility. Fore warned is fore armed- mobile is only going to get bigger.

Current estimates are that 8.5-percent are actually shopping via phone or tablet- that is actual mCommerce transactions- not including all the usage of a mobile device to enhance the shoppers buying decision. Those are big numbers!

Use internal data to justify the investment- if your PC site is getting 6% or more engagements form a mobile device currently, you better have a plan in place to satisfy those customers with a reasonable brand experience. If the engagement is 10% or greater right now, you better RUN to exploit that customer and quickly, because the consumer will make the choice and vote with their dollar and if you don’t take care of them in mobile cyber space, guess what- someone else will – retail 101.

Now the iPad still looms out there at 65% surveyed planning to buy the clear leader Apple product, but hey, no other manufacturer has given Apple any kind of run for their money until now.

Now the Nook wasn’t in the survey, so we still don’t know how that factors in, but all other tablets fell a distant third- and as a herd in third!

There can be a lot read into this, but I say the jury is still out. 4th quarter sales and shipped units will tell a fuller story, but the point is- well the Kindle Fire hasn’t been out long and its taken a bite of the Apple.

Yes, those of us that have been around a while- say over 5 years- have seen a lot change, Mostly we have seen retailers slowly waking up to the fact that virtually all of their customers shop using a mobile device at some point in the shopping process!

This is brought home clearly in the Forrester white paper ‘Market Overview: Mobile-Commerce Solutions For Retail’ release August 4^th 2011.

Peter Sheldon does a great job of identifying the current state of mCommerce, the approach to mCommerce that retailers are currently taking and those companies that stand up to the rigors of enterprise grade requirements of moving eCommerce into mCommerce.

I am happy to say the SiteMinis Inc made the grade of the few companies that have real mCommerce solutions.

Sheldon noted that retailers are taking one of four approached to mobile when determining how to deploy mobile engagements.

1- Use the existing eCommerce Platform Vendor

2- Delegate to their Interactive Agencies or Systems Integrators

3- Build in-house

4- Leverage a Mobile Commerce Point Solution

This is Forresters’ first entry into an over view of mobile solutions, so there are some top line viewpoints.

I would suggest that there is a 5^th way- Utilize a middle ware company that uses a common coding language (say .NET) to develop and launch the mCommerce needs of your company. SiteMinis is not a singular Point Solution.

The beauty of the SiteMinis approach is that it is entirely flexible to the client needs. Whether a full on total SaaS solution or a migrated mobile web site that resides on the client servers with full access to site coding and deployment, SiteMinis is a full One Stop Mobile Shop.

All SiteMinis enterprise solutions are designed to ensure that mobile data is returned in real time and in harmony with the Internet PC site (no need to manage 2 sites!). Additionally, the SiteMinis delivers a robust User Experience that works on feature phones (say a BlackBerry, etc.) as well as a Smartphone WITH NO DEGRADATION! Check out http://m.homedepot.ca for example.

Additionally, SiteMinis has launched a new DIY platform called CliqLaunch for large retailers and CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) Brands- Like Coke or P&G. CliqLaunch allows for instant Mobile web site creation to harmonize with all the marketing campaigns that a brand delivers.

No longer is mobile an after thought to a marketing campaign! CliqLaunch leverages all the companies mobile or Internet assets and deploys sites in minutes, not weeks with the same robustness as the SiteMinis enterprise solution!

Take a look at the Forrester report for great insight into mCommerce and then take a look at SiteMinis for your full mobile web solution partner.

“One way specifically would be a targeted ad for a holiday purchase quickly – as long as the ad leads to a quick ROI on a mobile Web site or marketing page,” she said.

Ms. Troutman is not affiliated with Victoria’s Secret. She commented based on her expertise on the subject.

 

Victoria’s Secret is running targeted mobile ads within Pandora to promote and educate fashion-savvy consumers about its new products.

The expandable ads promote the company’s new push-up plunge bra. Victoria’s Secret has run mobile ads within Pandora in the past.

Victoria’s Secret did not respond to press inquiries.

Mobile promotion
The expandable ad reads “Heart Breakers Love Lace. Say Hello to Our Flirty New Push-up Plunge Bra.”

When consumers click on the mobile ad they are redirected to a mobile-optimized page where they can browse the new products as well as shop.

Consumers can shop for products

Additionally, consumers can view their shopping bag and offers.

Those that do not want to buy anything via their mobile device can search for the nearest location to browse the products in-store.

Running a targeted mobile ad such as this is a good way to not only drive traffic both in-store and to a marketer’s mobile site, but also helps build a consumer and brand relationship.

In addition, mobile ads are a great way to promote new products.

“When promoting a new product, users aren’t likely to look up Victoria’s Secret specifically to see if there are new promotions, but if they are engaged in a CNN story – as an example – and see the ad at the top of the article while they are reading, if its relevant they will click through to learn more,” Ms. Troutman said.

Mobile past
This is not Victoria’s Secret’s first time running mobile ads.

In September, the company drove consumers in-store via geo-targeted mobile banner ads that promote the company’s new NFL gear.

The company ran the ads within Pandora’s iPhone app. The banner ads show how far away consumers are from the nearest Victoria’s Secret location (see story).

Additionally, Victoria’s Secret gave special offers and exclusive event information via an SMS campaign that built its database and its relationship with consumers (see story).

“Mobile advertising is on a very large ramp up – and we are at the tip of this growth – this year and next everyone should expect to see engagement with mobile ads increasing significantly, as more companies are realizing the importance of mobile and ramping up their strategies to meet the consumer demand,” Ms. Troutman said.

ComScore has data out on the US phone market and Asymco breaks them down, including this great chart at right on the evolution of the US phone platform install base.

It highlights a few key points, some of which are already known, but some of which don’t get talked about enough:

• The Blue Ocean is still HUGE. For all that we (justifiably, more on which below) talk about who among Apple, Google, RIM, Microsoft et al. is winning in smartphones, the biggest opportunity remains the Blue Ocean of getting smartphones in the hands of non-smartphone users. (This is true of the US, but also very true of developing markets where the shift to mobile is enormous.)
• In turn, this means the game is far from over. Given that most of the market is still a blue ocean, the opportunity for newcomers is great. Particularly for platforms with lots of resources and distribution, i.e. the Microsoft-Nokia duo.
• Holy cow, Android! With all these caveats out of the way—the other thing that jumps out is how big and how fast growing Android is. Google’s open-source, broad distribution strategy is textbook disruptive innovation, and at least so far, seems to be working just like it should: i.e., it is eating the market.
• Yes, Apple should be worried; but no, it’s not over, far from it. First of all, Apple is huge and still growing very nicely. Second of all, because the mobile wars are platform wars, smartphone marketshare undercounts iOS marketshare because of the enormous successes of the iPad and iPod Touch, which aren’t phones but are still mobile iOS devices. And thirdly, this chart doesn’t count the two big potential gamechangers Apple has recently introduced: the iPhone 4S, which looks like an excellent device and could be a record-breaking seller; and, less flashy but at least as important, the FREE iPhone 3GS, which allows Apple to have an offering for the bottom of the market and be competitive with Android. How these devices perform could make things look very different three months from now.