Is Your Site Ready For Mobile?

I recently read a stat in DMNews that took me by surprise. E-commerce revenues via mobile devices (in billions) more than doubled from 1,200 in 2009 to 2,420 in 2010.* I knew that mobile devices were increasing in popularity but I didn't realize the rate at which we're adapting to them. The revenue from mobile devices is expected to reach 23,831 by 2015.* That's astonishing!

Is your site mobile ready for viewing? How about selling?
If not, it's time to put it on your radar and begin thinking about how you can accommodate your customers that are viewing your site from their mobile device. Then, how you might sell to them from your mobile site.

Mobile Site Design
You'll want to have a mobile site that is super simple with mostly text links or very small images so that load time is kept to a minimum. If you have a bricks-and-mortar store, dont' worry, you don't have to sell everything. Just start with popular items or easy items. It's OK to sell just a portion of your total inventory. Make sure the shopping experience is catered to mobile shoppers - no need to replicate every single Web feature.

You can make mobile sales fun by offering special deals - 48 hours to buy X brand product before they sell out. Offer your mobile users exclusive offers that can't be found on your site. Do you have weekly specials? Make it easy for your busy customers to order items quickly while they are waiting to pick up a child or sitting in a doctor's office.

See more examples and read the full article about m-comm (Mobile-commerce) at the DMNews Web site.

See these site examples for user-friendly, mobile design. Take a look at them on both your desktop and mobile device:
mobile.Dominos.com
Sears2Go.com

*Source: Coda Research Company via DMNews print article and Web site.

Think mobile! :-)
Ciao for now, Paula

Text Donations

While reading my recent issue of DMNews, I read an interesting article about how non-profits are using text donations to raise money.

I guess this caught my eye because last Friday I attended a great Leadership conference in Brooklyn Park at Living Word Christian Center. (Leadercast is an annual event sponsored by GiantImpact and is simulcast in many locations around the U.S.) During the simulcast there were a couple of opportunities to text a $10 donation to Compassion International, a child advocacy ministry which aims to release children from poverty via sponsorships. I digress.....

But it got me thinking about how to use this locally. Can our churches use it? Our local chapter of Habitat for Humanity? Our area non-profits? It would be worth testing. Many of us carry a mobile device of one sort or another and all you do is text a message to a given number and your donation is taken on behalf of the non-profit. You can give with immediacy knowing that it is going to a cause you are passionate about. No writing a note to do it later - it's done!

Mobile Loaves and Fishes uses text donations to fight homelessness. They have an office in Minneapolis, although their text donation campaign runs out of their Austin, TX office. They use a service called T3 to manage this campaign for them.

The American Red Cross ran a very successful text donation campaign to raise money for Haiti. In January of 2010, they raised $5 million in pledges all in $10 increments. Pretty cool.

Broadtexter is a great text messaging service for use in sending alerts, announcing promotions/offers, and personalizing your service, etc. They DO NOT have an option for accepting donations, but a FREE, useful tool for small businesses.

There are other services that will manage text donations. Google "text donation services" for more info. Or there is a good blog article on the Consumer Reports Web site - What to Know About Text Donations.

I'm inspired to see how many different ways this can be used! How about you?

Ciao for now, Paula