Reaching Mobile Shoppers May Prove Easier for Retailers with SingleFeed & mShopper

While it's impossible to deny the reach and impact posed by mobile shopping--Christmas 2012 was proof enough on that front--there are still some problems getting retailers connected to those using mobile shopping. To that end, new services are emerging designed to bridge that gap, two of which, SingleFeed and mShopper, announced a partnership just yesterday that would make putting retailers in touch with shoppers a much simpler affair.

One of the biggest impediments in getting a mobile shopping program launched was an issue of time and money; namely, that it took large quantities of both to get a proper mobile shopping arm in play. But with four out of five shoppers, according to a September comScore (News - Alert) study, turning to their smartphones to shop at some point, it was clear that not being in mobile shopping was getting to be nearly as expensive a prospect as being in it was.

The combination of SingleFeed and mShopper, meanwhile, represents a rather formidable one. SingleFeed, for example, offers data compilation and optimization for use across several marketing channels, giving retailers an idea of what products are being bought when, thus giving them a better idea of what to promote at any given time. Seeing the possibilities inherent in such a concept, in which retailers know what to promote, was where mShopper came in. mShopper offers the ability to set up mStores, or shopping websites specifically enhanced for mobile devices, quickly and easily for retailers.

Taking the data provided to SingleFeed, mShopper was then able to generate better quality mStores that not only integrated with current e-commerce offerings, updating with the main site, but also allowed for SMS capability, allowing retailers to more readily promote any special offerings they may have on hand. Additionally, the result would be distributed to a wide array of comparison shopping websites like PriceGrabber and Google (News - Alert) Shopping.

One site that has had an experience with the combined mobile force of SingleFeed and mShopper is KitchenKrafts.com. Their CEO, Dean Sorensen, described the company's experience with the mobile combination: "We entered our SingleFeed credentials into the mShopper platform and our mStore was automatically created. We keep just one feed updated, and both our shopping engines and our mobile store remain updated and selling."

Those interested in trying it out will want to do so quickly, as the companies are putting up a special offer: those who sign up for both services before the end of January 2013 will only pay for one of the services.

Mobile shopping has seen almost dizzying gains of late as more and more consumers turn to their mobile devices on at least one front to get their shopping done. The use of mobile shopping is not only more pronounced, but is actually starting to color brand loyalty; a good mobile shopping experience is more likely to keep a customer shopping even at the brick-and-mortar location, and a bad mobile shopping experience can sour a customer on the whole brand, even if it has little to do with the mobile experience itself.

The combination of services like SingleFeed and mShopper should go a long way in terms of providing the kind of quality shopping experience users need to keep them interested in the brand, and of course, buying from it.