Mobile Commerce: creating a mobile ecommerce site is easier than you think

[mandy]

Creating a Mobile Site
If you think your products are ready for mobile commerce, you should consider using a variety of online tools to create a separate site that will work properly — one with minimal multimedia and that can be accessed without doing a lot of typing.

There are several companies that will help you create a mobile Web site, including Winksite, Mobizcard and Mobisitegalore, which is free service (donations accepted, however). When publishing a mobile site, you should check to see if the site creator produces pages that comply to mobile commerce standards, namely the Device Independent Authoring Language (DIAL). Complying with standards means you have a better chance that your site can be viewed on a wide range of devices.

Fortunately, most mobile sites can be stored on the same server that holds your Web site, with most hosting providers allowing you to create a subdomain that directs to folders on the server. Likewise, your merchant account should work with your mobile site as well...

full article: http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/news/tren...hp/3659656

[mandy]

Another mobile commerce site builder: $39.99 monthly (plus $69.99 setup fee)

mPoria is the leading m-commerce solution provider in the U.S. powering more m-commerce sites than any other company. mPoria’s platform and the mPoria mobile shopping portal market and sell millions of products for merchants. mPoria provides a full suite of mobile e-commerce solutions to merchants such as Buy.com, GameStop, TicketsNow, GiftTree and others. In addition, mPoria has marketing and distribution relationships with Verizon Wireless, Sprint and Cingular to offer various mPoria-powered sites to their customers.

http://www.mporia.com/AboutUs.aspx

mPoria’s m-commerce solutions provide a “ready-to-go” mobile commerce site for any merchant interested in selling their products through mobile phones. And all mPoria-powered mobile commerce sites are tailored to the consumer experience on a mobile phone.

Merchants using mPoria’s m-commerce solution have:

    * A mobile commerce site that is accessible by over 60 million consumers in the U.S.
    * A new marketing and sales channel that is growing at an astronomical rate
    * Their products listed in mPoria’s mobile shopping portal at no extra cost
    * A mobile commerce site designed and ready to go in less than 15 minutes

http://www.mporia.com/MerchantSolutions.aspx

Press release:

GoMobile! Details

GoMobile! consists of four different service offerings to accommodate the unique business needs of any size retailer. The basic package starts at $39.99 per month with a one-time $69.99 set-up charge. Merchants build their site through a simple online process that addresses merchant requirements for:

(1) Branding
(2) Product offerings
(3) Tax and billing guidelines

Once set-up is complete, the merchant’s mobile shopping site is launched and accessible to consumers. Consumers access mPoria-powered mobile shopping sites by entering a URL (selected by the merchant) in their mobile device. When ready to make a purchase, they simply click the ‘purchase’ button, enter their credit card and shipping information, and complete the purchase. All consumer information is secured and stored for automatic billing and shipping on subsequent purchases. mPoria’s platform technology uses the highest encryption standards and is optimized and compatible with handsets offered by major U.S. carriers including Verizon Wireless, Sprint and Cingular. 

full press release: http://www.mporia.com/pr041007a.htm

[misteroriginal]

If you think your products are ready for mobile commerce, you should consider using a variety of online tools to create a separate site that will work properly — one with minimal multimedia and that can be accessed without doing a lot of typing.

Somebody really ought to introduce these morons to web 2.0, web standards, css, etc.

[bargainbloodhound]

[quote author=misteroriginal link=topic=7421.msg49474#msg49474 date=1176523563]

If you think your products are ready for mobile commerce, you should consider using a variety of online tools to create a separate site that will work properly — one with minimal multimedia and that can be accessed without doing a lot of typing.

Somebody really ought to introduce these morons to web 2.0, web standards, css, etc.
[/quote]

I agree with the morons. :imptongue: .  Web 2.0/AJAX features aren't going to work on most mobile browsers, connection speeds are much slower on the mobile web (than on a cable/DSL broadband connected PC) which makes multimedia heavy sites a pain...

[misteroriginal]

[quote author=bargainbloodhound link=topic=7421.msg49516#msg49516 date=1176584203]
  Web 2.0/AJAX features aren't going to work on most mobile browsers, connection speeds are much slower on the mobile web (than on a cable/DSL broadband connected PC) which makes multimedia heavy sites a pain...
[/quote] Web 2.0 is much, much more than AJAX, but I agree with what YOU said, and still disagree with the morons. Is that possible?

I know Web 2.0, Mobile 2.0, and Mobile Web 2.0 are buzz words that may even be fads, but to shed light on the concept:
http://opengardensblog.futuretext.com/ar...chara.html

[mandy]

Shoppers at the approximately 50 retail web sites that use the mPoria GoMobile mobile commerce platform can now make m-commerce purchases through PayPal, a third-party payment service.

With PayPal’s mobile payment technology integrated within the mPoria GoMobile platform, shoppers using their cell phones to shop at sites like Buy.com and Moosejaw.com will see a PayPal icon during the checkout process. Clicking that icon takes a shopper to PayPal’s site to conduct the purchase; the shopper then automatically returns to the retail site to get a order confirmation, says Dan Wright, CEO and co-founder of mPoria Inc.

“Any phone with mobile web capability can access an mPoria-powered site...

full article: http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=22910

[mandy]

mPoria case study:

Appealing to a Younger Demographic
Meanwhile, some m-commerce pioneers are already staking out a claim on the mobile frontier. Michigan-based Moosejaw Mountaineering is one. This small outdoor outfitter successfully competes with larger chains such as North Face, LL Bean, and Patagonia by sticking to a strategy that involves relating to its young, active, customer base-a customer base that is full of early adopters and college kids who relate to text messages and online (and mobile) shopping more readily than to catalogs and direct mail.

"We needed to resonate with a younger customer," said Robert Wolfe, who co-founded Moosejaw in 1992. "If college kids are texting, then we better be texting. In 1995, if college kids are on the Internet, than we better be on the Internet. That's how we ended up with early entry in mobile commerce. Not having a mobile channel is like not having a business card in 1975."

The transition from using text messages as a marketing strategy to opening a mobile commerce channel was a direct response to his customers' behavior, said Wolfe...

full article: http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/news/tren...hp/3690481