Mobile browsing and text messaging giving buyers new power

[mandy]

After college students compile a list of textbooks they’ll need for the coming semester, they head to the campus bookstore. Web-only retailer AbeBooks Inc. carries a wide range of textbooks and wanted to step into that mass migration to convince students it had better prices and persuade them to buy at AbeBooks.com.

AbeBooks decided to reach this youth market where it lives and breathes—text messaging. Late last summer it launched a test program that enabled college students browsing in bookstores to text message the e-retailer with a textbook’s International Standard Book Number. Students received a reply text message containing AbeBooks’ lowest price for new copies of their textbooks.

If a student decided to buy the book, he replied by typing “fwd” and his e-mail address. The e-retailer then replied to the e-mail address with a link to the AbeBooks.com page where the book is listed for sale. The student then could buy it later via his PC...

full article: http://www.internetretailer.com/article.asp?id=24893