Retailers who embrace mobile now will win big during the holiday shopping season.

Mobile is shaking up the retail landscape, shifting emphasis from storefront to screen, prompting companies and consumers alike to rethink their approach to holiday shopping. Last Black Friday, online sales increased 26% over 2010 as shoppers avoided the day’s notorious stampedes and interminable lines. Cyber Monday saw similar increases, as 10.8% of people used a mobile device to visit a retailer’s site, up from 3.9% the previous year. Last year, 11% of all online holiday sales originated from a mobile device.

Here are three ways we believe brands can improve the mobile customer experience this holiday season:

 1. Do more with mobile

With HTML5, mobile offers a rich array of capabilities that retail brands could take advantage of in order to satisfy increasing consumer demand. Offer deep integration of social elements to enhance the mobile experience.  Enable users to their share favorite products and purchases with their networks as part of their shopping experience.  Consumers who share are consumers who care, so help them spread the word about your brand by allowing them to easily pin, tweet, share, and gain one-click access to trending items right from your mobile home page.

In-store and on-property modes greatly enhance the shopping experience, eliminate distraction (i.e. showrooming and the Amazon effect) and give shoppers a reason to use their smartphones. Use location-based networks like Foursquare and the phone’s geo-location capabilities to push notifications of special offers to encourage local store visits. Use QR codes as a way to connect consumers with rich, detailed information about the product.

2. Think differently about tablet

When the late Steve Jobs introduced the iPad, he introduced it as a new “magical” device.  An array of tablet screen sizes and advanced capabilities involving touch and gesture create the potential for tablets to be a dynamic canvas for engaging brand experiences.

Instead of making the tablet site a smaller version of your desktop website, take advantage of the opportunity to create a rich experience in which your customer can browse, discover and explore promotions, photo-books or this season’s catalogue. Savvy marketers could extend their marketing budgets into campaign-like experiences on tablet.

 3. Integrate channels for in-store

Successful multi-channel retailers deliver an integrated customer experience that flows seamlessly across all channels.  UK retailer Marks & Spencer is a great example of an innovative brand that is adding value through multi-channel marketing. In addition to mobile web and the native app, Marks & Spencer also enhanced the in-store experience by allowing shoppers to build outfits through in-store touchscreen displays and interactive kiosks. Shoppers can browse, review items and save to their mobile basket to be purchased at their convenience.

 Takeaway:  Make every channel in your mobile strategy work harder for the holiday season. Remind consumers why the shopping excursion is worthwhile by supporting the physical try-and-buy with multichannel mobile engagement.

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