Smart Phone Apps are Altering How Consumers Comparison Shop
Dec 16, 2009 1:16 PM
Navigating the Mall
There are also new applications available for shoppers who’d like to have an easier time navigating retail properties. For example, Point Inside Inc., a Seattle-based indoor mapping developer, just launched a new mapping application for malls.
The Point Inside application is free and works with iPhones and iPod Touch devices. It allows users map and directory access to more than 400 malls in North America and more than 100,000 stores and services like elevators and ATMs. (One of the most frequent search queries is for rest rooms, says Kevin Foreman, CEO of Point Inside Inc.)
The application helps keep mall information up-to-date by letting mall owners and store operators enter layout changes through the back portal. They can also list up-to-the-minute events and sales promotions. Meanwhile, shoppers get access to store hours and phone numbers, as well as Web site links.
“We know where you are located, so we can say you are right next to XYZ mall,” says Foreman. “And then all you have to do is click on the mall and say ‘Show me the events that are going on.’ So there might be a Santa Clause at the mall and the application will tell you what his hours are. There is also a promotion list. And you can find the restrooms. It’s a mall directory on steroids.”
Foreman claims that Point Inside is already one of the top 50 navigation applications downloaded from the Apple Store.
Meanwhile, MEDL Mobile, a Los Angeles-based tech firm, recently helped launched Mall Maps, an application developed by Shayne Faerber, of Naples, Fla. The iPhone application helps shoppers access a directory of malls and shopping centers across the U.S., including store listings and floor layouts. Users can use the application’s GPS system to ask for a directory of retail properties in their direct vicinity or search for centers using city, state and zip code data. Mall Maps was developed for shoppers who may be far away from home and unsure of what retail centers might be in the area.
(Click for larger image)
Another application that can aid shoppers at malls comes from Mountain View, Calif-based NearbyNow. The firm has developed an application that allows iPhone users to look through 20 of the most popular gift giving guides for the holiday season. The guides include those put together by retailers (Macy’s, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor etc.) and consumer magazines like In Style and Cosmopolitan.
The application gives shoppers the option of browsing through individual guides or filling out a short form about the gift they are shopping for—for example, an item under $50 for a woman who loves the outdoors. NearbyNow then presents a list of products that fit this description and the shopper can choose to buy the item right away by clicking through to the retailer’s website, share the find with friends on Facebook or through email or ask NearbyNow for a list of local stores that might carry the product.
By filling out NearbyNow’s concierge service form, they can then make sure the store puts the item on hold until they come and pick it up. In what turned out to be a surprise for the application’s developers, the conversion rate for finding the product at nearby stores is approximately 5.5 percent, vs. only 0.45 percent for buying the item online.
“It seems to be particularly the case for apparel, shoes and jewelry,” says Scott Dunlap, NearbyNow CEO. “We are quite excited about it.”
NearbyNow is currently free, but the firm might start charging a fee after re-focusing the application toward the next gift season in mid-January.
—Elaine Misonzhnik
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