Mobile commerce (mCommerce) is on the up, there’s no question about it. 2011 was even touted as the year of mCommerce…and so it proved to be.

We took a sample of our ecommerce clients from a number of industries (food and drink, fashion, wedding accessories and personalised gifts) and looked at their mCommerce performance in 2011 against 2010. The results are incredible.

• Visits to websites from mobile devices grew by an average of 236%
• Revenue from mobile devices grew by an average of 228%
• One client saw a 650% increase in visits from mobile in 2011
• One client enjoyed a 219.5% increase in revenue from mobile in 2011

We then looked at mCommerce performance over the last 30 days in relation to overall traffic and revenue. Again, the numbers are impressive and indicate a growing trend in mobile purchasing.

• The same clients saw an average of 23% of their visits come from mobile devices
• They saw an average of 21.2% of revenue come from mCommerce
• In two cases a 1/4 of all revenue came from mobile devices

No business can afford to ignore a revenue stream that accounts for one fifth or more of overall revenue. The question is, how do you take maximise it, grow it?

First, you need to know where it’s coming from. We looked at the various devices being used to visit our clients’ sites and make purchases and discovered this:

• On average 83.8% of mobile visits came from an iOS device – iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch
• 89% of all mobile revenue came from an iOS device
• Generally the iPhone accounted for twice as much traffic as the iPad, with the iPod Touch a distant third
• Conversion rates were significantly higher on the iPad than the iPhone or Touch – presumably due to the bigger screen and therefore ‘easier’ experience

It’s clear that if a business is to maximise their revenue from mCommerce then iOS is the one to target – in spite of the fact that Android dominates global market share for smartphone OS with 52.5% compared to iOS’ 15%. For whatever reason, consumers find it far, far easier to buy on an iOS device than an Android, Windows Phone or other device.

A mobile optimised site is one way to go (none of the clients in our sample have one, by the way, which makes the results that much more impressive) but it is surely worth considering developing an iPhone and/or iPad app to create an enjoyable, memorable and, most importantly, simple way to purchase via mobile.

And as an app can be developed over time more and more functionality can be added at a relatively low cost, ensuring your business never falls behind the times – something that is commonplace with websites, especially on mobile devices.

That’s not to say you should ignore the growing Android app market, not when it does dominate the smartphone OS space, but right now the statistics clearly show that you are going to get the most benefit developing for iOS and providing those users with a seamless, enjoyable shopping experience.

We’re already talking with our clients about iPhone and iPad apps for their businesses. If you’d like to talk to us too, get in touch.

KLM Meet & Seat

Dutch airline KLM will soon be introducing its Meet & Seat app on Facebook – it will allow passengers who have opted in to choose who they sit next to based on their social media profiles. I’m guessing the majority of us have had a bad experience sitting next to someone we’d rather not – my most prominent was when I sat next to a nervous flyer who shouted, ‘WE’RE GOING TO DIE, WE’RE GOING TO DIE!’ every time there was a bit of turbulence. Although the journey was ever-so-slightly disturbing, it still wouldn’t be enough to push me to use KLM’s Meet & Seat service – to me, it seems a bit too set up, and if you end up disliking the person, there’s no escape. I’ve had some brilliant conversations with interesting people on flights, but I also like the time to sit back, read and relax – the idea of being forced to talk to someone doesn’t appeal to me. The campaign has a lot of potential though, and I think the number of people in the mile-high club would increase significantly.

KLM isn’t the first airline to embrace social media, Malaysia and Delta Airlines both have Facebook apps that allow users to purchase tickets, check in, view seating plans and share their itineraries with friends. Virgin America is using Foursquare to promote brand loyalty by asking fans to check-in and post geo-located photos in return for loyalty points. People naturally post holiday photos and check-in at exotic destinations so this is a brilliant idea to build brand loyalty and also gives the user money off a future break.  The loyalty campaign is run by Topquest and also includes the Hilton and Best Western hotels.

Strada uses user-generated content to drive sales

Strada is encouraging Facebook users to share their dining experiences by posting photos or writing reviews on popular social networking sites in return for promotional vouchers. Tragus Group own Strada, Cafe Rouge and Bella Italia, and all three are using this user-generated content strategy to help drive more foot traffic into their restaurants. Bella Italia recently ran a Facebook campaign where users were able to make their own personalised pizza and share it with friends in return for a money-off voucher.

Levi’s uses Instagram to find a model for upcoming ad campaign

Instagram is a popular photo-sharing app currently only available on the iPhone but still has over 10 million users. Levi Strauss has opened worldwide casting via Instagram to find a new model for their September 2012 campaign. Users are to take a photo of themselves with the tag #iamlevis to be in with the chance of becoming the new face of Levi’s.

It’s not the first time the brand have used Instagram as a marketing tool, Levi’s Brazil set up an Instagram account ‘levisbrasil’ to keep users visually updated with their latest items. The Brazilian campaign didn’t reach a huge audience but as the number of users on Instagram keeps increasing so will its popularity. It’s interesting to see how brands are choosing to use the application for marketing, and I hope other brands follow suit in the future.

The web design was carried out by our hugely talented creative team over a number of weeks and the site was developed on a flexible, easy to use content management system.

The all new Fighters Only site incorporates a dynamic breaking news section, ecommerce functionality for the sale of print magazine subscriptions and Fighters Only merchandise the world over, a dedicated TV section featuring MMA-related videos including fights, interviews and analysis and extensive galleries of the fighters and the world famous Fighters Only Babes!

We wanted to set a new benchmark for MMA websites with a really vibrant, engaging and dynamic website. Fighters Only is renowned for its speedy reaction to MMA news breaking 24/7 around the globe so we needed to ensure they could publish and update news stories as they break, quickly and easily. We have used a content management system which allows easy editing and updating and we have kept ease of use and functionality at the forefront of the whole site design.

A lot of hard work went into the new Fighters Only site as there were very tight deadlines to meet and a number of technical challenges to overcome. Both the client and us are delighted with the results and as you can see from the banner on the screenshot above, we’re now hard at work on Fighters Only’s sister site, Train Hard, Fight Easy.

It started when I made cupcakes for everyone in the office one Tuesday, it’s the day of the week that usually is the most stressful, not Monday and not quite the middle of the week, so as a fun way to share a little joy a week later Martin made some yummy flapjacks and coined the phrase ‘Free Food Tuesday’. We posted to Twitter using the hashtag #FreeFoodTuesday.

The rules of Free Food Tuesday are simple.

1. 1. Items MUST be homemade, not from a packet or shop bought.
2. 2. Items can be anything you like, savoury or sweet.
3. 3. Items must be shared on a Tuesday. (This rule has been broken a few times!)
4. 4. There must be enough food for everyone to try.
5. 5. You must write on the list what you intend to make at least 1 week before.

We’ve had everything from cakes to trifles and here’s a look back over the last 6 months at the ones we managed to get photos for.

After my cupcakes and Martin D’s awesome flapjacks we decided to open the floor and ask people to sign up to a list! So Rachel S (well her brother since she spent the night in A&E) made chocolate crispy cakes, and plenty of them! We then saw shortbread from Iain, and chocolate brownies from Clair that were eaten so fast we didn’t get a photo!

We had lemon drizzle cake from Mike and two types of cake (fruit cake and vanilla sponge) from Ben E. Scott wowed us with his raspberry & white chocolate cookies while on my second round, I made fruit mini pies (pictured above on left), a spin on the new fad of pie pops. After that Graham treated us to a pineapple and cherry upside down cake which got us in a fruity mood for James‘ genius trifles (pictured above in centre) which had us all ooooooing and ahhhhhhing followed by yummy vanilla and chocolate cupcakes made by Sarah (pictured above on right).

September said hello to a cake made by Martin P and a late entry from Rachel S with some melt in the mouth shortbread. We were then all in cake heaven when Martin D stole the show with his coffee and walnut cake (pictured above on left and centre) which he transported to the office in a frying pan because his cake tin wasn’t quite big enough. October was finished with Jo’s double chocolate cupcakes, Rachel A’s brownie muffins (pictured above on right) and I made some Halloween inspired cupcakes, cinnamon and apple topped with apple and caramel (pictured below on left).

Lee swooped in with a triple surprise. Three cakes, and yes, all three were yummy. He made (well Hayley his talented wife made shall we suspect) a chocolate brownie cake, a lemon drizzle cake and a cherry loaf cake (all pictured above in centre) Mike took another go and gave us a lovely soft marble cake and Clair gave us another delight of her chocolate brownies. For my final attempt in 2011 I made lemon biscuits for my birthday (pictured above on right).

Finally in 2011 we have the last stars of the show. Chris broke rule 3 and decided to treat us to his cinnamon buns on a Monday (pictured above on left). They were good so we let him off. And if one rule breaker wasnt enough, Hayley also broke rule 3 with her stain glass window biscuits and Gingerbread Cake with Orange Festive Icing. Made by Hayley, decorated by Iz (age 5) (pictured above on left and right).

We have one more week for this year and so we’ve already started a list for 2012 and we’re hoping to have a few savoury options next year too. We have names on the list to fill 2 months and a few beyond that. So go on, try it in your office, see who bakes like a king, and who can barely bake a cookie. Get a calendar printed up with a name and food column and get baking!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

We’ve got some more photos of the boys showing off their freshly groomed whiskers…

Donations: http://www.mobro.co/fluid

The team

Scott

Adrian

Ben

Chris

Lee

Martin

Mike

Movember Day #15

We are responsible for the web design, development and ongoing search engine optimisation set up and support of Cartridge World’s new UK website (http://www.cartridgeworld.co.uk), which launched this month, and over 200 franchisee microsites (http://www.cartridgeworld.co.uk/store-locator), including development of the back end content management system.

“I’m very excited about this project. The new website was long overdue and it will bring big opportunities for Cartridge World to develop its online presence” says Cartridge World Marketing Communications Manager Lucie Turnbull.

Lee Turner, our MD, said: “We’re very happy Cartridge World chose Fluid to develop their web presence and ongoing strategy. It’s an exciting client to be involved with and we’re already working on some great ideas.”

With the site live, we are concentrating on search engine optimisation for both the main website and the 200 franchisee websites, focusing on local search for the latter.

Heinz personalised ‘get well’ tins

First up is a clever concept from Heinz; personalised ‘get well soon’ soup tins. Send a personalised tin of soup (either cream of tomato or cream of chicken) to a poorly friend and cheer up their day. You can purchase your personalised soup tin for £1.99 from the Heinz Facebook page. It will take three to four days to be delivered so it might be worth ordering now and storing away until your friend is inevitably full of lurgy. Everyone gets at least one cold a year.

The Feed’s 1st Birthday

A year ago this month Orange launched The Feed, an ongoing collection of social media delights created by Poke London. Popular campaigns over the last 12 months include:

‘Keep me cool‘ – an  ice-cream give-away where users were encouraged to enter their postcodes to entice the ice-cream van into their area.

The winter warmer campaign, which invited Twitter users to nominate their friends to win a hot chocolate delivery to their door.

‘Pimp my pic’ was an opportunity for Facebook users to get a new body illustrated for their Facebook profile picture – click here to see some of the works of art.

Innocent Tweet and Eat

Innocent is offering Twitter and Facebook users discount on one of their tasty veg pots. The more the users tweet the hashtag #tweetandeat, the bigger the discount, so get tweeting your way to a free veg pot.

More than that though, it means that if you’re looking to create an ecommerce website, or upgrade an existing one, we are more than capable of building it for you from top to bottom, using Linnworks to give you complete control over your online business and designing a great looking site to attract your customers.

Here’s some more information about Linn Systems and how Linnworks can help your business. You can view our listing on their site here.

About Linn Systems

Linn Systems started off as a bespoke system development company specializing in ERP and MRP satellite systems back in 2005.  Since 2008 we have started selling our core products to the mainstream users without any tailoring or bespoke consultations.

Our place in the industry is in software development and solution vendor sector. We develop software systems for small, medium and enterprise size businesses for one purpose only – to automate as much as possible in a day-to-day business routine. Our core products are aimed at online retail sector and small business administration, manufacturing and automation, as well as reduction of work-flows. Long story short – we make computer programs that run businesses.

We have strong revenues and financially very sound company with many opportunities for growth.

About Linnworks

Linnworks is a multi-channel order management and stock control system which integrates the whole selling management process for all your selling channels in one place.

All orders from multiple channels and numerous websites are downloaded into one central place, where you can print all invoices, shipping labels, picking and packaging list at a click of a button, as well as keeping track of order life cycle and manage returns and resends.

Linnworks order management software also controls your inventory levels (purchasing, restocking of your inventory from suppliers) – when a sale is made the system automatically deducts stock and can synchronize the stock level changes across all your selling channels.

What’s more, with Linnworks there are no binding contract agreements to worry about, and no commissions or costs per transaction. Linnworks comes with clear, affordable up-front costs together with exceptional levels of support and documentation.

Our MD Lee Turner is a keen cyclist and already biked the sixty mile route when he was fifteen, Scott Green took advantage of the Cycle to work scheme and Martin Downton cycled for Macmillan Cancer Support last year (you can see his route here).

Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust is dedicated to helping women with cervical cancer and cervical abnormalities. They offer advice, support and friendship to women of all ages and help women understand the importance of cervical screening.

If you’d like to sponsor our boys then please donate through their Just Giving page.

Below: Martin and Scott