Online retailers without an m-commerce strategy are in the minority.

That’s according to the new study released today by Forrester Research and Shop.org.

“The State of Retailing Online: Marketing, Social Commerce and Mobile Report,” states that nearly three-quarters of online retailers either already have or are developing a mobile strategy. A good example of a retailer leading this trend is Neiman Marcus, with plans to be completely mobile enabled by fall.

According to “The State of Retailing Online: Marketing, Social Commerce and Mobile Report,” online retailers with mobile strategies:

• Are investing in features that support the cross-channel experience. Product and price information, store information, and coupons to support the in-store experience are among the most popular features that retailers are offering consumers.
• Have varied level of investment. While respondents anticipated spending on average $170,000 on their mobile sites this year, large multichannel retailers are spending several times that amount, while smaller online pure plays on average are investing much less.
• Are experiencing modest gains. Retailers reported that their mobile browsers at this juncture are generating a little less than three percent of overall site traffic and just two percent of revenue.

From the consumer perspective, we uncovered in our latest consumer survey report, “Cross-Channel Commerce: The Consumer View,” that even though mobile commerce in still catching on with consumers, it is already an important part of the cross-channel shopping experience, with nearly a third of consumers using their mobile devices to browse or research products and services periodically.

It is evident the consumer is ready and increasingly interested in using mobile to make purchases, and it is great to see the majority of retailers strategizing and preparing for the tipping point of m-commerce.

“The State of Retailing Online: Marketing, Social Commerce and Mobile Report” is available to Shop.org members and can also be purchased directly at www.shop.org/soro.

I just got back to the ATG offices after a busy trip in Chicago for the Internet Retailer Conference and Expo. If you weren’t able to make the annual event, then you certainly missed out! The show, which garnered more than 6,400 attendees, was jam-packed with informative sessions, and a flurry of announcements on everything from new partnerships to product upgrades (including our own announcement of enhancements to ATG Recommendations).

During the show I led a session with Robert Gilbreath, Director of e-Commerce Marketing & Analytics for Calendars.com, about the top five reasons companies decide to update or change their sites. We went over the process for evaluating commerce platform solutions and for kicking of a replatform project.  We also discussed the expectations companies and each member of the internal team managing a platform need to have once the project begins. In case you missed the session, “Managing a re-platforming: Strategy, people, technology,” you still have an opportunity to learn what issues retailers should cover with vendors before signing a contract for site work.

On this Wednesday, June 16, at 2 p.m. ET, Gilbreath and Robert Farrior from Razor 360 will join me during a webinar called, “e-Commerce Re-platform: Build a Winning Game Plan.” Gilbreath will discuss the recent Calendars.com re-platform project, and the planning that went into it to make it successful. Their new site went live in less than four months, with a significant uplift in online sales. This webinar will help you build a plan to address the common pitfalls and challenges, and ensure that your re-platform is smooth and successful. Join us and learn:

• The top five reasons companies decide to update or change their sites
• How Calendars.com increased online revenue with a successful re-platform
• Best practices for kicking off and running a re-platform project

To register for this free webinar, please go here.

Everyone at the Internet Retailer Conference and Expo (IRCE) has a little kick in their step. The mood is overwhelmingly positive and it casts a pretty clear message that the online retail world is gaining forward momentum. The attendance figures alone even back up this notion: there are over 6,400 attendees – an approximate 20% increase over last year’s showing!

In his opening message, Kurt Peters, Editor in Chief of Internet Retailer, also noted the renewed energy in online retail. His discussed how online revenue has seen a 14.5% increase in Q1 2010 over Q1 2009. As Peters put it, “…it’s the return of double digit growth.” The online retail ecosystem is thriving, and vendors and business alike are seeing growth. It’s an exciting time to be converging with other online retail professionals at IRCE, and even more thrilling to hear how retailers are harnessing new strategies such as mobile and social commerce to grow their brands with confidence.

There’s definitely a new vibe this year, but there’s also another noticeable presence at this year’s show: the iPad. Has anyone else noticed the abundant number of iPad giveaways and raffles? The iPad has taken over IRCE!

The following Q&A was conducted with Greg Wong, CEO of Heiler Software, and Dave Magnoni, director of product marketing at ATG. The two experts will join Forrester’s Principal Analyst Brian Walker during a webinar called “e-Commerce Meets Product Information Management” on June 3 at 2 p.m. ET. To register for free, click here.

Question: We hear it all of the time; companies spend seven to nine months tediously creating a general catalog, not to mention the cost and time it takes to create a targeted one as well. How can companies reduce this time and spend more effort targeting their customers?

Greg Wong: One word: Automation. Using a single repository for all of your data helps the automation process because you are able to create and store customer-specific content and standard product information. Then, you publish it with the click of a button for both creative or structured flyers and catalogs, and only the final touches or pre-press work is done in Desktop Publishing solutions like Adobe InDesign, QuarkXpress, or FrameMaker.

Dave Magnoni: Printed catalog creation is generally done outside of e-commerce, but Web data and User Generated Content available online may be useful for the process. You can capture the right information online and keep this in synch with the product content.

Question: Companies that are growing and increasing their offerings are overwhelmed by all of the data that they have to manage. How do companies with multiple sales channels (i.e. multiple Web sites, catalogs, brick and mortar locations) communicate their product and brand information efficiently?

Greg Wong: Having one central system allows you to have the ability to synchronize your product information across multiple domains, targeted catalogs, and brick and mortar locations in one step, as opposed to updating each one individually. In addition, data is not replicated and data governance policies can be enforced across channels. The whole idea behind the Long-Tail theory is being able to expand your product line and increase revenue. You can do this easily with a PIM.

Dave Magnoni: Yes, having product information in a single master system is very helpful, and it provides a starting point for the commerce process. For example, master product information may be in one place, but different online sites may show brand-specific catalogs, or a single B2B site might show only products authorized in a given customer contract. The commerce engine will pull the product information, add information from other sources (like inventory levels), and provide an environment where the merchant can effectively communicate his or her brand to provide personalized information and offers that will ensure each visitor has the best experience possible.

Question: Why is it important for e-commerce applications to work in-conjunction with a product information management solution?

Greg Wong: Most organizations have either become or are becoming multi-channel resellers. With this in mind, there are many different source systems of data and many different output channels. e-Commerce is one channel in the ecosystem; the job of an e-commerce system is to provide the best shopping experience to end customers, but not to be a data harmonization, data quality, or data management solution. By off-loading this to a PIM, e-commerce systems can focus on doing what they do best, generating revenue for retailers. Businesses will need their e-commerce applications to support their multi-channel initiatives as customers are becoming increasingly demanding.

Dave Magnoni: Online commerce involves selling and supporting many channels: multiple brand and country Web sites, mobile sites, in-store kiosks, agents who provide customer service, feeds to social media sites, etc. The PIM provides strong tools to make sure the information used for multi-channel online commerce is both high-quality and consistent across those many different channels. PIM also supports other channels, like catalog production, which are not usually driven from the online information. This improves the consumer’s experience and, in turn, improves business results.

The importance of e-commerce applications and PIM working in conjunction can be demonstrated in the use of search facets. These are valuable features that help customers filter a wide assortment of products to narrow in on those that they want to consider for purchase. High-quality information is needed in the product feed to ensure those facets turn out correctly on the Web, mobile or other sites that a customer is using. The PIM helps get the information right so the e-commerce experience can be flawless.