How are Walmart, Best Buy, and others innovating with mobile apps?

Mobile is driving ecommerce sales growth, with 43.2% of the $1.14 trillion in US ecommerce sales we project for this year. As mcommerce sales rise, retailers are innovating to get a piece of the $491.14 billion pie. Mobile commerce will be especially vital this holiday season. Some 79% of US online shoppers did so via mobile during Thanksgiving weekend last year, according to Bizrate Insights data cited in a Forrester report.

Here are four examples of retailers innovating with mobile apps to cash in on mcommerce.

1. Walmart’s mobile subscriptions

The recurring order service is available through Walmart’s app and looks similar to Amazon’s Subscribe & Save feature. The service will help Walmart boost sales by encouraging return purchases of goods like paper towels and shampoo on a subscription basis. It’s also good for Walmart to boost app adoption, which will help the retailer collect first-party data to boost its retail media network.

2. Best Buy’s exclusive deals

The electronics retailer announced Best Buy Drops, which offer deals exclusively available through its app. The move will help Best Buy compete with Amazon ahead of its second Prime Day event in October. It will also encourage app use and enhance first-party data, as ads for products on sale are the leading motivator for purchases from retail media ads, according to Integral Ad Science.

3. Sweetgreen expands to in-store

Sweetgreen is now allowing members of its Sweetpass loyalty program to redeem rewards in-store, rather than exclusively on digital orders. This move will encourage app use in stores and improve the bowl chain’s omnichannel experience.

4. Family Dollar’s push toward ecommerce

Family Dollar will launch a new app in October that will help users manage coupons and discover products, chief information officer Bobby Aflatooni told Retail Touch Points. Lower-price retailers like Family Dollar and sister company Dollar Tree have untapped mcommerce potential, but in order to boost these sales, the companies will have to convince customers to adopt new apps, rather than shopping on an old reliable like Walmart.

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