Users can shop women’s apparel, children’s clothing and home décor. The mobile-optimized site was built and is powered by Usablenet.

“As smartphone adoption continues to grow significantly and mobile users become increasingly mcommerce savvy, it is necessary for retailers to have a mobile presence that extends full ecommerce,” said Nick Taylor, president of Usablenet, New York.

“Usablenet supports Garnet Hill in keeping up with the demands of their customer base by creating a new powerful channel for their customers to connect with them in the most convenient way possible,” he said.

Garnet Hill began as an importer of English flannel sheets and has grown into a distinguished brand and multichannel marketer, offering bedding, home furnishing, sleepwear, shoes, women’s apparel and children’s clothing online and in its catalogs.

Usablenet guarantees its customers a universal service that supports all mobile devices, as well as all Web browsers and carriers, without a need for client IT resources.

Shop till you drop
Consumers can access the mobile site by entering http://www.garnethill.com on their mobile browsers.

In addition to shopping the different categories such as brand, catalog, quick shop and beauty, users can also browse the sale of the day.

Additionally, users can check on their order status.

“According to Compete data, retailers neglecting to develop their mobile strategy with full purchase capabilities are losing considerable business,” Mr. Taylor said. “Despite the sharp increase in smartphone adoption, consumers are reluctant to purchase via sites not optimized for mobile.”

Eighty percent of the participants surveyed by Compete were unable to complete a product purchase and 45 percent of them abandoned the transaction due to the site’s inability to load. An additional 38 percent gave up because the site was not optimized.

“Optimization of Garnet Hill’s mobile site similarly supports this theory as users demonstrated their desire to shop via mobile, but moreover their demand for an easy-to-use version of the site that ensures secure transactions,” Mr. Taylor said.

Mobile browsing
Garnet Hill has seen growth in browsing and shopping on mobile devices while its site was still in beta.

The company saw mobile sales increase by more than 300 percent since the mobile site launch.

“In 2011, brands will regard mobile as a vital component of their multichannel customer engagement strategy,” Mr. Taylor said. “Beyond optimizing simple functionality on mobile, companies will begin to experiment with mobile campaigns and extend more complex features to mobile as they recognize that many of their customers use smartphones as the primary device.”