The retailer is hoping to increase store visits, making the decision to move forward with elevating mobile search as many users are searching for locations nearby on their smartphones. Harry & David will be employing SIM Partner’s platform Velocity to improve mobile viewing within search of location-based information.

“Mobile is the new marketing mandate,” said David Mathews, senior vice president of marketing at Harry & David. “Our strategy is to be visible, relevant, and engaging across the mobile discovery ecosystem.

“With SIM Partners’ Velocity platform, we are harnessing the power of our location data to ensure that our retail store locations are visible and the content we provide is scalable across mobile search results,” he said.

“Ensuring the best experience across the customer journey is a top priority for Harry & David, and that journey often begins with a local ‘near me’ search on a mobile device. With Velocity, Harry & David is applying our high standard of quality across the customer journey, by combining data and content to create more contextually relevant experiences.”

Searching for success
Many retailers are focusing in on local strategies with mobile search knowing that users a likely searching for retail locations in their area on their devices. These users are looking for information that will lead them to act within a short timeframe.

Harry & David will be easing the customer journey for these mobile users, and pointing them towards its stores.

Google recently released data exhibiting that phrases such as near me, closest, and nearby are becoming more and more common within its database of searches, with 80 percent of near-me queries occurring on mobile devices. The velocity platform will be tapping into user location information and Harry & David’s local store information to bring retailer and consumer closer together.

Consumers have grown increasingly more comfortable with sharing location data with applications and marketers, after seeing the benefits it returns to users. Now mobile users are looking for location-based experience, as it presents a wide range of opportunities, making it a staple within marketing.

The retailer will be able to access the platform to gain better insights on consumers on what has performed well and what has poorly performed, to better gain control on a favorable outcome.

Mobile search
Mobile users searching for retail options coinciding with the Harry & David brand will be shown store hours, locations and other helpful information across multiple search platforms.

Similarly, DoSomething.org leveraged mobile search to highlight social causes important to young consumers by accepting a 10 cent donation from Yahoo for every eligible search performed on a mobile browser throughout October (see more).

Move Inc.’s realtor.com also angled for mobile search to become an integral sales aid as it rolls out the Express Home Search app, which enables users to scout potential properties by using 3D maps, school search and a streamlined interface (see more).

“Our goal is to boost retail store traffic and sales by making sure Harry & David store locations are visible in the moments when and where customers are looking for premium gourmet gifts; especially our seasonal expansion locations that often go missed because their availability has a short window,” Mr. Matthews said. “By scaling our location data and relevant content about our products for mobile search, Harry & David will attract more shoppers to our permanent brick-and-mortar stores and seasonal kiosks and pop-up shops.”

Final take
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Commerce Daily