Mall Maps uses the GPS feature of the iPhone to inform consumers about malls near their current location. The application, which was created by Shayne Faerber, also has store listings and floor plans for malls.

“Mall Maps is the perfect companion app for the tens of millions of people who will flock to the malls this holiday season,” said Dave Swartz, cofounder of Medl Mobile, Irvine, CA.

“We’ve been working hard on it for seven months but all along, we knew that we needed to have it ready to go in time for Black Friday,” he said. “The timing of the launch couldn’t have been better.”

Medl Mobile is a mobile application developer with applications such as Note to God, Feather Report and Problem Halved.

Helping commerce along
Besides using the GPS location-based services, consumers can browse by city, state or ZIP code.

With Mall Maps, consumers see the mall’s store listing along with location codes to find stores on the floor plan map, which is loaded in the application.

Consumers can also visit the mall’s Web site from within the applications to view their special deals and sales.

The application is $2.99 in the App Store.

Mr. Swartz said that his company is focusing on promoting the application as the perfect way to coordinate local shopping trips and get the most out shopping with the minimum amount of hassle.

“It’s even better for people who are traveling this holiday season and need to purchase gifts, but don’t have the local knowledge,” Mr. Swartz said. “With this app, you’ll know all the local malls, the store listings and the layouts better than the local teenagers.”

Mr. Swartz said that two types of consumers gravitate towards the application, people who love to shop and people who hate to shop.

Consumers who love to shop are using the application to plan shopping excursions, he said. They are also using it to discover new malls and stores.

Mr. Swartz said his company was surprised by the amount of people who hate shopping but enjoy Mall Maps.

“They use it to get in and out of the mall quickly and to figure out where to park so they don’t wander the mall aimlessly,” Mr. Swartz said.

To monetize, Medl Mobile is using AdMob to place advertisements in various locations in the application, along with the $2.99 cost of download.

The application is being marketed with a social media campaign and through word of mouth.

Mr. Swartz said that he thinks the application will help retailers during this holiday season.

“I think this app will be a boon to retailers,” Mr. Swartz said. “For one thing, Mall Maps reminds people of all the amazing shopping options located just down the street.

“It allows them to call a mall or store at the touch of a button to see if an item is in stock, check for hours or ask any kind of question,” he said. “Which means that the shopping experience itself is going to be better and Mall Maps will make people feel more comfortable going out to shop in places that they are not familiar – which will drive more people into retail.”