Dive Brief:

• Handbag and leather goods retailer Dooney & Bourke teamed up with mobile commerce platform company PredictSpring to create and roll out its first mobile app, according to a press release.

• Features will include app-based campaigns and offers like a "Bag of the Week" promotion, and a personalization quiz that allows shoppers to create personal profiles by answering questions about handbag style preferences, according to the release.

• Dooney & Bourke will eventually offer a feature called DooneyPay that will allow members of the brand's loyalty program to pay for purchases over three installments.

Dive Insight:

In a recent Shopgate survey, 50% of retailers responding said that having a mobile shopping app is a top priority for their omnichannel strategies. Among other things, that means many companies are just coming around to the idea that they need a shopping app.

Dooney & Bourke said it pursued development of its first-ever mobile app after it discovered that 60% of its web traffic was coming from mobile devices. The company said its e-commerce experience was built on Salesforce Commerce Cloud, allowing it to launch the new app quickly.

Over the last year and a half, PredictSpring has worked with retailers and brands like Avenue Stores, SMCP and M.Gemi, in each case helping companies craft app custom features. In Dooney & Bourke's case, app-based promotions could help drive even more of the brand's customers to shop frequently via mobile. Meanwhile, personalization features will not only give shoppers experiences designed around their preferences, but also will help Dooney & Bourke gather more data points on shopping behaviors. DooneyPay also sounds like a promising idea at a time when more retailers are supporting installment payment capabilities.

While some brands may feel they can serve mobile shoppers adequately through their website, mobile apps offer an opportunity to enable dedicated features and promotions for consumers.