IRCE 2008 Session Descriptions

Listed below is the individual session description. To view a speakers' bio simply click the links inside the session description.

M-Commerce: Retail Web Sites Hit the Road—June 12

This one-day workshop will help retailers understand all the issues relating to mobile commerce, including how to determine a business plan, how to analyze carriers, browsers and platforms; how marketing and design are different for mcommerce than for e-commerce; and the role that m-commerce will play in multichannel retailing.

1:45 - 2:30 p.m.

Designing for m-commerce: Stripping e-retailing to its essence

Norman Sadeh, Director, Mobile commerce lab, Carnegie Mellon University

Dan Wright, CEO, mPoria Inc.

Shawn Freeman, Chief Technology Officer and General Manager, Retail, TicketsNow

Smart phones with their bigger more sophisticated displays may be on their way, but they're not here yet. So today's mobile sites for the average cell phone should be like haiku, distilling a big retail web site down to its essence. With small screens, browser software from at least seven possible carriers and handset controls that have literally hundreds of small variations depending on manufacturer and model, cell phones are a web developer's nightmare. Stripping things down is only the first step. After that, retailers face a multitude of decisions about images, amount of content and degree of functionality. Our speakers in this session will walk attendees through what they need to know to present the best image to consumers who are shopping via handsets. Our first speaker has studied a variety of mobile sites and he will discuss what they have common and how they differ. Our second speaker has designed mobile sites for a number of retailer clients. He will discuss the challenges that his retailers faced in creating mobilefriendly sites. Our third speaker has implemented a mobile web site and will discuss what he had to do ensure success.