Gulliver’s shoppers

Less is more, they say. And mobile web browsing is a good example of this old chestnut: too many bells and whistles, too much required effort, too much anything can kill a mobile web site in a flash. In this case, downsizing is a good thing.

New mobile web shopping mall Digby knows that to be successful with less screen space demands less effort by shoppers—it is its reason for being.

“Using a browser on a phone can be painful,” says Steve Slezak, marketing director at 30 Second Software, which operates Digby. “At the same time, we are seeing an explosion in the use of high-end phones as people who are on the go are looking to do more with their phones, including make purchases. But if it takes them more than a minute to complete a transaction, they won’t do it.”

30-second countdown

Hence the name of the company. The m-commerce technology and services vendor aims to simplify the m-commerce process and make it more inviting for consumers to make purchases via mobile communications devices. It created Digby with an eye on substantially reducing the level of complexity associated with completing an online purchase, reducing it to a 30-second transaction.

Browsing through the mini-mall, shoppers find merchandise in 13 categories, with one or two retailers in each category. Digby offers mostly gift-oriented products. Shops include Godiva Chocolatier, FTD Florist, Vermont Teddy Bear and Capalbo’s Gift Baskets.

Digby, currently accessible only via Blackberry devices (the company plans to expand hardware options), sets its sights on the fast set that talk on their phones or text message as they conduct personal or professional business. But is the market ready for a mobile mini-mall, and can the company get the word out fast enough to make a go of it?

While Digby indeed is a pioneer, retailers should be cautious, says Nikki Baird, senior analyst of consumer markets at Forrester Research Inc. “There is the risk they may be a little too early to market. There is bound to be a learning curve regarding just what people want to shop for on their mobile phones. Even online merchants who have been in business for years are still trying to figure this out.”

Digby is counting on the ability to get ahead of the m-commerce market so when the market explodes, as many experts believe it will, the mall will have the edge. A recent Forrester report, co-authored by Baird, showed only 12% of U.S. households with mobile phones use their carriers’ data services. That number, however, is expected to grow rapidly—three-quarters of U.S. households own at least one mobile phone. The study also found that members of Generation Y (roughly, people in their 20s) are the most likely to use their phones to send and receive text messages, buy or download content, and use the mobile Internet.

30 Second Software is poised ahead of the trend. With Digby, the m-commerce technology vendor takes information gathered when customers register to use the service and integrates it with data already stored in their Blackberrys. For example, customers register their credit card information and addresses so information does not have to be entered again when making purchases. And if customers want to send a gift, rather than typing in the recipient’s name and address, the purchaser can instruct the program to get recipients’ information from the Blackberry’s address book.

Address book integration

“The average Blackberry owner has an index with about 300 names and addresses,” Slezak says. “We leverage that information by integrating the data into our program.”

Another way Digby attempts to reduce hassle associated with shopping via mobile device is by grouping products and arranging them in a way that makes it easier to find items compared with typical methods used on the big web.

Retailers send 30 Second Software electronic files of products they select to offer on Digby. The software company takes the files and creates and manages the catalog for the mobile commerce site. It also ensures content is up to date based on instructions from retailers.

When a customer clicks on a category, products appear on the screen. In most cases, in order to keep the shopping experience simple, customers are presented with limited choices. With Godiva and FTD, for example, offerings on Digby are limited to top-selling items and seasonal offerings.

Slezak says limiting selection does not hamper a retailer’s sales potential. “Our vendors tell us 80% of their sales come from a limited set of products, so we only offer those products in the mall,” he says.

The idea is that customers who need to send out a quick box of chocolates or bouquet of flowers don’t need the hundreds of options available on shops’ e-commerce sites. A quick view of the most popular sellers in a small range of prices and sizes fits most needs, Slezak says.

At Godiva, for example, the best sellers on Digby are boxes of assorted chocolates and gift baskets, the same items that are most popular on its e-commerce site. “We have put on Digby the items we think our customers are most likely to want,” says Beth Sash, business director of e-commerce and direct marketing. In addition, Godiva also is promoting one of its new chocolate lines—Decadence—on Digby with a promotion called “Decadence Goes Mobile.”

Digby gift shops regularly change product selection to reflect the seasonal nature of their businesses. In April, for example, retailers were taking Easter-related chocolates and flowers out of the mini-shops and introducing Mother’s Day and spring offerings.

While gift-oriented retailers serve up limited selections, a few others, such as those that sell books and CDs, give shoppers a wider selection. Shoppers, for example, can search through a multitude of books by title, author or topic. “There is no way we can display all books people are likely to buy, so we have to accommodate a full search on these items,” Slezak explains.

In general, whatever the product, shopping via mobile phone can skew toward impulse buys. “I was in Starbucks the other day and they were playing music from a musician who I had not heard in a long time. I was able to pull out my Blackberry, call up Digby, type in the musician’s name and order the CD right there in Starbucks. We call that a Digby moment,” Slezak says.

Once customers find an item on Digby they’re interested in, they click on it to view a larger picture and a product description. If they want to purchase the item, they click Add To Shopping Cart and select Proceed To Checkout. There, their billing information already is typed in from the registration process and all they need do is note if they want the item sent to them or someone else—either someone whose address already is in their Blackberry or someone for whom they must enter an address.

IRCE 2008 Conference Multi-Media CD-ROM

Shoppers click on Cheapest or Fastest delivery options and, if a gift, type in a message. For gifts, Digby again speeds transactions by providing pre-programmed messages, such as “Happy Birthday” or “Happy Anniversary.”

Don’t forget birthdays

Digby also enables family and friends’ birthdays or other special days listed in Blackberrys to be integrated into shoppers’ Digby databases. Customers can get messages a week before special events reminding them it’s time to send a gift.

Once orders are placed, Digby passes them to the participating retailer. Customers can order from multiple retailers using one shopping cart and making one transaction. Digby, though, first determines if a purchase is being made with an invalid credit card before accepting an order.

The retailer is responsible for clearing the payment, collecting the revenue and shipping the product. 30 Second Software collects a commission from retailers on every purchase based on a negotiated rate, the specifics of which Slezak declines to reveal.

Industry observers say the 30 Second Software approach is rare—for now. “Other technology companies are experimenting with mobile commerce in different ways,” Baird says. “Rather than streamline the interface as they have done with Digby, other companies are looking at improving existing interfaces on mini-browsers.”

Vikrant Gandhi, mobile technology analyst at Frost & Sullivan, says other technology vendors and e-retailers are concentrating on adapting browsers and search engine technology for mobile phone applications rather than looking to a whole new approach. Included in other approaches are efforts to combine voice recognition technology with Internet search so consumers can talk into their phones to find products rather than type in keywords or product names.

But while Digby’s approach appears to be novel, a big challenge will be getting the word out about the service.

So far, 30 Second Software has placed online banner advertisements and advertised with campaigns directed at technology early adopters at web sites and trade shows, Slezak says. It also is relying on its retailers to get the word out. Godiva, for instance, has promoted the service in its e-mail newsletters.

Because the service is so new, Godiva has not yet obtained sufficient feedback from customers or been able to determine how significant added sales are from Digby. “We’re still trying to find out just who is using this and how m-commerce is going to shake out,” Sash says.

But Sash says Godvia executives love the concept. “We’re always looking to innovate, and this is really innovative. We’ve not come across anything like it before. I have a Blackberry and most people here have Blackberrys and we all love the idea of being able to shop on them. Everyone we’ve shown this to loves the concept,” Sash adds.

But many industry observers believe the Digby approach, at least initially, won’t have mass appeal. “This is not for people who want to compare prices or check out a lot of options,” Forrester’s Baird says. “It is for people who need to buy now and people who are heavily dependent on using their Blackberrys to do many things. I’ve used Digby and I am not sure I would want to shop this way very often, but it does have appeal to a certain consumer group.”

Are they ready?

While Baird has reservations about how big the market that’s ready for Digby is, another industry analyst believes the time is right for the concept. “This space is exploding and the Digby concept is a good one,” says Frost & Sullivan’s Gandhi.

The biggest problem Gandhi sees, however, is the current limitation of platforms on which Digby can operate. For now Digby only runs on Blackberry devices, although Slezak says his company is talking with other platform vendors.

“The demographics of Blackberry users fit our key target of high incomes and people on the go,” Slezak says.

But while Gandhi says Blackberrys are a good start, he adds other mobile phone options will be essential to success. And he says Digby needs the endorsement of one or two of the big mobile service carriers as well.

“They need multiple devices and more product selection. But getting a mobile carrier behind them is most important,” Gandhi contends. “If they can partner with a mobile operator that can validate their concept, that would give them the edge they need. They may need only one really big operator, and I’m sure they are talking to all the top players to try to get that support.”

While the initial push by Digby is on gift and impulse buys, 30 Second executives believe the concept can be extended to other products. Slezak says take-out restaurant chains such as pizza outlets are good immediate prospects to add. And in time, he believes a whole range of products, including clothing and other nonperishable items, can be sold on the device.

Still, that could be a while away. For now, market observers are watching to see whether there are enough consumers out there who want and need to make those impulse buys from their Blackberrys and whether Digby can successfully get the word out. l

Lauri Giesen is a Libertyville, Ill.-based freelance business writer.