What is the state of mobile retail readiness in Europe? How are Europe’s biggest retail brands extending their brand experience through mobile? What approaches are retailers taking to engage influence consumers throughout the purchase funnel (awareness, engagement, consideration, conversion and loyalty)? Get the inside track by joining MobileGroove and Acquity Group executives this Wednesday (June 22) for Global Insight: European Retail Goes Mobile. Interestingly, European retailers have so far focused on developing apps rather than mobile sites. MORE >>

Mobile shopping app   Shopkick , which rewards shoppers for walking into stores and interacting with products, has added CVS/pharmacy as the first pharmacy to join its lineup of retail brands that already includes major names like  Macy’s, Target, American Eagle, Mobil, Best Buy and ToysRus. Launched in August 2010, Shopkick is now enabled at more than 7,000 partner retail locations across the U.S. The program kicks off with a special offer of $5 to shoppers who visit participating CVS locations with the Shopkick app. Mashable ). MORE >>

The holiday numbers are in, the mobile user surveys are done, and the implications for brands, retailers and marketers are profound. But it also lays the groundwork for strategies that enable brands (and retailers) to build up an opt-in customer database , an interaction they can cultivate by offering coupons and SMS alerts to consumers who genuinely want to hear what the brand has to say. The bottom line: mobile retail is a fact, not a fad. InsightExpress reports that mobile retail purchase intent is eight times higher than online retail purchase intent. MORE >>

The willingness of people to interact with brands on their mobile phones (and their growing reliance on mobile devices for shopping advice and assistance on the move) has jumpstarted a new phase in mobile marketing growth driven by retail brands and advertisers. From department stores to computers & electronics retailers to luxury fashion brands, marketers are investing in mobile advertising to reach and influence people throughout the purchase funnel (awareness, engagement,  consideration, conversion and loyalty). Mobile retail users. MORE >>

Any retailer – digital or bricks-and-mortar – who isn’t serious about offering consumers mobile comparison shopping apps could find themselves funding expensive real estate, trained sales staff, and fancy product displays only to educate smart shoppers who may walk out of those stores and turn to Amazon’s “One Click” application through the mobile web. The Wall Street Journal has just today reported on mobile-savvy bargain-shoppers – so it’s officially the trend that transforms retail – period.). So how do traditional retailers fight back? MORE >>