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Broadband & Mobile Featured Article
September 14, 2007
Shopping on the Go
By Tim Gray TMCnet Web Editor
Sprint (News - Alert) Nextel is making shopping an even more mobile experience with a new service that allows mobile handset customers to buy and compare products over their phone.
The service, dubbed Mobile Shopper, replicates the experience of shopping online except through a mobile handset. The service is free for Sprint customers.
Mobile Shopper also allows users to search for a specific product to find which retailer offers it at the lowest price, or they can browse inventory by retailer or category.
"With Mobile Shopper, Sprint customers get a powerful shopping tool that they can use on-the-go to buy products or compare online prices to in-store merchandise," said George Ranallo, director of consumer data applications for Sprint. "The speed of the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network gives our customers fast mobile access to innovative data applications such as Mobile Shopper, right on the one device they always have with them - their Sprint phone."
At launch, Mobile Shopper features more than 7 million products for sale at more than 30 popular online retailers such as eLuxury, eBags, Bluefly, Shoes.com among others, all accessible through a single tool, according to the company.
Although Sprint receives no money from purchases, it is yet another way to attract more customers. And the mobile shopping market is set to take off, according to analysts.
Alan Goode, a senior analyst at Juniper Research, said there is an increasing market for mobile purchasing. He estimates that in North America, mobile purchasers will spend $505 million in 2008, increasing to $1.9 billion by 2010.
Tim Gray is a Web Editor for TMCnet, covering news in the IP
communications, call center and customer relationship management industries. To see more of his articles, please visit Tim Gray’s columnist page.
The service, dubbed Mobile Shopper, replicates the experience of shopping online except through a mobile handset. The service is free for Sprint customers.
Mobile Shopper also allows users to search for a specific product to find which retailer offers it at the lowest price, or they can browse inventory by retailer or category.
"With Mobile Shopper, Sprint customers get a powerful shopping tool that they can use on-the-go to buy products or compare online prices to in-store merchandise," said George Ranallo, director of consumer data applications for Sprint. "The speed of the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network gives our customers fast mobile access to innovative data applications such as Mobile Shopper, right on the one device they always have with them - their Sprint phone."
At launch, Mobile Shopper features more than 7 million products for sale at more than 30 popular online retailers such as eLuxury, eBags, Bluefly, Shoes.com among others, all accessible through a single tool, according to the company.
Although Sprint receives no money from purchases, it is yet another way to attract more customers. And the mobile shopping market is set to take off, according to analysts.
Alan Goode, a senior analyst at Juniper Research, said there is an increasing market for mobile purchasing. He estimates that in North America, mobile purchasers will spend $505 million in 2008, increasing to $1.9 billion by 2010.
Tim Gray is a Web Editor for TMCnet, covering news in the IP
communications, call center and customer relationship management industries. To see more of his articles, please visit Tim Gray’s columnist page. 
