Calling all shoppers

‘Tis the season to do your shopping on your phone. At least, that’s what a handful of developers are hoping.
SplashData Inc. this week released a Microsoft Corp. Windows Mobile version of its SplashShopper application, which serves as an organizer for shopping-related items such as gift lists, grocery needs and DVD rentals. The $30 downloadable application includes a synch-able desktop version and allows users to share lists with others.
The offering follows the launch of a mall-specific, text message-based service from Silicon Valley developer NearbyNow Inc. Consumers are encouraged via instructions posted in shopping centers to send a query for a brand, product or sale to a short code; results are returned from retailers in the mall.
The service is live in four malls in California and Arizona, and NearbyNow plans to deploy the offering in at least 17 more locations next year.
“Now shoppers can find exactly who sells what they want in just seconds,” said Scott Dunlap, NearbyNow’s CEO. “(And) retailers have the ability to target customers that are looking specifically for their goods and services, and that are often just a few hundred feet from their store.”
WAP-based mobile shopping services initially hit the market about eight years ago, but have generally failed to gain traction among U.S. consumers. Google Inc., Amazon.com and others are using wireless as a way to extend their online offerings, allowing users to find-and, sometimes, purchase-goods with text messages.
Consumers should expect a flood of location-aware shopping applications, though, as more GPS-enabled phones hit the mass market. GPShopper is hoping to integrate such technology into its free Slifter application, which couples shopping information with community features. The service includes product images and maps to nearby stores, and users can text products to friends to create a kind of wish list.
And while forging deals with brick-and-mortar retailers remains a substantial hurdle for developers of mobile shopping applications, Slifter’s database includes 50 million products, prices and promotions from 15,000 retailers. The company hopes to have a beta version of the GPS-enabled application early next year, and is slated to come to market with the offering for the 2007 holiday season.