The company tapped Mad Mobile to help power the mobile site. Consumers can access the site by entering http://www.cafepress.com on their mobile browser.

“The number of people owning smartphones continues to rise, along with their use of mobile commerce apps, Web sites and email,” said Marc Cowlin, director of marketing at Cafe Press. “To maintain our competitive edge in today’s market and offer quality shopping experience on small format screens it was important for us to offer a high-quality mobile shopping experience for our customers.
 
“Our product search algorithm, combined with mobile-optimized search result views are a perfect fit for mobile shopping,” he said. “To optimize mobile shopping on CafePress we looked at finding ways to make shopping Cafe Press on a small screen more user-friendly and fun, our new mobile site fulfills that need and more. 
 
“As more and more customers turn to mobile to shop traffic will increase and functionality will evolve – our goal is to continue to offer a quality mobile experience that helps our customers find great products.”

Mobile shopping
The mobile site lets consumers shop more than 300 million of the company’s products.

Users can view the site in multiple product views, including gallery, grid and design.

There is a search functionality feature on the top of the mobile site that lets consumers narrow down their search for something specific.

Additionally, consumers can shake their device to discover the funniest t-shirts and ongoing promotions that are happening.

“Cafe Press noticed a sharp increase in mobile traffic and wanted to cater to those mobile users by offering a touchscreen experience designed for mobile,” said Ryan Kelly, vice president of sales and marketing at Mad Mobile. “The initial phase of the Cafe Press mobile site focused on mobilizing the product catalog which includes 350 million products and on creating a unique mobile engagement tactic called ‘Shaky Shirt.’

“From the mobile homepage, users of supported devices – iOS and newer Android – are able to shake their phones to discover a random shirt design, like the popular Honeybadger line, plus special discount offers,” he said.

“This fun feature helps the mobile site stand out from others and allows the brand to interact with customers while driving site usage.”

One step forward
A mobile site is a smart move for Cafe Press.

Consumers are constantly on the move and always have their mobile phones on hand.

Therefore, by rolling out a mobile commerce-enabled site, Cafe Press is able to reach consumers no matter where they are and offer them an option of purchasing products while on the go.

“This will be another record-setting year for mobile commerce,” Mr. Kelly said. “Retailers that launch mobile experiences based on mobile use cases stand to benefit the most. 

“Our clients have learned that mobile shoppers behave differently than PC shoppers,” he said. “Mobile shopping is more goal-oriented and your mobile commerce site should reflect that. 

“Simply moving the desktop experience to a mobile screen will not yield optimal results.”

Final Take