Mall retailer Charlotte Russe is leveraging Outspoken’s MMS aggregator technology to implement a Send to Mobile capability on its online product pages and is seeing an average of 3,000 shares every week.

The Send to Mobile function allows online shoppers to send products they like in one click via SMS or MMS to themselves or a friend. Since the products being sent via SMS contain direct links to product pages, the retailer believes the new tool is adding to its online revenue and even in-store traffic.

“A few of the high level goals for the Charlotte Russe mobile program are to drive sales, drive in-store traffic, and create a personal one-on-one conversation with their consumers through SMS and MMS messaging, which is her preferred method of communication,” said Tracy Kunzi, director of client services and creative strategy at Outspoken, Los Angeles. “The send-to-mobile feature has become another influencer in the overall Charlotte Russe mobile marketing strategy through SMS and MMS messaging.”

Check your inbox
The tool was developed by Outspoken with desktop-to-mobile capabilities. Online shoppers enter their mobile number and receive a MMS message with the photo and direct link to the product description and purchase page.

Outspoken claims that Charlotte Russe sees upwards of 3,000 Send to Mobile shares every week and a very strong conversion to sales. Another positive development from the tool is how consumers are using it to get fashion feedback from their friends. By sending a group MMS, shoppers can crowd source their decision in real time, which helps to shorten the purchase cycle.

The idea of the Send to Mobile tool for Charlotte Russe came from shoppers’ tendencies to browse online before going into stores to make purchases. The tool allows shoppers to send items to themselves via text and bring up the image when in-store to show store associates. The tool then serves as a mobile shopping list and store associates can help track down the items.

Charlotte Russe has added the Send to Mobile function to every product on its Web site.

When sent to mobile, product images appear in the form of a text message along with the item name, deep link to the product page and the cost of the item.

By collecting customers’ phone numbers, Charlotte Russe is able to keep in contact with them for future marketing efforts.

Ongoing mobile efforts
The mall retailer recently tried out Curalate’s Like2Buy mcommerce solution and saw a 60 percent click-through rate from the Like2Buy page to product pages.

From the back end, Charlotte Russe’s marketing team has easily integrated the Like2Buy tool in its Curalate-powered posting and scheduling system used for its Instagram account. A easy transition into social commerce, the combination of using Instagram and a seamless solution system has given Charlotte Russe a new route for revenue (see story).

Charlotte Russe also recently announced it will begin using the cloud-based PeopleMatter Platform for streamlined hiring and training techniques for employees on mobile devices.

Since the clothing chain targets a teen and young adult demographic, it will be integrating the technology nationwide to automate the hiring process. The brand believes that the platform’s mobile and social capabilities will resonate with potential applicants and employees by using their preferred channels of communication (see story).

Outspoken believes its Send to Mobile solution for Charlotte Russe is effective and does not cause the retailer to put forth much effort to use it.

“In the same fashion that she receives a weekly Charlotte Russe Happy Hour message by signing up on the Web site or in-store, she is now able to share and deliver these same types of messages through the Charlotte Russe short code to her friends, family or even herself,” Ms. Kunzi said. “Rather than Charlotte Russe sending her an image of a new dress or top, she can send the specific dress or top she wants directly to her, or someone else’s, mobile phone with the product image, price, description, link to buy, etc.

“This allows a natural peer-to-peer conversation to take place versus the message coming from Charlotte Russe as a marketing message. As the Charlotte Russe mobile messaging program continues to develop and grow, we begin to understand more and more about who the customer is and what she wants.”

Final Take
Caitlyn Bohannon is an editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York