Conn’s has rolled out a full-blown mobile site after experimenting with mobile on individual parts of its Web site.

With more consumers shopping from their smartphones and tablets, Conn’s offers commerce and the ability to apply for credit from its mobile site. Conn’s tapped Usablenet to power the mobile commerce site.

“Before the recent launch of our full mobile site, conns.com’s online credit application flow was optimized for mobile phone browsers,” said Tina Hodson, director of digital marketing at Conn’s, Beaumont, TX.

“We found that this greatly increased our conversion rate for mobile phone visitors,” she said. “Looking at our Web site traffic, we saw that the share of our visitors browsing our site from a mobile phone was steeply climbing, which pushed us to create a fully mobile experience to maximize this traffic.”

Conn’s is an electronics and appliance retailer with stores in the southwest and southern regions of the United States. The brand operates stores in Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Arizona.

Driving mobile sales
Consumers can access a mobile version of Conn’s site by typing http://www.conns.com into a phone browser.

A menu button on the left-hand side of the screen slides out to let consumers sign into their Conn’s account or find a store.

From there, consumers can shop individual lines of products such as electronics, mattresses and computers.

A click-through on a type of product leads consumers to a landing page that shows all of the company’s items on one page.

For example, when consumers click on the computers tab, a landing page breaks down the products into tablets, laptops, printers and accessories.

Consumers can add reviews and read through product descriptions on the pages.

There is an option that lets consumers choose between picking up an item in-store or have it shipped to their home.

The site also includes real-time product menus that change to use a consumer’s past behavior to show the most popular sub-categories of products.

The site is set up to work in both English and Spanish.

Earning mobile credit
There is also an option on the mobile site that lets consumers apply for credit. After filling in a mobile form, consumers can set up a payment plan specified to individuals.

To finalize the payment plan, shoppers can sign their form in-store and can then pick up their order.

Nowadays, consumers expect to interact with brands for more than simply shopping.

By extending the credit process to mobile, Conn’s is able to tie its in-store, digital and mobile efforts together for a more seamless shopping experience.

“As Conn’s sells major appliances and electronics, its customers specifically desire an easy way to manage financing options on the mobile site,” said Carin van VuUren, chief marketing officer at Usablenet, New York.

“As a result, it was a significant priority for Conn’s to make its ‘get credit’ option available as part of the mobile experience, enabling customers to create a payment plan tailored specifically to them and their financials,” she said. “This flexibility in the path to purchase is of extreme importance for electronics and appliance brands.”

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York