The company rolled out the mobile site after the successful launch of its English-language version. The new mobile site will include everything that is on the English mobile site, with shoppers able to browse products, rebates and promotions as well as locate stores in their area.

“Wherever people are searching for us and in which ever language – as long as the traffic justifies it – we want to be there,” said Irene Newsom, program manager for GEAppliances.com.

Fairfield, CT-based GE decided to launch the Spanish-language mobile Web site after the numbers revealed an opportunity.

Spanish-speakers on the go
GE’s Spanish-language version of its consumer Web site has experienced a 75 percent increase in traffic in the past year.

The goal of the mobile site is to provide consumers with the information they want in a format that works for them and to assist with last-buying decisions in the store.

“The growth for the Spanish-language Web site was approximately seven times the growth on the English version of the site,” Ms. Newsom said.

In addition, other research showed that usage of both cell phones and smartphones is increasing more rapidly among the Hispanic population that among the total population.

The Spanish-language mobile Web site is focused on providing information to on-the-go consumers who are in a store shopping and have questions about how products work. It includes photos of products, demonstration videos and bullet points on how products work.

“When we started looking into mobile and surveying what people really wanted, we found that consumers coming to the GE Web site from a mobile phone were most likely shopping,” Ms. Newsom said.

GE launched the English-language mobile Web site in November after noticing that the traffic coming to its traditional Web site from a mobile phone was growing.

Consumers can get to the site by clicking on a link at the bottom of the screen on the English-language version of the mobile site. Or, if they are searching for GE via mobile and click on a link for the Spanish Web site, they will automatically be taken to the mobile version of the site.

Users can also go directly to the Spanish-language mobile site at es.m.geappliances.com from their phone’s Web browser.

In addition to the mobile sites, GE offers an English-language iPhone app for browsing appliance information. The company’s research showed that consumers searching for GE appliances via mobile are split evenly between those using a mobile browser and those going to an app store.

Looking forward, GE continues to look for ways to build out the mobile Web sites and its app.

“Right now the focus is on shopping but we are looking to update with more functionality,” Ms. Newsom said.

“This can be a little bit tricky because we want it to be fast and easy to navigate,” she said.

The company is looking for ways to provide information related to customers’ needs once they have already made a purchase, such as someone looking for parts.

“My goal for the Spanish-language mobile site is to have as much traffic as the English-language mobile site,” Ms. Newsom said.