IPhone and iPod touch ship about 1 million per week and now reach about 100 million units total. 2010 is really the birth of the application economy and is redefining the multichannel experience.

“High-income shoppers are quickly adopting mobile devices and new behavior,” Mr. Dunlap said. “iPhone users are fashion forward and have 40 percent more discretionary income.”

IPad users have an average income of $190,000. Common uses of mobile for shoppers is for discovery, inquiry, real world navigation and in-store purchase.

What can mobile do?

Mobile can engage existing customers via the mobile Web, mcommerce and brand and retail applications.

Mobile can also attract new customers via mobile advertising on the Web and in-applications.

However, Mr. Dunlap said that mobile applications have higher click-through on ads and higher conversion to purchase than the mobile Web.

Mr. Dunlap talked about a recent Estee Lauder in-application advertising campaign.

Estee Lauder created an interactive ad for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch to promote its new Perfectionist [CP+] anti-wrinkle cream.

The cosmetics giant’s mobile ad unit let consumers play a game of erasing wrinkle lines directly within the ad.

The “Erase the Wrinkles” campaign ran on mobile entertainment and personalization destination Myxer in a top banner position on its mobile site.

The banner ad carries the calls-to-action “Erase Wrinkles Instantly” and “Play the Game Now.”

When a user taps on the banner, a full-screen Estee Lauder landing page launches with a picture of the new Perfectionist [CP+] “Targeted Deep Wrinkle Killer” product.

At the bottom of the page, there is the call-to-action: “Find it at a store near you! Enter your address or ZIP code below. Find it now.”

The landing page also contains the following instructions: “Rotate your iPhone to erase lines with the Wrinkle Filler Pen.”

Those who click on that icon can play the game, with another picture of the product and the tagline “New Perfectionist [CP+] erases the look of deep wrinkles on contact” to the side.

Once they are finished playing, users are given the option to “Shop Now” or “Play Again” (see story).

Another in-application advertising campaign that Mr. Dunlap talked about was Polo’s sponsorship of the GQ application.

GQ Style Picks, the application for the iPhone and iPod touch, is powered by NearbyNow and features style tips and options from the men’s magazine and a “click-to-find nearby” and a “click-to-find online” commerce option.

Polo had a channel within the application that included tips and videos from the preppy retailer.

The application lets consumers click on a product they like so they can buy online or click-to-find nearby. If the consumer uses the feature to find the item nearby, a concierge team will locate the closest store that carries the consumer’s size and put it on hold.

The Polo section includes grooming and fragrance tips such as how to moisturize the face, Polo fragrance picks and Polo downloadable videos (see story).

The advertised guides appear in seven magazines simultaneously. Consumers can watch videos, take quizzes and browse products.

Nearby Now said that advertised guides are seeing an average 0.45 percent online conversion, 5.3 percent average in-store conversion and an average 1.8 percent forward to friend rate.

The iPad is the next big thing for mobile, with 2 million already shipped and 200,000 shipped each weeks.

The iPhone 4 saw 600,000 pre-orders on the first day.

“Both the iPhone 4 and the iPad are mobile and HD,” Mr. Dunlap said. “It redefines the shopping experience and lets brands speak to the customers in the language they want to hear.”