Macy’s is propelling holiday sales from last-minute shoppers with a new mobile-optimized gift guide microsite that is aimed at making it easier for consumers to find the perfect gift for friends and family.

Consumers can access the Macy’s microsite at http://www.macys.com/gifts. The brand is also leveraging iTunes Radio to get the word out about the site with a mobile advertisement campaign.

“Macy’s aim is to be wherever our customers are, and mobile is just one of the avenues we employ to reach them,” said Orlando Veras, spokesman at Macy’s, New York.

“Given the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, accessing our gift guide while on the go is a great way to enhance the shopping experience for busy consumers,” he said.

Shop on mobile
Buttons on the Macy’s page are set up so that consumers can find items for everyone on their wish list by gender or top-selling gifts.

Once consumers click on the category, they can filter down the top gifts by other criteria.

For example, clicking on the ‘For her’ button lets consumers pick from sweaters, handbags, jewelry, beauty and watch items.

There are also gift categories that aggregate products into price ranges.

From there consumers can view more pictures on a landing page, add the item to their checkout bag or find the item in a store.

Macy’s is also leveraging its national spokesman Clinton Kelly with a section within the microsite that lets consumers watch videos from the TV personality or shop edited holiday items.

With more consumers shopping from their smartphones and tablets this year, pushing consumers to shop for last-minute gifts via a specially-designed microsite is a smart move for Macy’s.

Mobile promotion
To promote the new holiday initiative, Macy’s is running ads within the built-in iTunes Radio application for iPhone and iPad devices.

Macy’s is one of the launch partners on iTunes Radio and has run several time-sensitive campaigns on the platform in the past few months.

For this one, audio ads encourage consumers to click on the ad to visit the microsite.

Macy’s has poured a significant amount of advertising investment into mobile radio streaming services to reach the brands.

For example, Macy’s also recently launched a branded radio station called mystyleradio that consumers can access through the iHeartRadio application (see story).

The brand has also launched several other mobile initiatives this holiday season that marry up the in-store and online shopping experience.

For example, Macy’s and shopkick are partnering on a test in two stores in San Francisco and New York that leverages Apple’s new iBeacon technology (see story).

Additionally, mobile photo sharing is playing a key role in helping the retailer enhance the in-store shopping experience (see story).

“Mobile is an important part of our overall media mix,” Mr. Veras said.

“From iTunes Radio and the Macy’s mobile app to mstyleradio – our very own radio station on iHeartRadio, we are reaching customers with a variety of targeted mobile initiatives this holiday season,” he said.

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