In addition to helping consumers locate nearby stores, the mobile site also includes commerce and lets users sign-up for deals and offers from Men’s Wearhouse. The mobile site is powered by Moovweb.

“What they are trying to do is drive foot traffic, which makes sense because you need to get fitted for a suit in person,” said Mitch Bishop, chief marketing officer at Moovweb, San Francisco.

“They are trying to capture the mobile traffic coming from their desktop site and give them a really unique experience from the desktop,” he said.

Mobile warehouse
The site directs to the mobile version when http://www.menswearhouse.com is entered into a browser.

At the top of each page on the mobile site is a store locator. Users can type in an address or ZIP code to find a nearby store. The store locator also lets users filter results to set boundaries in miles around their location.

Store locations can also be tailored to show Men’s Wearhouse retail stores, tuxedo rentals and outlet stores.

Filtering options on product pages let consumers hone in on features – such as price or brand name – that users are most likely looking for quickly to keep the number of page refreshes low.

Additionally, a mobile-specific toggle option lets users view items as either a grid or list. This helps cut down on the amount of scrolling, which can be particularly cumbersome on a smaller-sized screen.

The site also lets users check order statuses by typing in their order numbers or sign-up for an online account that consumers can opt-in to receive deals and promotions.

Previously Men’s Wearhouse did not have a mobile Web site, making the new site a significantly better shopping experience.

The Men’s Wearhouse mobile site

Mobile transformation
The site launched on Dec. 18 to help holiday shoppers quickly find gifts.

Mobile played a big role in how consumers researched and shopped this year, which will continue into 2013.

For example, eMarketer most recent forecast predicts that mobile will account for 15 percent of total ecommerce volume (see story).

Although mobile commerce continues to gain traction, many retailers such as Men’s Wearhouse rely on bricks-and-mortar stores to drive revenue.

Therefore mobile takes on a dual purpose to both increase incremental sales and drive in-store traffic, meaning that retailers need to develop sites and apps with features specific to mobile devices.

Moovweb also recently announced that the company has transformed more than 10 billion mobile pages for retailers and brands including Chico’s, 1800Flowers and Sur La Table.

“What you are seeing is the desktop transform in real-time for the smartphone,” Mr. Bishop said.

“Our business has been growing dramatically over the past year as our customers see more mobile traffic,” he said.

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