Online retailer OverstockArt.com has seen a 270 percent in mobile sales since launching a mobile-optimized site two months ago.

OverstockArt.com also claims that mobile traffic has increased 200 percent since introducing its mobile site. In particular, sales from iPads have seen an especially high growth with 2,500 percent increase from 2010.

“Our mobile strategy is about making it as easy as possible for customers to shop our store and enjoy the experience as much as possible,” said Amitai Sasson, vice president of marketing and technology for overstockArt.com, Wichita, KS.

“With a mobile Web site, it gives consumers the ability to browse our site, which is important for us since we are a gallery,” he said.

OverstockArt.com is an online art distributor and claims to have 20,000 daily visitors and 120,000 customers.

Browse on mobile
OverstockArt.com launched a mobile site – http://m.overstockart.com – in August.

On the site, users can browse and purchase paintings and ceramic tiles.

Additionally, users can frame artwork.

The online destination also rolled out an iPad app in June but wanted a service that would reach more consumers.

Since adding the site, overstockArt.com has seen a decrease in average time spent on the site, which the company attributes to it being optimized.

The average time spent on overstockArt.com’s mobile site is four minutes.

Additionally, the number of page views increased from three to five pages once the site was optimized.

Consumers can buy art by artist

OverstockArt.com and has plans to introduce an Android app later this year after seeing an increase in sales on Android devices increase by 100 percent in the past year.

“The beauty of a mobile site is that it is stripped down,” Ms. Sasson said.

OverstockArt.com’s mobile emphasis also ties in with the company’s email marketing plan.

The company has seen a large amount of traffic from its newsletters being opened on mobile devices.

Mobile art
In order to effectively target consumers, mobile should be a core piece of an online retailer’s strategy.

This is particularly important for small merchants who are trying to draw in new consumers, which OverstockArt.com is an example of.

Most recently, toy merchant Magic Beans said that mobile accounted for 12 percent of its 2010 holiday sales (see story).

Additionally, OverstockArt.com is smart to expand its mobile services beyond one app.

Beyond the Android app launching next year, the company says it has plans to continue its mobile strategy.

“The amount of mobile traffic will keep growing and we need to keep up with the times,” Ms. Sasson said.

“Ultimately our goal is to improve the customer experience,” he said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York