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

NEW YORK – Utility company NiSource is deploying a crossplatform mobile strategy because it recognizes that its customers are increasingly relying on their mobile devices to manage their finances.

Publisher Marc Brown Studios, creator of the Arthur book series, is expanding its products to mobile to give children as many opportunities to read as possible.

Online destination Cars.com is expanding its portfolio to let consumers access its brand on as many platforms as possible with an iPad app.

Cosmetics brand mark is driving sales for its representatives with a batch of new applications for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android devices.

Mobile commerce is expected to reach $31 billion by the end of 2016 and grow at a rate of 40 percent each year for the next five years, according to a report published by Forrester Research.

By Jon Jackson

It should be no surprise that one of the newest CRM strategies reflects that larger trend in mobile: the use of apps to engage the consumer.

Business-to-business marketers should be thinking about mobile apps as customer relationship marketing tools that literally follow the customer throughout their day.

Mobile apps are becoming so commonplace that brands are being evaluated by consumers based on whether they have an app and how good or bad it is.

Financial institution California Bank & Trust is making banking easier for consumers with a handful of new mobile tools, including applications and a mobile-optimized site.