Developing a mobile commerce site in-house can work better for some retailers than outsourcing the work, says Shawn Freeman, senior vice president and general manager of digital business for GameStop Corp. The multichannel retailer plans to launch its first mobile commerce site this summer.

Freeman will speak at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition 2011 in San Diego on June 14 during the Latest E-Commerce Technology Workshop from 1:00 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. in a session entitled “The m-commerce maze: How to sort out the technology that will power the next shopping revolution.”

In order to scale its m-commerce site quickly, GameStop, No. 113 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, will develop its own technology in-house. “For companies that are just getting their feet wet, an outside mobile commerce technology platform may work just fine, but our need is to scale quickly,” says Freeman. “We will be delivering e-commerce and digital gaming from our platform. I will share with attendees how we are reaching our decisions on our technology infrastructure.”

Whether the technology is developed in-house or implemented on a commercial platform, retailers must test all applications and services. “We have a five-person team working on this now,” he says.

Retailers almost must develop any mobile web site technology with the customer in mind. About 15% of GameStop’s traffic comes from  mobile devices, including tablets. “It was in the single digits just a year ago,” says Freeman.

At his session Freeman will tell attendees how GameStop will launch its mobile site with features such as buy online and pick up in-store, a recommendation engine and the retailer’s loyalty member program. “We will be talking about what we are doing to make the user experience seamless across channels,” he says.

Internet Retailer’s editors asked Freeman to speak because he’s an experienced e-commerce executive with project management expertise. Freeman is responsible for developing and managing GameStop’s digital aggregation and retail strategy. Freeman has almost 20 years of senior management experience building and leading online businesses for several companies in travel, mobile and live entertainment. Most recently he was president of Chicago-based Ticketsnow.com and senior vice president of resale for Ticketmaster North America.

 

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