Every once in a while, something pops up on the Volusion forum that we would LOVE to comment on.  It’s tough for us to see one of our Volusion-using brethren (and sistren?) struggling with a problem or a need that we know we could solve, yet be unable to tell them due to Volusion’s (completely fair) restriction on anything remotely like a sales pitch within their forum.  While we understand the restriction, we are overcome with a desire to help, so we’ve decided that, from time to time, we’ll address a concern, problem or need that’s been posted in the Volusion forum here in this blog.  Here’s a link to the post that inspired us to do so (you’ll need an account to access the thread.)

In this case the post didn’t explicitly express a need, but instead, included a link to this Internet Retailer article (which, itself, is quoting Compete’s Smartphone Intelligence survey for Q3 2009) that shows two things quite clearly.  First, smartphone users are using their devices more and more, not just for “window shopping” but for actual mobile purchases (37% according to the survey).  Second, they are less likely to make a mobile purchase on a site that hasn’t been optimized for the mobile experience.

We’ve been aware of this for some time and, as a matter of fact, last year we released iVoloo, which has the ability to take a select group of products from your store and offer them in an iPhone-friendly format for the shopper on the go.  It’s a great tool and simply implementing it tells your customers that you understand their needs, but, the iVoloo wasn’t everything we’d hoped for.  It was limited in the number of products it could display and it required our assistance to merchandise the mobile-specific format.

… but, we’ve been working on it and guess what?  We are now poised to release iVoloo 2.0 and here’s the good news: not only can you put your whole damn store inside, but you’ll also be able to merchandise it easily (without any help from us) using the Volusion admin that you’re already familiar with!  It’s as close to a plug-and-play solution as you could hope for.

The release of iVoloo 2.0 is mere weeks away and if you’re interested, you can contact us now and you’ll be one of the first to have this sweet new tool on your Volusion store as soon as it’s ready.  Of course, you can also contact us for any other needs you may have, or you can post your question or need in the comments section of this post.  Don’t worry, though… we keep our eyes on the Volusion forum and if something comes up there that we feel we can address, we’ll do so here.