With the Mobile Retail Summit taking place on Thursday, we’ve been talking to some of our speakers to find out more about how important mobile is to their business. Next up, James Dawson, founder of tech-powered wine specialist, Humble Grape.

DM: So James, tell us what you’ll be speaking about at the Mobile Retail Summit?

JD: I’ll be talking about how to create a continuous connection between the brand and a customer using technology, specifically mobile technology.

DM: So How has mobile impacted your business model to date?

JD: We started using a mobile app at our wine tasting events six months ago, in a move away from paper-based tasting notes. This increased customer engagement as it allowed users to interact with us by voting for and socialising their favourite wines. It allowed us to identify which wines and styles of wines were the most popular. It also generated increased sales, as clients were able to order wines from the app.

DM: So how much mobile tech do you use in your business?

JD: It’s mostly around mobile apps. We have the wine-tasting app to enable people to see details on the wines they are tasting, vote for their favourites, see collective voting scores, socialise the wines and buy them. We also has a retail premises app that allows users to browse wines by country, region and grape. Most importantly they can browse wines by experience or occasion, such as a good wine for a party, for a romantic dinner, to impress my boss etc. The app also enables users to call over a waiter, pay their bill and rate the experience.

We also have a ‘Wine Pods’ app tied in to discrete areas in the venue dedicated to different wine regions. When you approach the region, your app will update and show relevant information about the region and its wines.

DM: What are the top three mobile retail trends you predict for the coming year?

JD: Number one would be an increased use of mobile for online purchases. Second is the increased use of HTML5, as opposed to native apps. And the third is the proliferation of beacon and other location devices

DM: What is the main focus for you within your companys mobile plan this year?

JD: We want to have mobile work for our entire suite of products, from events to wine experiences, to in-shop browsing.

DM: What areas of mobile and digital marketing) do you find most confusing?

JD: The proliferation of mobile payment companies/systems and their different standards.

DM: Would you agree that retail is leading the way in mobile compared to most other industries? If so, why do you think this is?

JD: Yes. The uptake of eCommerce by the retail sector is massive when compared to b2b, thus the spoils are many times larger.

DM: Thanks James, look forward to your presentation on Thursday

JD: Thank you.

James Dawson is speaking at 3.55 pm at the Mobile Retail Summit in London on Thursday, 5 June. More information here.