Just how important is the mobile shopping experience? Consider this: the mobile channel’s contribution to retail sales rose from 3.4% to 6.5% between October 2010 and April 2011, according to studies by Coremetrics cited by eMarketer. And, even though mobile purchases are still a fraction of overall sales, consumers increasingly use their mobile devices to research purchases before buying elsewhere. That means the importance of retail mobile websites is only growing.

With that in mind, here’s a look at some of our own numbers. Limelight Networks recently surveyed 520 consumers who self-identified as owning a smartphone or tablet and using that mobile device to research and/or purchase products online. In that group, a full 80% said they typically abandon a mobile site if the shopping experience isn’t up to par. Roughly three quarters of those who abandon ship said they are likely to return to the site later on a computer. However, about one quarter said they prefer to seek out a different site to continue shopping. In addition, roughly 20% of total respondents said they aren’t likely to abandon a mobile site in the middle of shopping, but that they are likely to avoid a poor-performing mobile site in the future.

In our survey, we also looked at some of the criteria that are important for defining a positive mobile shopping experience. Here’s what respondents had to say:

The Limelight Mobility team has been hard at work with a new software update, and a new website dedicated to all things Limelight REACH. The latest software version is Release 4.11, and it focuses on access to REACH through a number of new APIs. New API functions include the ability to:

• create, read, update and delete content collections in a REACH account
• create, read, update and delete videos in a content collection
• check the status of all video jobs associated with a video being processed by REACH

Two of our executives hosted a webinar last week with Information Week on Solving Web and App Management Issues through Infrastructure Outsourcing. The premise of the presentation (now archived for on-demand viewing) is that the benefits of cloud-based infrastructure extend beyond reducing hardware costs. There are also scale, software and security advantages to consider.

The beginning of the presentation centers on how website and application management have evolved significantly in recent years. For example, the number of servers required to run a single website or application has grown substantially. This is partly because web content has grown more dynamic, but also partly because developers often operate under the assumption that computing and storage resources are virtually free. Resource optimization isn’t a priority when there’s no quantifiable cost. That has a big impact on the scale of infrastructure required to support online assets.

On the software side of the equation, there are new complications in web and app management because of online performance expectations, and also the need to manage distribution across multiple platforms. These are critical concerns for IT, but they’re also not core competencies for most organizations. By outsourcing infrastructure components, companies can also address these issues through services like website and application acceleration, and mobile delivery optimization.

The discussion becomes more complicated when you add in security concerns, but here again, there can be advantages to infrastructure outsourcing. For example, supporting premium content and commercial transactions introduces issues of controlling rights-based access and managing requirements like PCI compliance. For some organizations, these issues are best managed in house. For others, it makes sense to offload non-core functions and focus on other business priorities.

The Information Week webinar goes into far more detail on these topics and related issues. Take a listen and view the slide deck at your leisure for further insights from David Reisfeld, GM of Limelight Content Delivery Solutions, and Jason Thibeault, Senior Director of Solutions Marketing.

All eyes are on Apple today with expectations of a new iPhone announcement. But perhaps nowhere was the shiny gadget maker’s reach and impact felt more palpably than it was last month with Adobe’s launch of Flash Media Server 4.5. You only have to read the second line of the Adobe press release: “With Flash Media Server 4.5, media publishers can extend their already broad mobile reach via Flash-enabled devices, with the new ability to deliver video content to Apple’s iPad and iPhone devices…”

Flash isn’t going away, particularly given today’s limitations around HTML5, but it is being adapted for iOS audiences. With another iPhone on the way, it’s a good to have options.

Much of the discussion at this week’s GigaOM Mobilize conference comes down to a single, simple desire. Everyone wants to build a better mobile app. Across a wide array of panels, a few ideas have surfaced repeatedly. There’s discussion on HTML5 versus native apps, hand wringing over how apps use network resources, and recognition of how consumer expectations are shaping the enterprise environment. Luckily, from those debates, a few clear pieces of advice have emerged. Here’s what panelists at Mobilize have to say:

Leverage HTML5 for your mobile interface. Adam Blum, CEO of Rhomobile, makes the point that although HTML5 doesn’t take advantage of all the device and OS capabilities on smartphones, it can still be used for the front end of app development. App frameworks (like his company’s Rhodes framework), can create another layer that allows developers to deliver more sophisticated functionality below the HTML5 interface.

Be a good network citizen. Developers can get lazy when they’re not directly paying for resources. Scott Kveton, CEO of Urban Airship points out that developers have to be good network citizens, designing their apps to be efficient with resources. It’s good for the user experience, which means it’s also good for the ultimate success of an app.

Don’t design mobile enterprise apps that look like web applications. Sean Whitely, SVP of Salesforce.com, says that enterprises still take an old-style approach to app development. Consumers are used to apps that are simple, targeted and easy to use. Enterprise developers need to adapt for the mobile market.

At home and on the go, consumers like their sports. We examined mobile media requests over the last 12 months and found that, in a breakdown by genre, sports dominated other categories with nearly 35 percent of viewing share. News came in second at just over 26 percent, and comedy and children’s entertainment followed at third and fourth, with 8.46 and 8.05 percent of mobile requests respectively.

Categories that didn’t fare so well included drama and reality entertainment, and this may have to do with a lack of urgency associated with those genres. A smartphone may offer the best access to media at any given time, but if there’s no urgency – such as the desire to get real-time news, or placate a bored child – then viewers may prefer to wait for a bigger screen.

We also found interesting seasonality trends in our data, although there is a serious caveat to consider when drawing any conclusions about genre popularity and timing. Certain categories spiked at different times during the last year, with sports showing a huge jump in August. However, these spikes are likely a result of the launch of new applications and/or the addition of more video content as much as they are a reflection of consumer interests at different times of the year. That jump in the sports category in August? There’s a good chance it comes from sports sites and apps updating their content in anticipation of fall football, basketball, and more. It will be interesting to see what this year’s September data brings.

A new update for Limelight REACH went live late yesterday. New features in release 4.10 include:

• RSS notification when videos prepared for HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) are complete, even while preparation for other mobile devices is still underway
• REACH Interactive content report, showing percentage of video watched, buffering events
• REACH Interactive campaign report, showing ad delivery and user interaction
• Links to ad creatives prepared for mobile delivery, accessed from OpsCenter
• Playlist containing ad creatives prepared for mobile delivery, independent from video content, for specialized clients
• Video processing optimization

REACH Interactive is only three months old, but we’ve made quick progress in adding features and functions to the portfolio addition. As shown in the chart above, the new video playback metrics provide detail on the amount of video actually watched in a mobile application, and any buffering events that might have occurred. Users can zoom in on different windows of time to see how well an in-app video performed, and whether it held audiences’ attention.

For more information on all of our new features, see the complete 4.10 release notes.

Mobile commerce sparks a lot of discussion, but if you’re curious how the revenue stacks up, a piece out this week by the Associated Press offers some clues. It points out two big successes, but also shows where there’s substantial room for improvement. According to the article, eBay and Amazon account for 80% of transactions today, and much of their success can be credited to how simple they’ve made mobile shopping for consumers. On the other hand, mobile retailing as a whole has a long way to go. The AP cites Forrester Research with the forecast that mobile commerce sales will only reach 2% of overall online sales this year, for a total of $6 billion in revenue.

Amazon and eBay are demonstrating that mobile retailing can be a profitable endeavor, but they’re also highlighting how small the market is right now. Ideally, these companies should be a smaller piece of a much larger pie. Inevitably – whether it’s tomorrow or a few years from now – they will be.

Mobile video content is most popular in the first 30 days after publication. Now that should come as no surprise, but it does have implications for media archiving and monetization. From our customer data, we’ve found that on average, 88.8 percent of mobile video views take place in the first 30 days, with 95.5 percent taking place within a 90-day window. Publishers may use this information to fine-tune their media storage policies, or they may choose to target ad insertions only within the first 90 days after a piece of content is published. After 90 days, the value of most video assets (not all) goes down significantly.

With the release of Limelight REACH Version 4.8, our customers now have direct control over video deletion and ad insertion policies right from the OpsCenter interface. Both can be adjusted at a granular level, with users determining how long both primary videos and advertisements should remain active. Maybe they should all stay active forever, but maybe old video assets are just taking up space.

We’re nearing the start of football season again, and with large numbers of US consumers owning smartphones and tablets, the time is ripe for a look at NFL mobile offerings. One of our customers, the Kansas City Chiefs, ramped up its mobile presence in 2010 with a new mobile site and new mobile apps. The team’s mobile features include:

• Nearly 2,000 videos, including game highlights, live press conferences, and player interviews
• GPS features for navigating the team’s newly renovated Arrowhead Stadium
• A Connect feature for purchasing tickets or connecting to the Chiefs’ Facebook page
• Seat views for a preview of the field from the seat you purchase

For the video portion of the KC Chiefs’ mobile offerings, the team has chosen to work with the Limelight Video Platform. Our flexible APIs mean we can provide key data around video assets including thumbnail images, clip titles, descriptions, and metadata tags. The Chiefs have used that information to create their own mobile interface, and to offer innovative mobile functionality like customized playlists, and the ability to search within video clips by keyword. In the future, fans will also be able to submit their own videos and photos from watching and attending games.

Not every NFL franchise has the mobile chops of the Kansas City Chiefs, but expect sports teams to continue improving their mobile offerings as consumers grow increasingly dependent on being web-connected around the clock. Meanwhile, here’s what Lance Brown, Manager of Internet and Digital Media with the Chiefs, has to say about his team’s experience taking football to the mobile masses.

“These mobile experiences are unlike any other, and the NFL is incredibly impressed by them. The speed at which the videos have become so popular has far exceeded our expectations and has significantly increased fan engagement. Our fans can now enjoy an interactive game-day experience anytime, anywhere.”