2 major mobile mistakes to avoid

Walmart is the largest retail company in the world (according to Forbes' April 18, 2012 global list). The $444 billion giant serves 200 million customers per week, and has 2.2 million employees.

So when Walmart decides that mobile is going to be an integral part of their overall customer experience, the rest of the retail world needs to pay attention. Walmart has the power to set the standard for customer expectations, and they're doing some really cool things.

iMedia's Bethany Simpson talked with Walmart's VP of mobile products, Paul Cousineau, about ways the company is serving customers through smartphone, tablet, and laptop technologies. If you're working in any way with mobile, retail, QR codes, or geo-targeting, here's your 101 on Walmart's mobile activity.

"We're trying to create seamless experiences for the customer. In retail you always think of the channel. The online channel, the physical channel. Customers don't think that way. We want to make that engagement as seamless as possible where they can switch back and forth between those experiences, look up something at home on their computer or tablet, walk into the store with an item on their list they added from home, transact on their phone, or even say, "I've seen it now. Can you deliver it to my house?" -Paul Cousineau

Walmart's top 3 mobile-retail priorities

Improving shopping lists and QR codes

When will the device to retail experience be seamless?

2 mistakes to avoid when working on your mobile strategy

Reflecting the local store culture in the mobile experience

Paul is the Vice President of Mobile Products for Walmart’s Global eCommerce group. He is responsible for developing mobile software products across mobile web, apps, and tablets for Walmart’s businesses around the world. Prior to joining Walmart, Paul had a long career with Palm and Handspring, where he most recently led the Software Product Management team that launched the webOS operating system.