10 Apps That Changed How We Think About Shopping

With Poshmark's mobile app, your closet becomes a discount-fashion warehouse. Real-time "Posh Parties" bring the limited-time-sale urgency of daily deals, but with a social flavor.

The impact: By making clearing out your closet easy and fun rather than a tiresome, once-a-year chore, Poshmark is bringing entirely new inventory into the world of online commerce.

Like Pinterest, Fancy lets you post and browse good-looking objects. But Fancy does a far better job of driving you to buy. The latest twist: Fancy now assembles boxes of surprising and delightful goods for a $45/mo. subscription, making it easier to fill your apartment and office with quirky fun. American Express recently put money in, and we've heard other investors are circling.

The impact: Brought shopping as entertainment in its purest form to mobile devices.

Starbucks pushed the limits of mobile payments early on, turning its prepaid store card into an app that lets you leave your wallet behind.

The impact: The success of the Starbucks app has exposed millions of consumers to the idea of paying by phone. And by teaming up with Square, Starbucks is now extending the mobile-payments revolution beyond its own stores.

eBay was in a rut when CEO John Donahoe took over. One of his early bets was developing a range of mobile apps for buyers and sellers, including specialized apps for cars and apparel. Now mobile is a big part of eBay's turnaround story.

The impact: Lifted revenues by 15 percent—in part by making us believe shopping on eBay could be fun again.

The iconic white-plastic card reader isn't the most amazing part of Square: It's the ability to pay by saying your name, after checking into a store with the app.

The impact: Created a brand name that consumers and merchants recognize and associate with innovation in payments.

Replicating the early community vibe of eBay and Craigslist, Yardsale brings local people together to swap goods for cash.

The impact: Uses mobile devices and social networks to put trust back into person-to-person commerce.

Go ahead and showroom. Target now offers Wi-Fi in stores to make it easier to use apps—in the hopes that you'll use the Target app, too. Features like wedding and baby registries and unique merchandise make the Target shopping experience hard to replicate online—while the mobile app makes them even easier to access.

The impact: Showed how offline retailers can respond to online competitors.

This mobile-payments app is geared towards ordering ahead and picking up at restaurants—a feature other payments-oriented apps have yet to match. It shares investors with Square, and picked up the architect of Starbucks' mobile app as its product chief.

The impact: Showed that there are more problems to solve in mobile payments than just processing credit cards.

Walk into a store, get rewards. Shopkick's simple premise—it verifies shoppers as they enter a store, and then lets them collect "kicks" for discounts—drove $200 million in sales for its retail partners last year. The startup now says it's profitable.

The impact: Showed a way for retailers to link foot traffic with Web and mobile browsing.

The Future Of Business>>