With only 38 percent of retailers investing in mobile marketing this year - down from 50 percent last year - a new report from BDO USA suggests that momentum is dying down for the medium as marketers find that they cannot prove mobile's ROI.

While many retailers are seeing a significant boost from mobile this holiday season, beauty chain Sephora expects its mobile growth to significantly outpace industry averages based on the retailer's strong digital heritage and integrated experiences for loyal customers.

Registration is open for the 3rd annual Mobile FirstLook: Strategy 2014 conference Jan. 15-16 featuring speakers from Macy's, eBay, Coca-Cola, Office Depot, Lowe's, Amazon's Zappos, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Rue La La, Citi, REI, Campbell Soup, Omni Hotels, Forrester, Yahoo, NYT, USA Today and Cumberland Farms. Must-attend event for brands, retailers, agencies and publishers.

Please register for the free annual webinar at 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, Dec. 5: "Mobile Outlook 2014: Up, Down or Flat?" Panelists include execs from BIA/Kelsey and Hipcricket.

Food & Wine magazine is offering wines for direct purchase via a mobile image recognition application.

Parents are placing a higher priority on educational content within mobile applications, pointing to the need for marketers and developers to highlight the ways in which it benefits learning.

Today in mobile marketing - Samsung eyes 20 megapixels for 2014 smartphone, report says; Justice clears Microsoft's purchase of Nokia's mobile business; How trivia app QuizUp managed to attract 3 million users in three weeks; Want to go global? Put mobile first.

Mobile Commerce Daily - H&M fires up in-store experience to bolster SMS, email databases; Thanksgiving Day, paid search deliver mobile holiday joy to retailers.

Luxury Daily today - Injecting heritage into mobile games builds brand community; Prada anti-paradise video accentuates accessories from print campaign.

Mobile Marketer is inviting nominations for the Mobile Marketer Awards, the most prestigious recognition honoring outstanding mobile advertising, marketing and media work in 2013 by brands, retailers, marketers, agencies and publishers.

By Manny Puentes

The rise in CTRs on mobile has fueled the proliferation of mobile ads and promotions, and many marketers have celebrated impressive click-throughs for various campaigns. But CTRs do not equal sales leads.