Fandango has had great success with its mobile efforts, but the company has also learned many valuable lessons. Because mobile is currently one of the hottest trends, many retailers are so anxious to have a hand in the game that they rush their mobile endeavors to market. According to app activity aggregator Apptimism, there are more than 78,000 mobile applications. With that many apps already available, retailers cannot afford to have “just another app” to get lost in mix.

Before launching a mobile campaign, Hong advises other retailers to, first of all, have a specific reason for their mobile efforts. Once their reasoning is determined, they need to take their time to build an effective product that will have staying power.

Mobile does open many doors of opportunity, but if retailers aren’t fully prepared for it they could, in the end, waste time and money and never see success.

Are you planning to launch a mobile campaign? Is your product prepared to challenge your competitors?

Update 9/28/09: According to a new release from Apple, there are now more than 85,000 apps available.