Businesses that have not yet implemented mobile options for customers may want to start paying attention to the growing mobile commerce trend, or else risk losing out to competition. Shoppers are increasingly using their smartphones and tablets to browse for, compare and purchases products from retailers, meaning that merchants need to provide resources for device-carrying customers.

According to a study from research firm MarketsandMarkets, the next few years are forecasted to see significant growth in the use of mobile devices for completing transactions for retail products. To put it in perspective, in the near future, the number of mobile phones could very well surpass the world’s population. This means that consumers will be using their devices to complete a variety of daily tasks, including shopping at retail brick-and-mortar locations and on websites.

This trend is set to change the retail industry, writes Mobile Payments Today, as people will perform a variety of shopping-related functions on their phones and tablets, such as comparing items, looking up reviews and completing purchases. To accommodate these customers, retailers need to focus on adopting solutions that can complete these tasks.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, February 12th, 2013 at 9:10 am .