Look anywhere these days, and chances are someone has a smartphone or tablet in their hand. These mobile devices are changing the way that people perform daily tasks, and the trend is now carrying over into the retail industry. For this reason, now is the time for retailers to adopt technology solutions that accommodate mobile consumers, or else risk losing them to competitors.

The growing importance of mobile devices within retail operations was one of the most discussed topics at this year's Mobile World Congress, which took place last month in Barcelona, Spain. A survey by SAP conducted at the event revealed that more than half of industry professionals (53 percent) stated they believe the key to improving device-carrying consumers' experiences is through mobile service, such as POS, product comparison, coupons and discounts as well as other factors..

"We are seeing a maturing of the mobile payments market, as we move from a service that is driven by person-to-person payments to one that must tackle the challenges of the retail environment," said Diarmuid Mallon, lead of Global Mobile Marketing Programs at SAP. "It is clear from our survey that in addition to improving the payment experience, mobile wallet apps need to support a multitude of services such as loyalty and couponing."

Retail management software solutions help provide more streamlined mobile POS processes for merchants and customers.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, March 8th, 2013 at 7:07 am .