The mobile revolution

With the rise of the smartphone, shoppers are using their cell phones more and more to do both their shopping and retail related online searches (m-commerce), a trend that could eventually overtake more traditional methods of Internet browsing on a laptop or home computer. Opinion is clearly divided however. Whilst some shoppers actively participate within the realms of m-commerce, others are wary of mobile shopping; with the majority unnecessarily concerned with online security risks.
 
One statistic revealed that more than 50 percent of US shoppers are now using their cell phones for shopping, but not for items other than those only available on a smartphone, such as music, apps and games. Yet, cell phones are impacting on the customers shopping behavior in ways beyond just purchasing goods.  More than 80 percent of consumers in the US now use their cell phones to locate their nearest store to purchase a particular good and 65 percent review a product using their phone before making a decision.  
 
The Internet has already seen its rise to consumer preference and last year saw peak online sales, now the NGR Committe believe that m-commerce could do the same and want to look at the best investment techniques to roll out a user friendly platform.
 
"As consumers look to their phone as a natural extension of their social network, retailers are leveraging the opportunity to realize new sales opportunities from the mobile channel. M-Commerce enables the customer to always be connected to the retailer - anywhere and at any time. Retailers leveraging mobility to connect with consumers can deliver a new sales stream (expected to reach $630 billion in value by 2014) and can also drive the consumer into existing sales channels (store, web, etc). Implementing effective M-commerce technology comes down to four primary pillars of value: convenience, scale, cost effectiveness, and access."
 
The committee is made of representatives from Barnes & Noble - Terri Pucin, VP Customer Experience, Dick's Sporting Goods - Paul Yater, VP Applications & Intergrated Services, Foot Locker - David Hartig, Director IT Operations, Macys.com - Mike Robinson, SVP Technolog Walmart - Sean Coutts , GM of Commerce, Gucci Group - Rodney Woodruff, Chief eBusiness Architect among many others and they themselves will drive the mobile revolution
 
To ease the burden on consumers it is important for retailers to create a simple and concise plan for how m-commerce will work for their business and for their customers to take a slice of the 'virtual pie'.