Bricks, Mortar & Mobile - Building An Effective In-Store mCommerce Strategy

The U.S. Census Bureau recently announced that eCommerce was responsible for 48.2 billion dollars in sales during the third quarter of 2011. A figure like that, coupled with the channel's popular and pervasive presence in our retail culture, makes it relatively easy to criticize any retailers who were slow to respond to the eCommerce boom.

Despite the benefit of this very recent example, we are currently watching history repeat itself. Once again, retailers are facing an enormous opportunity, a monumental revolution in commerce, and yet have been slow to respond. What happened with eCommerce is threatening to happen again with mobile commerce.

A major difference is in the fact that we already know that mobile isn't just a passing fad. It's a respected and evolving channel with a unique set of benefits—and it's being adopted across demographic divisions.

Smartphone adoption is on the rise, too. A survey conducted by Nielsen in the third quarter of 2011 revealed that approximately 43 percent of all mobile phone subscribers in the United States have a smartphone. And the numbers are projected to grow steadily. Fitch Ratings predicts that smartphone penetration will approach mid-60 percent by the end of 2012. As the adoption rate increases, consumer behavior will continue to change, particularly when it comes to shopping.