Just before the shopping craze of the recent holiday season, an article was published in the Money section of USA Today discussing the pros and cons of the extremely fast-growing phenomenon of mobile shopping, that is, on your smartphone. Clearly the potential of mobile retail is still fairly latent, but some of the article’s contributors would have their readers forewarned: it is the future.

The article states that while the mobile shopping market only accounts for sales numbers of about $750 million in a $2.3 trillion retail market, the rush has begun with more and more retailers offering coupons, applications and even purchasing power without ever leaving the comfort of your smartphone’s screen. Nita Rollins, a futurist with the digital marketing agency Resource Interactive said, “The majority of American consumers will be mobile device-centric in a few years. Now that it’s technologically feasible, possessing such power literally in the palm of our hands is quite irresistible.” Mobility’s irresistibility is becoming clearer all the time. The article goes on to state that retailers such as Best Buy, Toys R Us and EBay had all either newly instituted or completely revamped mobile-enabled sites for the holiday shopping season. Often when trying to shop on their phones customers may be frustrated by a redirection at the final purchase screen asking the consumer to move to a secure PC for the transaction, but efforts on the parts of such huge big box and online retailers such as those above are evidence of the growing trend towards mobility. One female consumer interviewed for the article said, “I still have a much greater comfort level with my PC, but if I came to find buying was quick and efficient on my phone, I most definitely would do that. I’m on the road a lot.” The majority of consumers today are “on the road a lot” too, whether that is the commute, at work or on the go with family. The demand for more and more mobile accessibility is there, and mobile technology’s potential in the retail world will continue to display itself as fast as companies can adapt platforms to allow the consumer to continue using their mobile devices to make their many purchases.