Currently only 10% of retailers have an m-commerce site, and of those, 6 of 10 say they have no plan to develop such technology. While analysts expect these numbers to grow substantially over the next 2 years, for many retailers this hesitation may prove to be detrimental as valuable opportunities to stimulate revenue growth and brand loyalty are lost.  In an effort to ease merchants’ concerns about efficacy and ROI, digital agencies are working to push control to the brands.  And, combined with all the focus there has been on mobile development in recent months, it’s easier than ever for retailers to mobilize their brands without investing a fortune in such projects.

One approach to m-commerce that has been effective for some companies is using prior consumer engagement on social sharing sites, to present content that is more relevant to unique mobile users, and content that these users are more likely to interact with. The concept of driving sales by presenting individual users with more relevant, targeted content is what underlies mobile marketing, as well as many social media marketing campaigns, such as Disney and Coca-Colas’ “promoted trends” on Twitter.

Furthermore, brands that have mastered this marketing approach have seen strong, and very positive reactions from consumers.  The Denver branch of Western Union, a Northwest banking and loan company, enabled customers to sign-up for a mobile bill paying function through the desktop website.  According to the branch’s vice president, users started signing up for the new program “within less than five minutes.”

And there are some indications that bigger brands are slowly starting to catch on.  The major retail chain J.C. Penney Co. Inc. recently announced its own plan to develop full-scale m-commerce technology in hopes of generating $1 billion in additional revenue over the next 4-5 years.  Tom Nealon, J.C. Penney’s chief information officer commented that in regards to new technology, the retailer is “focused tremendously on mobile at this point.” As major merchants like J.C. Penney and others plan and revise their m-commerce strategies, the high percentage of brands that have no plan currently will need to get on board with the transition quickly, or risk being left behind by the market of users now on the mobile web.