Keeping track of mobile trends, research and statistics gives small business ecommerce site owners a solid foundation to plan a mobile commerce strategy.  The following mobile commerce research and statistics are from trusted industry sources and experts in the field of mobile devices and electronic commerce. 

Mobile Commerce Shopping Research & Statistics (2010 - 2011)

Mobile shopping research and statistics offers an in-depth look at mobile devices; including smartphones, iPads and tablets. With these facts and figures you can learn how consumers are using these mobile devices for online shopping-related activities.

• The most common mobile shopping activity is researching products and comparing prices, which 15 percent of mobile phone owners now do every month.  (Source: Experian Simmons; 2011 Mobile Consumer Report)
• 48 percent of mobile owners surveyed had made a purchase via their mobile phone. Although mobile shopping was most popular with 18-34 year olds, more than one third of respondents aged 55+ also made a purchase via mobile. (Source: Lightspeed Research; Mobile Shopping Revolution)
• Males 30-49 years-old tend to be the most active content consumers and mobile purchasers; men outspend women, with 31 percent having spent $499 or more through their mobile device in the last 12 months, versus 23 percent of women who did so. (Source: Adobe Systems, Omniture; The Adobe Mobile Experience Survey: What Users Want)
• 30 percent of tablet owners have used their device to shop online, while currently only 25 percent of smartphone owners have used their phone to do the same. (Source: eDigitalResearch; eCustomerServiceIndex)
• In 2015, shoppers around the world are expected to spend about $119 billion on goods and services purchased via mobile phones. That number represents about 8 percent of the total ecommerce market.  (Source: ABI Research; Mobile Commerce Study)
• In the United States, purchases attributed to mobile online shopping -- excluding travel -- grew from $396.3 million in 2008 to an impressive $1.4 billion in 2009. In 2010, mobile online shopping excluding travel in the U.S. had more than doubled again, to total more than $3.4 billion by year’s end. (Source: ABI Research; Mobile Commerce Study)
• Apps and music are the most common purchases, followed by clothes and electronic books. (Source: Lightspeed Research UK; m-commerce prepared for Figaro Digital)
• Consumer usage of mobile coupons will see users exceed 300 million globally by 2014. (Source: Juniper Research; Mobile Coupons & NFC Smart Posters)
• The study of more than 1,400 consumers shows more than half of consumers use their smartphones to enhance their shopping experience, especially people under age 35. (Source: Chadwick Martin Bailey; How SmartphonesAre Changing the Retail Shopping Experience)
• Retailers report that 21 percent of all mobile traffic comes from tablets; amazing considering the iPad was launched barely a year ago. (Source: Forrester Research; The State Of Retailing Online 2011: Marketing, Social, And Mobile)

Mobile Commerce Payments Research & Statistics (2010 - 2011)

Mobile payments (m-payments) are when consumers make a purchase using a mobile phone instead of using cash, credit card or debit. Types of mobile payments include direct billing, SMS transactions and mobile Web payments. These mobile commerce research and statistics will help you understand what’s happening in the mobile payment industry.

• Worldwide mobile payment volume is forecast to total $86.1 billion, up 75.9 percent from a 2010 volume of $48.9 billion. (Source: Gartner Inc.; Market Trends: Mobile Payments Worldwide, 2011)
• PayPal raised its 2011 Mobile Total Payments Volume (TPV) projections to $3 billion. (Source: PayPal Blog; PayPal Doubles Mobile Payments Predictions to $3 billion in 2011 by Laura Chambers)
• Overall, mobile payment services are expected to reach $245b in value worldwide by 2014. At the same time, mobile money users are expected to total $340m, equivalent to 5 percent of global mobile subscribers. (Source: Ernst & Young; Opportunities for telcos in mobile money: 2011)
• E-payments and m-payments collectively accounted for an estimated 22.5 billion transactions in 2010. E-payments (online payments for e-commerce activities) are expected to grow globally to 30.3 billion transactions from 17.9 (in 2010-13), while m-payments are expected to grow globally to 15.3 billion transactions from 4.6 billion in the same period.  (Source: Capgemini; World Payments Report 2011)
• It is anticipated that this will begin to change in 2011 as the number of mobile payment users starts a significant run up from 116 million to over 375 million in 2015. (Source: In-Stat; Mobile Payments: Is the Market Ready?)
• The potential for mobile payments is huge. Estimates for the volume of those transactions vary widely but share a consensus that mobile payments will see sizable growth this year and accelerate rapidly in 2012. (Source: eMarketer; Mobile Payments -- Moving Closer to a World Without Wallets)