While most retailers see mobile as critical to the growth of their business, the majority aren't planning to put significant money behind their efforts. In terms of the level of investment in mobile and tablet initiatives this year, more than half (62%) of merchants plan to spend fewer than $100,000 with 11% planning no spending at all.

While most consumers like to shop in physical stores, many want to get out quickly and efficiently once they've decided on their purchase. Research regularly shows that mobile shoppers want efficient checkout.

When it comes to reaching mobile shoppers, many retailers may be missing the mark. Merchants have incentive to find effective ways to interact with in-store shoppers, since overall mobile-influenced in-store sales are pegged at $593 billion, based on a new study.

While mobile payments aren't yet in the masses, they do seem to be inching along in various areas. For the first quarter of this year, mobile Web payments in one global network were 20% of all payment transactions, an increase of 66% from the previous year.

I've been monitoring the gap between power and novice users for some time, since the market direction could have a direct impact on mobile commerce. For example, more shoppers using apps vs. mobile websites can affect how retailers develop and introduce mobile shopping innovations to their customers. It also can help determine how much resource merchants devote to apps or mobile websites.

The biggest push for mass acceptance of mobile shopping technologies may have less to do with the technology and more to do with consumer education. Most consumers are either unaware or basically not interested in various commerce aspects ranging from in-store tracking like Apple's iBeacon to payment technologies like NFC (near field communication), based on a new study.

As the ability to more precisely track mobile shoppers in stores improves, it begs the question of what retailers will do with all that location knowledge. A recent study identifies this as a breakout year for indoor technologies in retail environments, as the last year of a three-year technology adoption cycle.

Mobile shopping is getting bigger faster, even if it still doesn't appear to dominate the purchasing landscape. A new report on mobile shows that while m-commerce spending will reach $58 billion this year, a growth of 37%, it's still just tiny percentage of overall retail sales.

While the activities of banks have been steering them into aspects of mobile commerce for some time, it may have looked like consumers were standing on the sidelines. From the banking standpoint, some of their activities have been behind the scenes, such as processing payments.

The app vs. mobile website discussion continues as consumers await the value provided. Many mobile app users agree to receive push notifications from various companies but some retailers may be a step behind.