Much has been written about the increasing popularity of mobile commerce, or m-commerce, but new research reveals that if retailers want to lure the cream-of-the-crop shoppers, they'd better arm sales associates with mobile devices. That is the one of the findings by YouGov in its "2014 Survey of Affluence and Wealth." Not the typical survey we report on here at FierceMobileIT, this one is all about the rich, their toys and how they acquire them. Luxury Daily recently reported on the survey findings and their significance for retailers that go after the high-end market. These shoppers are savvy, fussy and …

Mobile commerce has blossomed from an unassuming novelty trend to a phenomenon that is, quite literally, forcing businesses to revamp their business models. Global society is becoming more reliant on mobile technology and mobile devices are becoming more fundamental to the daily lives of people everywhere. New generations are growing up utterly saturated in technology and digital media, creating an environment wherein separation of these two things seems all but impossible. As people become more reliant on mobile devices, they are looking for services designed specifically for the mobile space.

This week MEF, the global global community for mobile content and commerce, released the findings from the second phase of its African Growth Market Study. The survey, which covered Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, provides insights into industry trends amongst mobile business leaders in their respective regions. Additionally, the study aimed to identify key market drivers and encourage growth in mobile content and commerce in Africa. MEF reports that revenue growth and content in the mobile sector was high in all three countries. Specifically, mobile money, m-commerce (mobile commerce) and social networks were singled out as growth drivers. Interestingly, the …

The Dutch are expected to spend around EUR 730 million over mobile commerce channels this year, an increase of 69.8 percent. According to the research for ActiePagina.nl, part of the online marketplace RetailMeNot, the Netherlands ranks among the top five European markets for mobile spending. The study was conducted by the Centre of Retail Research in eight European countries and the US. -commerce continues to grow in the Netherlands, estimated up 8.6 percent, but sales over smartphones (+55.2%) and tablets (+100%) are growing much faster. M-commerce is expected to represent around 12.2 percent of e-commerce sales this year. Across Europe, …

Steve Madden looks to get off on the right foot with a new mobile and Web site that has an unusually heavy focus on user-generated content for a commerce site. The shoe brand is looking to win over millennials and teens with the social and user-generated content push. Steve Madden's new site is a stark change from the majority of retailers who center digital initiatives around commerce, which could be beneficial in repositioning and building up the brand.

Users of the Epicurious application from Cond Nast will soon be able to receive in-store push notifications, with the media brand claiming to be the first to leverage beacon technology to enhance the shopping experience. Users of the Epicurious app will be able to receive push notifications when they walk into a participating retail location, including recipe suggestions and ingredients that can be added to user's shopping list. Epicurious advertisers will also be able to serve in-store app users with ads.

The rise of location and sophisticated data may be just what brands need to justify click-to-call mobile ads that continue to promise marketers the ability to link ads with real-world sales, but fail to deliver. As more marketers look to leverage sophisticated types of location and data to make mobile advertising more contextual, there are a growing number of marketing services that promise brands better insight into mobile's in-store impact. However, the accuracy of these services is questionable without the solid tracking cookie mechanism that follow consumers' online behavior, leaving many marketers to rely on click-to-call and other forms of …

Mobile is the latest weapon in Walmart's arsenal as it continues to build a pharmacy business and compete with leading drugstore chains. Pharmacy services have been a focus for Walmart for several years, with the chain introducing $4 generic prescriptions, in-store health clinics and now mobile services, as it looks to lure customers away from the leading drugstore chains. While the discount giant recently added prescription refills and other pharmacy services to its mobile app for the first time, it has a long way to go to catch up with Walgreens, which see more than 40 percent of online prescription …

E-commerce giant eBay has been working to partner with retailers in order to help them achieve omnichannel success. As the company begins to partner with retailers that have a physical presence, PayPal is looking to do the same. PayPal has announced that it is expanding its Partner Program in order to accommodate additional types of retailers. The expanded program will be launched during the summer and is expected to help retailers become more capable of handling the needs of mobile consumers. PayPal has plans to begin working more closely with point-of-sale solution providers, processing resellers, and system integrators.

While the industry waits for Amazon to flex its payments muscles with the 215 million credit cards they have on file, they are joined by the ultimate Amazon insider, CEO Jeff Bezos. "Jeff's told us it's something we need to be successful in, and should be successful in," Amazon Payments boss Tom Taylor told ReCode in an interview . "The pressure I feel from Jeff is, 'Go faster,'" he added. Last fall Amazon launched Login and Pay with Amazon, though mass adoption of the service has been slow, mostly due to the fact that many retailers that compete with Amazon …