Mobile commerce has become a powerful force in the business world. Smartphones are the most widely used electronic device in the world, so it was only a matter of time before commerce began to evolve to become more mobile-centric. As mobile technology continues to grow more prolific, new commerce structures are being formed to support the use of smartphones, tablets, and other devices. This will have a major impact on various business sectors and those that are unwilling to adapt could become a footnote in history, if not forgotten entirely.

Chiquita, the American producer and distributor of bananas, has released and expanded content-rich FanFun app that features numerous interactive games, customizable photos, fun quizzes, a sweepstakes and hundreds of recipes to engage users and reward them with loyalty points that can be redeemed for a variety of Chiquita brand merchandise. The app includes a gamification rewards engine driven by "Chiquita Points" which can be redeemed at the Chiquita mcommerce store.

Wouldn't it be convenient if we could pay for merchandise using just our phone and our existing phone account? Well, there is hope. Giants such as Facebook, Google, Amazon and others are signing deals with carrier-billing players, and the carrier-billing players mentioned below are targeting convenience for the consumer. Carrier billing is gaining momentum across markets, providing the most convenient form of mobile payments. As per Juniper research conducted in 2013, global revenue from carrier billing is expected to reach $13 billion by 2017. This form of billing is secure in nature, involving a two-factor authentication method. During actual transactions, …

Mobile is the most popular technology for e-commerce retailers to make a significant investment in. According to the 14th Annual Merchant Survey from The E-Tailing Group, 42% of respondents have made significant investments in mobile optimization. Other popular technology areas for e-commerce investment include omnichannel integration (30%), retargeting (28%), personalization and targeting (27%) and Big Data/related CRM initiatives (27%). Eighty-one percent of e-commerce retailers are implementing consistent branding across channels and shared inventory across channels (70%).

SK Planet, the US-based mobile commerce subsidiary of South Korean operator SK Telecom, has announced its beta launch of a touchless, beacon-enabled shopping tool through its Slyde mobile app. The m-commerce app includes customer loyalty, marketing features and payment technology. Slyde is available for download from iTunes and GooglePlay under the name SlydeNow. Slyde users can pay for goods, redeem coupons, and get loyalty credits without taking their phone or wallet out of their pockets. Slyde is designed to manage every stage of a consumer's retail experience, including the ability to identify when a customer is nearby and offer customized …

The RE/MAX Northern Illinois real estate network has a new app that uses real-time data provided by the multiple-listings system to present what it claims is the most accurate and current information available. Dedicated to the public searching for active, pending and sold real estate, plus rentals, in Northern Illinois, the RE/MAX app is unique because its simple functionalities house a variety of state-of-the-art technology features that include augmented reality and the implementation of commute-time search. The app is designed to stand apart from apps for competitors such as Trulia and Zillow, which rely on third-party tips and often have …

Fashion retailer bebe announced its upcoming release of a responsive mobile site, aimed to narrow in on personalization to propel the consumer experience. Also prioritizing data-driven metrics, the brand will learn more about its consumers to deliver tailored content and offers. Up until this point, the brand has maintained the majority of its sales via in-store transactions, but this move will likely give the brand the push it needs to modernize its capabilities.

7-Eleven is celebrating its 87th birthday with eight days of free offers, beginning July 11. To receive each day's free offer, a customer must first download and register on the 7-Eleven app. A customer opens the 7-Eleven app at the store and shows the member barcode to the sales associate at checkout. The barcode appears below the coupons. Once the associate scans the barcode at the register, the customer will receive the item as they check out.

David Tisch has been quietly working on a project called Jello Labs for over a year. He hasn't said much about what the product will be, other than that it involves mobile commerce. However, today we can shed a bit more light on the super stealth project. For one, the product is actually called Spring, with Jello Labs being more of a company name or a placeholder name. Secondly, the company has secured a $7.5 million Series A round led by Thrive Capital, Groupe Arnault, and Box Group, with participation from 41 other VCs and angel investors. Previous to the …

BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria) has made technology news by becoming the initial bank to unveil near field communication (NFC) technology in its commercial contactless payments service that is based on Visa's host card emulation (HCE) specifications. Customers who are interested in taking advantage of the new Visa cloud based payments service only need to obtain the most recent version of the app and they can begin making NFC payments. That said, consumers will also need to have a mobile phone that can run Android 4.4 and is equipped with NFC technology. However, customers who do not have a suitable …