It looks like the retail store still has a relatively long shelf life. While mobile commerce is transforming the purchasing process, the brick and mortar stores are going strong, at least based on two unrelated studies. In one study, the majority (65%) of retailers surveyed say the importance of stores is rising. The Fujitsu Pan-European Retail Survey was conducted by Novametrie and included retailers from throughout Europe.

While a large percentage of actual shopping transactions may not happen on a smartphone, it doesn't mean the mobile device isn't having a significant impact on purchases. A new study looking at multi-screen activity found that a majority (75%) of consumers learned something new via mobile and their in-store purchase was influenced for almost half (45%) of them.

Let the mobile location innovation begin! While we regularly see and hear of innovations in how marketers can reach consumers at various stages during their path to purchase, new ideas around location are starting to get richer, as is the location data information. For example, Moosejaw, the outdoor retail chain headquartered in Michigan, has 11 stores but the majority of sales come from online and mobile.

The window to reach mobile shoppers may be short with some factors out of retailers' control. A study from IBM's Digital Analytics Benchmark last week looked at shopping behavior around Mother's Day and found that online mobile shopping traffic increased 43% from a year ago, comprising a quarter of the holiday online sales. That study found that mobile consumers shopped and bought in three-and-a-half minutes.

When it comes to mobile payments being used at checkout in stores, there's still a long road ahead. A new study shows that while many (28%) retailers plan to adopt some form of mobile POS (point of sale) by the end of this year, an even larger number (33%) say they have no plans to do so at all within the next three years.

The mobile payments space just got a bit more interesting with payment provider payvia buying MMS company Mogreet. While hardly household names, the two companies are well-known within their respective circles. Payvia runs the largest direct carrier connected mobile platform in the U.S., which lets consumers pay for digital goods and services with their mobile phone, with the charges added directly to their phone bill.

In a study that came out this week, researchers noted the difference in time spent making a purchase by mobile devices compared to by desktops. It turns out that the mobile purchase processes took about half the time. The study, by IBM's Digital Analytics Benchmark, looked at shopping behavior around Mother's Day. As you might expect, mobile shopping traffic increased 43% from a year ago, comprising a quarter of the holiday online sales.

If nothing else is happening relating to mobile payments, the trusty old cash register is under a full-blown assault. Just within the last few days, several major mobile payment providers took aim at the old physical money changing machine. Square launched its new stand -- called, what else: Square Stand - for IPads, the hot checkout device of choice. The device comes with a card reader, of course, and features accessories like kitchen printers, barcode scanners and cash drawers, just like that old cash register.

Companies continue to find innovative ways to incent and reward mobile commerce behaviors. Visa this week introduced an enhancement to its Visa Offers program, which allows merchants who take Visa credit cards to send targeted rewards to Visa cardholders. After a consumer opts in to receive offers -- another totally separate challenge in itself -- merchants can send targeted offers to Visa cardholders.

Mobile for commerce keeps popping up in numerous new places. By now, we're getting used to seeing iPads being used as checkout devices at small businesses and mobile payment devices in taxis. Seeing LevelUp used at all the concession stands in the Austin convention center at the recent SXSW was kind of expected, even if not every customer used it. I saw tablet commerce in action again on my flight from Dallas to Las Vegas yesterday.