Just because mobile payments have not yet taken off as quickly as some might like, it doesn't mean there isn't a need, at least in some quarters. I was starkly reminded of this in the course of a recent quick trip to Europe. The way my travel worked out, I had to overnight in London on the way to Germany. Looking for the closest hotel to catch an early flight the next day, I checked to find that I was both landing and departing from Terminal 5 at Heathrow, so booked the hotel officially named The Hilton London Heathrow Airport …

The world of mobile commerce is just that. At the Mobile Tech Conference 2013 in Berlin this week, I noticed quite a few names also familiar in the U.S. mobile marketplace. After doing the opening keynote presentation, I spent the day speaking with attendees, presenters and event sponsors to get a flavor of the state of mobile in that market. As might be expected, IBM had a large presence, promoting its mobile first approach.

Based on comments from a number of readers, in the grand scheme of mobile commerce, those printed circulars may not be ready for the recycle bin. Last week in this space, I wrote about the effectiveness of circulars (Mobile Coupons & the Waning Impact of Printed Circulars) based on a stat from digital marketing firm Catalina. The company analyzed millions of transactions over a holiday shopping period and found that a large percentage of items advertised in the circulars were not purchased at all. One reader referred to another recent study that showed many back to school shoppers preferred print …

The influence points around mobile commerce continue to expand. Mobile commerce is not only about mobile payments, of course, but about the entire path to purchase throughout the Mobile Shopping Life Cycle. Foursquare's announcement that it will send users recommendations automatically is yet another indication that some influence points can materialize at various parts of the path. The idea is that Foursquare will send users who want it proactive recommendations based on the phone's location.

Maybe, just maybe, mobile commerce is having an effect on those traditional, printed circulars. I just came across a rather interesting stat from Catalina, the marketing firm noted for its shopper history database. In a study being released later in the fall, Catalina found that while grocery stores spend as much as 70% of their ad budgets on circulars, they aren't being overly effective these days.

Consumers may not be swarming to mobile payments but they seem to be interested in getting through store checkout more quickly. And before accepting any mobile payment system that may ease the checkout process, consumers want to make sure of its security, at least based on another new nationwide survey. When asked how important security is for checking out using mobile checkout or a cash register, the majority (57%) said it was their top concern, according to a new survey.

While mobile commerce may not be front and center for all merchants, that doesn't mean it isn't happening in a big way and across the board. Mobile shoppers are increasingly tapping into retailers' websites from their mobile devices and it turns out there's a correlation between what's viewed and the viewing device. In a new look at mobile commerce, comScore is delving more deeply into behaviors in an attempt to identify the differences in sales by product category based on device. And this matters, since the researchers found that on a monthly basis, about a third (35%) of the top …

Making a smartphone purchase looks like it's still at the end the mobile commerce line. In a new back-to-school shopping study, location analytics company Placed found that making a purchase was the lowest intended smartphone use. The study reviewed how parents are approaching the back-to-school shopping landscape, including planning, advertising preferences and smartphone usage. When asked how they plan to use their smartphone for back-to-school shopping, deals tops the list, mirroring numerous other studies of mobile shopping behaviors.

There are mobile payments and then there are mobile wallets. As many consumers go about their daily lives, they are hardly pining for either, even if they knew which one did what. Many industry heavyweights, such as banks and credit card companies, are investing heavily in the future of mobile payments, since where it goes could determine where much of their business goes.

There's still some serious distance between the mobile and the physical worlds. On a recent trip through Dallas, I experienced yet another disheartening disconnect. As background, I must confess that I'm a diehard check-in user of Foursquare and have been since the app launched a few years back.I used to get a charge out of earning a new badge for hitting a certain number of check-ins within a category, like a road warrior badge for passing through so many airports within a designated timeframe.