Depending on what you're selling, the smartphone may be the mobile device better suited for the sale. With mobile Web payments now accounting for 22% of all payment transactions, more of those transactions come from smartphones than tablets, based on a new global study.

While mobile shopping rises, brick and mortar stores continue to rule. The type of store also can make a difference, as the categories of products bought by mobile devices also differ, according to a new study. As might be expected, more people use mobile devices to buy digital content while most consumers (78%) prefers physical stores for general food purchases, 67% for over-the-counter medications and 65% for clothing, according to a survey by Harris Poll.

Mobile location has long been viewed as a key capability for reaching shopping consumers at more relevant places and times. Much of that activity has centered on targeting a mobile shopper in relation to a physical store, kind of geofencing 101. I've noticed that advancements in location technology are empowering manufacturers to more directly connect customers to products, essentially bypassing the retailer.

Mobile commerce is getting better at being integrated into everyday life. While the mobile payments marketplace is still fragmented, various small pieces of commerce are getting better and becoming more seamless. Research regularly shows that mobile shoppers are attracted to deals, so during some travel and shopping trips over the weekend, I looked at some of the methods that shoppers can receive some of these deals.

More retail activity is starting with mobile devices, which is growing dramatically across the board. While most actual purchasing still happens in stores and most online buying is from desktops, mobile continues to increase its influence on all areas.

Mobile allows consumers to shop all the time, even though most actual purchases are made in stores. Most (91%) consumers identify their smartphone as the easiest to use in-store device but the use or purchase influence depends on the type of products being shopped for, based on a new study.

More people are buying more things online from their phones. Mobile ecommerce is now more than a $40 billion market, double from the previous year, and on track to hit $50 billion by year end, based on a new study. The mobile ecommerce market grew from $2 billion in 2010 to $43 billion in 2013, according to the Custora E-Commerce Pulse. In the first quarter of this year, there were $12 billion in mobile ecommerce transactions.

There may be some good news for the advancement of mobile payments, depending on where people live. While the mobile payment joint venture of Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile grapples with changing its name from the unfortunately-selected name of Isis, consumers around the world look to technology to make payments simpler, connected and faster.

The mobile and physical worlds continue to more closely integrate with each other. Consumers use mobile devices to research, explore and shop, even though most then go the brick and mortar store to make their purchase. Some retailers ironically are being bypassed or at least somewhat left out as brands take shortcuts around them. It's not necessarily that product manufacturers are looking to cut out their retail distribution points, but rather that they are trying to better and more efficiently connect consumers with their products.

A few weeks ago, I was in an airport and watched a woman with a small child in a stroller repeatedly shouting into her phone "Agent. Agent. Agent. Speak to an agent." Anyone who's been caught up in a computerized, never ending voice vortex of options in a phone call to a large company may be able to relate. The woman in the airport was not likely speaking with Nina Mobile, the virtual assistant that leverages speech recognition, speech synthesis and natural language.