To hit its stride, maybe mobile payments will have to replace the idea of using cash more than credit or debit cards. For small purchases, consumers largely turn to cash rather than plastic, based on a new study. When making a purchase of less than $5, most consumers prefer to use cash.

While trains around the world keep rolling along, more and more travelers are using mobile to pay for the ride. Mobile train ticket sales are now in the billions of dollars, though the scope of payments varies widely by country, based on a new study.

The future of mobile payments may have just received a boost from Walmart. The massive retailer this week notified the world that it's introducing a chip-enabled Walmart MasterCard to increase security.

In online commerce, there's browsing and then there's buying. We've seen from numerous studies that consumers use multiple devices to research what to purchase as well as to actually make the purchas

Commerce is up and commerce is really up, depending on where it's done. Desktop-based ecommerce increased a little while mobile commerce is up a lot, based on new research

Beaconing is going to be a very big deal in mobile commerce. At the recent MediaPost OMMA mCommerce conference in New York, Scott Varland, creative director at the IPG Media Lab, mentioned from the stage that he approaches beacons from an experience designer perspective.

With back-to-school shopping in full swing, there's a flood of new research analyzing the impact and influence of mobile devices on all that shopping. What's consistent in all the studies is the high focus of consumers using their smartphones and tablets to find deals.

Back-to-school mobile shoppers want a deal at the store but there's a limit to how far they will travel for that deal. While more than a third (39%) of back-to-school shoppers spend more than an hour on their smartphone or tablet planning for their shopping, the majority (77%) are not willing to drive more than 15 miles to get the best price, based on a new survey.

Many of the leading online retailers are reaping the rewards of mobile commerce. The top 366 U.S. retailers will hit mobile commerce sales of $59 billion this year, an increase of 74% from $34 billion a year ago, according to a new index.

Mobile commerce is less about the technology and more about the behavioral change facilitated by the technology. Walmart's recent introduction of the Savings Catcher feature in its app is a great example of this.