When the airlines first created their mobile apps, ticket purchasing wasn't high on the list of offerings. Actually, it wasn't on the list of offerings at all. That's sort of the story of early mobile commerce. A business decides to create an app, figures out the creative, finds an execution team inside or outside its doors and away it goes.

Retailers have had the toughest time getting shoppers to use their apps for commerce. We know from numerous studies that the large majority of consumers prefer to shop in physical stores. Meanwhile, for online purchasing, mobile continues to grow, now reaching around 30% of all online sales.

Smartphone shoppers look to Google for information but when it comes to making a purchase, the road starts at Amazon. When consumers with smartphones are looking for information, more of them turn to Google than any other source, turning to Google's search app or Chrome browser, based on a new survey. Google's search app and Chrome browser account for more than half (53%) of usage, according to the report.

Retailers have an eye on mobile payments but see other pressing issues ahead of what customers may be adopting. More than a third (37%) of retailers already can take some form of payments via smartphones but don't expect that number to dramatically rise in the near future, based on a recent study. Making it easier for consumers to pay at least made the list, though not at the top, according to the study Retail Payments: Consumer Control and the Need for Speed by Retail Systems Research.

While mobile wallets and payments continue to lag, the ability to do banking activity from smartphones anywhere at any time continues to attract consumers. And a lot of this mobile banking activity is happening while at work, even during meetings (though I'm sure not at your company). A new survey by Braun Research for Chase, which has a horse in the mobile banking race, identified some interesting tidbits as to where mobile banking is going on.

Retailers that bought into apps in a big way are starting to reap the rewards. For retailers who prioritized their mobile app as a key revenue driver, apps are now generating almost half (47%) of their mobile revenue with the rest coming from mobile browser sales, based on a new study. Mobile now accounts for 34% of all online transactions globally and is projected to reach 40% of all online transactions by the end of this year.

For the longest time, only a portion of the power of smartphones has been tapped for commerce. There are various reasons for this. Part of it is that the actual processing power and technology capabilities of smartphones have been outpacing the consumer adoption rate.

It appears the airline industry is gradually awakening to the impact of smartphones on its business. Three quarters (76%) of airlines plan major program to deliver passenger services through smartphones in the next three years, based on an industry study. During that time, more than five times as many airlines (67%) will offer a highly personalized smartphone booking experience compared to today, according to the 2015 Airline IT Trends Survey by SITA, the airline industry organization.

Summer is over and now it's time to plan for mobile holiday shoppers. Well, at least in retail, based on a curiously timed new piece of research. The 2015 holiday shopping season already is shaping up to be a gift for U.S. online retailers, based on IBM's eighth annual Online Retail Readiness Report just out.

Predicting mobile commerce trends and developments can sometimes be based on the obvious or apparent. For example, it's logical that the number of apps will increase, smartphone cameras will improve and battery life will become more than adequate (well, maybe not that last one). But a couple of five-year-out predictions by two different entities caught my eye this week.