What's the difference between searching on a mobile device versus on a desktop? How about action and intent? How about a clear path to purchase? How about the gap between revenue and, well, none? We highlight a recent study by Marin Software that pinpoints just how valuable mobile search really is.

Consumers are fickle when it comes to wanting what we want, when we want it and why we deserve it. Mobile has contributed to our finicky nature and adjusted our expectations at a far faster rate than companies have been able to keep up with. What I'm talking about here is the single biggest challenge that individual retailers are facing when it comes to the connected consumer. Watch on.

Have we already become desensitized to mobile transactions? Think back to when you did your first debit payment — it was deliberate and focused, you needed to pay attention. Now these are common, something you do without thinking. The same could be said about the first time you did a "tap and go" transaction or even paid with your Starbucks app. These are now so common that we don't notice them. Is the same thing happening now to mobile payments? There are plenty of people doing them but have they become so much a part of our lives that we just aren't noticing them anymore? If this is true then they are following an adoption process that we've seen before.

The art of selling through mobile is very different from anything else we've seen before. For the most part, traditional tactics and pressure points do not work well on a mobile device. Instead, the mobile sell is a slow burn that starts with value given before the sale, during the sale and after the sale. I call this "crafting" the mobile experience and it requires a different way of thinking to make it work.

 

As you'll see in this short video, 3 large companies (Johnson & Johnson, Toyota and Saatchi & Saatchi) are employing this thinking as they succeed in mobile while others fail. Watch on.

At the recent OMMA Mobile event at SXSW, Pamela Naumes, Director Brand Engagement at Bolthouse Farms, detailed the thing that marketers want from mobile. We like her thinking and adoption of mobile payments may depend on more people like Pamela leading the charge.

There is a model out there emerging called "value for value" and there is plenty of opportunity for this to be earned in the retail industry. Most consumers are not comfortable with retailers tracking their in-store habits UNLESS there is deep brand trust OR a quid pro quo: They will give data in return for something they deem valuable.

There must be a reason why consumers aren't using their smartphones during the shopping process - and you'd have to think that it would be a really really really good one. Right? A recent PWC global survey shows why and the answers are decidedly feature-based, not value-based. It isn't because the prices are higher or the inventory is lower, it is because of the lack of connectivity. I smell opportunity.

The mobile digital divide is upon us only this divide is a bit different. Chuck gives us three examples of how the smartphone remains at the centre of our mobile lives - despite the proliferation of connected devices. The thing is, they all need to connect with the phone. Maybe at some point the phone won't be as important but right now there is no doubt that it is THE hub for all things connected.

In what is becoming a commerce movement, everyone can become a business because of the mobile technology we carry in our pocket. A perfect example is what happened to Chuck when he needed a cab while at SXSW in Austin a few weeks ago...

Airlines are starting to see the value in allowing their customers to use phones to pay for tickets. They also starting to see the value to their business to help reduce costs, increase revenue, stave off the competition and to expand their business across borders. This won't be easy but they are waking up to the threat that ignoring mobile may be more painful and costly in the long run.