Why the Future Belongs to Mobile

"The No. 1 impact of the world going mobile will be on business models. If your company is not geared to understanding how mobile will affect your revenue generation, then you will be in serious trouble."

This is the assessment of Mickey Khan, editor in chief of Mobile Marketer and our guest on this week's BusinessCast.

Mobile—that is, communicating to customers via smartphones and tablet devices—has, in Khan's view, "become part of the fabric of marketing and communications in retailing."

Khan has some pretty big thoughts on this explosively popular means of communication. Here are some highlights:

On where mobile is going:

"Mobile is not just limited to advertising and marketing. More and more, it's focused on commerce, on enabling transactions," he says. And that refers to sales inside of and outside of the store.

And the trend isn't letting up, he says: "This year, you'll see the vast majority of people accessing the internet through mobile devices, such a tablets and smartphones. And in five years, there won't be a discussions of mobile or online. It'll almost entirely be mobile.

"If you don't get it right over the next five years, you'll be out of the transaction loop."

On location-based marketing:

"With iBeacon, geolocation, geofencing and Bluetooth, it's very easy for marketers to target you when you're in a store or when you have their app on. And many consumers like that convenience," explains Khan.

"But it's still early days. There are a lot of issues about privacy. Also, marketers and retailers have to set aside investment and spend to facilitate this."

On the value of presumed-dead technology:

"QR codes were highly promising. And I think they still have a role to play, but you can't use them like mass media," says Khan. "QR codes are great for real estate, for example, or packaging. You just can't just use them everywhere."

For more on Khan's thoughts about the future of mobile marketing, listen to this week's BusinessCast.