Here's How People Are Shopping With Their Phones And What Business Can Do To Grab Them

This post is part of the "Future of Business" series, which examines how cutting-edge technologies are rapidly reshaping our world, from how businesses run to how we live. "The Future of Business" is sponsored by SAP.

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People are using smartphones to buy things.

Lot of things.

$25 billion worth of things in Europe and the US.

By 2015, it'll be $65 billion worth of things.

Here's a chart from Business Insider Intelligence showing what that opportunity looks like:

Retailers have to pay attention to this space.

Not only is the market rapidly growing in size, tablet shoppers already tend to spend more per session than traditional PC users:

So what can retailers do to take advantage of the trend?

The first, and most obvious step, is to make great iPhone and iPad apps. We're being brand specific there for a reason. The CEOs of ecommerce companies Fab and Rue La La both say that iPhone and iPad users shop and spend a lot more than Android users.

This make sense, because iOS users both spend and make more money than Android users:

For some apps to model yours after, check out these e-commerce apps, which consumers love to spend time with:

For retailers with an offline presence, the next step is building an app that takes advantage of Apple's passbook and Google Wallet, which allow users to pay for things with their phones.

According to BI Intelligence analyst Marcelo Ballvé, "mobile payments are not so much about the act of effecting a 'wallet-less' payment via a mobile device, but about the extra value such an app can create as a direct link between brands and consumers."

Think about coupons, loyalty rewards, and ticketing.

After building a great app, the final thought for retailers should be marketing it.

Spend to do it!

In a 2012 IAB survey, 22 percent of mobile shoppers said an ad inspired their commerce.

BI Intelligence is a new research and analysis service focused on mobile computing and the Internet. Many of the charts and data in this report are available for download from the BI Intelligence library. Please sign up for a free trial here.