Sales of mobile commerce are steadily increasing in the United States, thanks in part to the growing adoption of smartphones and mobile Internet, estimated to reach $ 6.7 trillion this year, which is only a small fraction of the total sales of retailers, has almost doubled compared to last year (91.4%). For the next year it is expected to increase another 73.1%, going to be 11.6 trillion dollars.

“There is no doubt that mobile commerce is growing at an accelerated pace,” said Jeffrey Grau, analyst at eMarketer, who added that “mobile acts as a growth engine for electronic commerce in general.”

Mobile sales include sales of physical goods and travel tickets and event tickets purchased through mobile, but excludes digital downloads and the use of mobile phones as payment mechanisms at different points of sale.

eMarketer expects that next year, 37.5 million US consumers over 14 will make at least one purchase on their mobile phone, exceeding 26.8 million this 2011. In general, 72.8 million mobile users will use your phones to investigate or look for products or services next year, but they will not necessarily make a purchase.

Auction sites such as eBay and fast sales such as HauteLook can significantly benefit from the increase in mobile commerce, since the immediacy of their offers will attract buyers of these devices for its simplicity and the ability to make purchases while on the move.

At the same time, physical stores are at increasing risk if they do not adopt the mobile phone. “If a merchant has solid offers for mobile commerce, he can direct his shoppers to online shoppers who are searching for a particular product or service, keeping sales through a different channel,” Grau concluded.