If the average person was to name one technical change that has had an impact in their lives then the mobile phone would be right up with the top answers. Even in comparison to the massive change that the internet has brought, the mobile phone has had a fundamental change to the way in which people around the world communicate. This article will look at whether the mobile phone will also be the future of shopping.

Websites are now the cornerstones of many businesses, they don't have a high-street location like many more traditional companies, they rely on a relatively new medium in which to not only contact their customers, but also to conduct the entirety of their interactions.

The mobile phone has recently strayed into this new online eCommerce arena. New mobile data networks have allowed faster access to wireless communication, but also the processing power and accessibility of the phones have recently come of age. Handsets have been able to go online for many years now, but the limited nature of the display screens and processing power has limited the online experience. This has meant that the sites available to the mobile phone have traditionally had to be purposely written for them. This severely limited the number of sites available to the mobile phone internet user, it tended to be only the larger websites with the resources to apportion time to construct a similar slimmed down site. The sites themselves tended to be a shadow of their original selves, limited graphics and layout tended to leave a mass of text - fine for a news site only interested in information, but restricting for most other types of website.

For every eCommerce site, whether they are selling to mobile consumers or not, to have a decent payment service provider. Excellent payment gateways will also allow the retailer to use their eCommerce site effectively.

The new generation of phones are far more able to supply a normal web experience. Featuring technologies such as JavaScript and Flash, modern mobile browsers are capable of rendering 'full' normal webpages. For online retailers, this wave of new phones should signal a potential new type of consumer - the mobile shopper. This new shopper needs to be talked to and interacted with very quickly, the opening with in which they visit your site may only be the length of a bus or short train journey. If you are attempting to sell to these consumers then obviously these unique attributes need to taken into account when designing your site. Categories and products need to be very quickly available, the ability to 'save' your current position could also stop consumers becoming frustrated with your website. They may only be using your site for fleeting minutes, it would be best if they picked up where they left off each time.