Mobile ecommerce shopping applications had met with a lot of skepticism when the concept was introduced in 1999. Based on a survey in the initial stages, retailers used to feel that they don’t want to integrate mobile shopping applications with their products as people would not feel like shopping online. Others felt that the present online model was not enough to support the demand and yet others speculated that giving out personal information such as credit card numbers is not safe.

Let us fast forward to the current year - 2011. Scenarios have changed drastically with almost every retailers opting for mobile websites where customers can get access to all the latest products and enjoy a complete shopping experience. The major reason for this change in mindset is because online sales went up to 143.5 billion in 2009 from $27.5 billion in 2000. Be it an iPhone, Blackberry, or iPad – mobile ecommerce applications are being developed for all kinds of platforms.

Even though we have come a long way from those days back in the 90’s, there are a lot of concerns when it comes to mobile ecommerce, such as:

• Wouldn’t it be very complex if one has to develop and manage numerous applications that are device-specific?

• What will be the overall cost in assessing the demands, building the app, integrating it and then maintaining it?

• Providers need to approve the app and then modify it according to the nature of requirement. Sounds easy, but is an intricate process.

• The final challenge is the limited screen size of mobile phones that often poses as a difficulty in accessing websites when you compare it to a screen on a laptop or PC.

Many companies are now engaged in developing suitable software and infrastructure in order to overcome the problems. According to experts, developing, launching, and maintaining mobile ecommerce apps will be a snap after this! The cost is also going to come down significantly after a while. The following features will be included:

• Reporting, inventory, and checkout

• Integrating completely with a store’s catalogue

• Managing multiple devices.

If you are still not convinced, then here is more fodder: The GartnerGroup has predicted that around 150 million users will be using mobile ecommerce shopping applications for buying various products and services. This magic figure will be reached by the end of 2012 and around 119 billion dollars worth of products and services will be sold by 2015!