Mobile devices have become an integral part of how American’s shop.  According to eBay, shoppers used their Blackberries, iPhones, Androids, &c. to purchase 1.5 million items from E-bay, three times what they bought the previous year, with luxury items acting as a favorite to these online, on the go consumers.

A recent Deloitte survey predicted that consumers would turn to mobile devices to help them with their shopping.

According to their results, roughly one in five consumers expected to use a mobile phone as part of their holiday shopping experience.

Of those using mobile phones

• 55% expected to use the device to find store locations
• 45% expected to use the device to compare prices
• 40% expected to get product information
• 32% expected to find coupons and discounts on their phones
• 31% expected to read reviews of products they were considering
• 25% expected to buy directly through their mobile phone.

Mobile apps already exist to support all of these uses

GoogleMaps is ready to point shoppers to the nearest outlet of their favorite store, and links one-touch calling capability to the results page.

ShopSavvy, RedLaser, TheFind, ShopStyle, and PriceGrabber all have mobile apps designed to let consumers to compare the prices at multiple retailers.

The electronics review site Retrevo set up a service that allowing users to contact them via Twitter or text message in order to get an immediate thumbs up or thumbs down on a given product, accompanied by what price it sells for online.

Merchants like eBay and Tommy Hilfiger have modified their online stores so that online behaviors and preferences from desktop computers will influence the products shown via the mobile so that users will not scroll through page after page of superfluous information.  And rather than make users enter all their credit card information each time they intend to make a purchase, many port their quick check-out procedures to the phone.

The feature that all of these services share in common is convenience.  In preparing for your own mobile presence it is important you do the same.  What can you offer shoppers on the go that they cannot find for themselves?  How can you help them to consolidate several trips into one?