While many of the stats released in this Nielsen report on mobile technology trends, the one that stands out is related to shopping. Nearly a quarter of all mobile users currently make purchases through their device. Mind you, we are at the dawn of the mobile revolution, and one in four mobile users buying stuff.

The good news is there is plenty of room for growth.

Only seven percent of mobile users pay for goods or services through their device. The difference between the two stats is while many of us are comfortable with giving Google and Apple our credit card information, most of us only purchase stuff we can use on our device. I’m looking right at you Smurfberry. 

The huge value for these precious devices currently is in the browsing end of retail. While 42 percent of women mobile users browse for items they would like to purchase, men are a little behind at 33 percent. The trick is to turn mobile shoppers into mobile purchasers.

Some of that can’t be done with great mobile sites and apps because not everyone who browses online is in purchase mode. I remember being told once that everyone is always in flux in terms of a purchase. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest), I might only be a “4” in terms of purchasing tires right now. When I get a flat next week, though, I move much higher up the scale and lower down the sales funnel.

Many shoppers are over a “6” on many items, and could be moved higher up the scale if presented with an optimum buying experience. It’s the same reason magazines and candy are right next to the grocery store checkout line. Mobile retail can do the same thing, and we must do our homework to help our customers out.

That requires meticulous scavenging of the user experience and fine tuning it according to feedback. It means we use click analytics to see where our users are going and how long they spend on a page. It involves taking the information people most want to access and putting it one or two clicks away.

Once we start thinking this way, the Nielsen stats will only rise as will our bottom line.