Comment: Mobile technology will continue to revolutionise the way we shop

We’ve already heard the major retailers predicting that this Christmas there will be explosive growth in m-commerce as consumers increasingly make purchases from their tablets or smartphones.

Personalisation is the other powerful consumer preference emerging that will be seen in Christmas stockings all over the world this year. And the two trends are linked.

Advances in mobile technology have led to people personalising their lives to such an extent that we only consume the media we want, read the blogs and tweets we agree with, and visit only the online fashion stores we favour.

Nowadays, the mobile phone has become the window to all of our lives, where personal experiences and tastes can be seen in the photos we share, playlists we listen to and the online games we play.

The natural extension of this customisation of our lives is that, as consumers, we now want to customise the products we purchase too.

There is little doubt that mobile will continue to revolutionise the way we shop. Consumers now have more choice than ever, and have products literally at their fingertips thanks to the proliferation of smart devices that allow them to shop from the sofa rather than the high street.

We’ve become so well acquainted with mobile technology that we no longer think about what channel we’re using.

We just shop wherever and whenever is most convenient - on mobile while watching TV for example, or while on the commute to work.

Christmas shopping no longer needs to interfere with the rest of consumers’ lives - it can be done alongside other things. This increased convenience doesn’t need to come at the expense of thoughtfulness, creativity or hard-earned cash when it comes to gifting.

In a cash-constrained world, people rely on personalisation to create impact - it really is the thought that counts.

Through the power of personalisation, gifting can be more special, and carry more meaning and emotion than ever before.

This is particularly true when it comes to photographs, which now sit at the nexus of mobile technology and personalisation. The personal catalogue of images we capture and store in our mobile phones can provide the perfect personalisation tool to create a thoughtful gift, one which celebrates a moment or captures a memory.

Photographs can be used to create a personalised gift that need not be expensive but still carries high emotional impact. After all, we want to create impact with the gifts we give - we want to see laughter or watery eyes, because we know we’ve affected someone when that happens.

In a calendar saturated with special occasions, there is no other time when the convenience of mobile and the impact of personalisation are more prevalent than at Christmas.

• Stan Laurent is chief executive of Photobox Group