Retailers are both excited and a little scared by the possibilities of mobile phones replacing wallets, finds Retail Week’s report.

How times change. Only a decade ago there were plenty of senior people in the retail industry that didn’t believe the internet was anything more than a blip in how their business models would develop.

By now most have learnt their lesson that technology can, and will, continue to enable new ways of reaching and serving customers. That’s why mobile commerce, and now mobile payments are such interesting topics, as retailers realise that they cannot push back the tide of continual change.

Retail Week has conducted anonymous research among a group of retailers in order to get their views on the most important and interesting aspects of mobile payments. All agree that the various different types of payment developments are going to be important to the industry going forwards, but where do you start?

The report sets out some of the options, as well as highlighting why it’s important to not delay investigating how they could support your business model. There is unanimous agreement that enabling simple ways to pay with a mobile phone - both for physical and virtual sales - will provide greater convenience for customers.

While few retailers are keen to get ahead of the adoption curve, it’s a also clear that when it comes to mobile payments they are determined not to get left behind.