The stage is set for mobile commerce

Last year marked the debut of Internet Retailer’s Mobile Commerce Forum.

Attendees at Internet Retailer’s Mobile Commerce Forum 2011 in Houston Oct. 10-12 will gain insights into how companies are making mobile commerce work, as well as how they can build and leverage m-commerce sites and apps.

The conference starts Monday with a workshop on mobile marketing, followed by two days of sessions on topics such as creating and evolving a mobile strategy, securing mobile payments, designing sites and apps for tablets and tips for making a mobile site user-friendly.

“It’s clear that mobile is coming – ready or not,” says Kurt Peters, editor in chief of Internet Retailer and chair of the Mobile Commerce Forum. “When 10% of visitors come to web sites via mobile and nearly half of consumers have smartphones only four years after the introduction of the iPhone, retailers and marketers can’t afford not to keep up with mobile.”

The conference will cover a range of mobile commerce and marketing topics that are applicable to a wide variety of markets. “Mobile will affect every business and the Mobile Commerce Forum is designed to meet the needs of marketers in all verticals who will find their customers demanding a better mobile buying experience,” Peters says.

The conference, at the Hilton Americas-Houston hotel, features 50 speakers and 31 exhibitors. More than 600 attendees are expected, making it one of the largest m-commerce conferences this year.