On Monday, Internet Retailer cited a recent survey by Compete indicating that 37% of smartphone owners purchased merchandise via their phones in 2009. This is good news for e-tailers as we head into 2010. Opportunities for growth will widen as more and more consumers - and not just the tech-savvy ones - become comfortable with this purchasing channel.

What is interesting is that the survey results show that owners of different smartphones participated in different kinds of shopping activities:

• 19% of smartphone owners have purchased music from their devices; 14% have purchased books, DVDs or video games; and 12% have purchased movie tickets.
• 40% of Android owners and 51% of Blackberry owners would spend $500 or more to buy a product on a mobile phone, compared to 9% of iPhone owners.
• The most popular mobile shopping-related activities have to do with research—41% of iPhone users and 43% of Android users are most likely to check sale prices at alternative locations from their mobile phones while they are shopping.
• The second-most likely activity is accessing customer reviews, with 39% of iPhone owners and 31% of Android owners investigating reviews from their handsets before they purchase.

As Internet Retailer states, marketers need to know how their mobile customers shop then tailor their websites to meet these shopping preferences. This includes creating sites that can be easily navigated from smartphones. Optimizing your website for smartphones and providing predictable, simple navigation paths to the information your mobile customers seek is key to increasing your brand’s sales through m-commerce.