An Astound Commerce survey showed that people are shopping on smartphones more than ever.

The results of a new mobile commerce growth rate study have been released by Astound Commerce. The study was based around a survey titled “Mobile Accelerates to the Express Lane.”

The report illustrated the m-commerce sales trend in the United States and where they will reach this year.

The study results indicated that the American Mobile commerce growth rate would bring sales to $130.92 billion by the close of the year. This means that it will make up 33 percent of the overall e-commerce sales completed this year. Moreover, in the prior 12 months, there was a 40 percent year over year increase in discretionary spending in mobile commerce. In e-commerce, that figure was markedly lower, at 11 percent.

The mobile commerce growth rate also impacted other parts of the shopping process aside from purchases.

The Astound Commerce report indicated that buying was only one component of the mobile commerce journey. People are also using their smartphones to research products. Among the survey respondents, 40 percent said they read their emails and would frequently visit retailer sites at the same time. Moreover, another 40 percent said smarphones make the shopping transaction process faster.

Consumers have developed a heavy reliance on their mobile devices. They will frequently consult their small screen gadgets before other channels. This includes both shopping in-person at brick and mortar stores and visiting e-commerce sites. Fifty five percent of device users will research products on their smartphones ahead of going to a store in-person. Moreover, 42 percent said they look into products on their smartphones and tablets while in-store.

The mobile commerce growth rate was greatly influenced by certain specific factors. For instance, 68 percent of shoppers feel relevant product search results are important. Fifty nine percent value seeing high-quality product images. Another 49 percent said they appreciate it when detailed product reviews are made available for them to read before purchase. A whopping 98 percent felt it was important for consistency to exist throughout all channels. A product’s price should be the same from a given merchant regardless of whether the purchase is made over m-commerce, e-commerce or in person.

On the heels of an announcement of an exit from the in-house hardware market, it unveiled a new device.

CEO John Chen recently announced that his company would no longer be manufacturing hardware, following up with an announcement that BlackBerry branded smartphones are on the way. The company has revealed to upcoming launch of a new physical keyboard phone release. This new mobile device will hit the shelves within the next six months.

This announcement was made by a top sales executive at BlackBerry within an interview with the BBC.

Alex Thurber, the senior vice president of global device sales, explained that he was aware that the company’s withdrawal from in-house hardware production would make headlines. He added that they were counting on the headlines to draw attention to the company. Then, he explained that BlackBerry branded smartphones would continue to be produced. They will be manufactured by third party suppliers.

The next smartphone to wear the company’s logo will feature its distinctive physical keyboard. In a market where many devices look exceptionally similar, BlackBerry continually tries to stand out.

The next BlackBerry branded smartphones will have the physical keyboard many users love.

The company will rely on its partners to produce the new keyboarded smartphone. It had previously been leaked that BlackBerry was designing a couple of additional devices. When John Chen announced the end of the company’s hardware manufacturing, it looked like those smartphones were scrapped.

According to Thurber, Chen didn’t discuss those models during the previous announcement as final decisions had not yet been made. He didn’t know if they would be brought to market. Now it appears that the decisions have been made. “There will still be a keyboard-based BlackBerry device, designed and distributed within the next six months,” said Thurber.

He pointed out that the keyboards in the BlackBerry branded smartphones will set them apart from Samsung and Apple. Those industry leaders offer exclusively touch screen keyboards. “think there’s a demand for keyboard phones. As we’ve been showing mockups of what we’ve been working on, to our carrier and distributor partners, they are very excited about this,” explained Thurber.