eCommerce solutions provider Shopatron has released its predictions for online retail in 2012, and they all point to one thing – that mobile is fundamentally changing the way people shop.

From January to December 2011, the percentage of visits to Shopatron brand partner stores on mobile grew from 6.5 per cent to 12.2 per cent. The report, 10 Ways Online Will Change Life for Brands and Retailers, predicts that number will grow to 18-20 per cent by the end of 2012.

“We have seen rapid growth in mobile this year, with visits to our mobile optimized client stores approaching double what we saw at the beginning of the year,” says Greg Squires, online marketing manager for Shopatron. “And we expect that number to nearly double again in 2012. With this level of traffic, we recommend that brands pay special attention to their mobile presence and mobile marketing tactics in the coming year.”

The predictions also foresee social networkings influence on purchasing behavior getting stronger in 2012. Currently, about 50 per cent of Shopatron clients using the company’s online marketing services are investing in Facebook ads or Facebook shops, with that number expected to reach 70-75 per cent by the end of next year.

The full report is available as a whitepaper here.