The Mobile Commerce Revolution: Business Success in a Wireless World

5. Challenging the Status Quo

Mobility is challenging the way commerce and business are conducted, and this is just the beginning. On August 15, 2013, the U.S. stock markets tumbled with drops in the Dow Industrial Average by 1.5%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 by 1.4%, and the NASDAQ composite by 1.7%. Most media outlets and analysts issued the blame and pointed to poor earnings results and reduced performance forecasts issued on that day from two major big-box retailers, one of which is seen by many as a bellwether for the economy. Despite the release of several economic indicators that showed that jobs were being created and U.S. home sales were picking up, the markets continued to close each day at a loss for most of the remaining month. In ...