NEWYORK – While consumers may not yet see mobile payments as any great advantage, many retailers are ready to embrace the increasingly available technology. According to a survey by Retail Systems Research, more than three-quarters (78%) of retailers see mobile sales as being faster than their traditional point of sales systems.

Close to 90% of the retailers surveyed say the primary purpose of their mobile strategy is to drive shoppers to the store. The report, “Mobile Retail Finds New Purpose,” is based on a survey of 99 retail senior executives, managers and staff, of whom 70% are from companies with $1 billion or more annual revenue.

According to Marketing Daily, one of the most interesting findings in the study is the view of how mobile should be used by employees. Almost all retailers (93%) say that mobile will help their employees meet customer service expectations. A large majority (80%) of retailers also say that consumers will eventually accept in-store tracking on their mobile device.

Retailers surveyed have already implemented the following features: store locator (61%), search for and select merchandise (49%), check price or availability (45%), receive, redeem coupons and offers (36%), purchase and/or redeem gift cards (34%), check loyalty status (28%) and deliver personalized, contextually relevant content (21%).

At the same time, retailers see three potential stumbling blocks to mobile implementation: budgeting and ROI challenges (59%), not enough resources to manage all opportunities (48%) and difficulty getting IT resources for projects.