Introduction to the special issue mobile commerce: The past, present, and future of mobile commerce research

Research on mobile commerce has attracted the interest of e-commerce scholars ever since mobile and portable devices became a widespread and effective means of commercial transactions and business practices. In the present editorial of this special issue of IJEC, we first revisit the past of m-commerce practice and research through an analysis of m-commerce-related publications and prevailing business models from 2000 to 2011. The analysis points to the increasingly topical and maturing status of the field, as well as to a gradual move from engineering-driven to socioeconomic-focused research. We then move to examine the field's present, by examining the submissions to this special issue and the five accepted papers that appear herein. This discussion provides a glimpse into the questions on m-commerce researchers' minds today; however, it also allows us to investigate what lies ahead in the future of m-commerce research as we move toward the more social-minded, hyperconnected world of tomorrow's social commerce (s-commerce).