If you have walked into one of several retailers around the country, there is a good chance that you have been met with a sales associate with a mobile cash register. A smartphone or tablet with a credit card reader attached is all that is needed to turn the popular mobile devices into a portable POS system. These have been seen in retailers like Apple and Nordstrom. According to the latest numbers, more businesses are going to be getting on the bandwagon.

Constant Contact recently released the results of a new survey of 1,305 small business owners. According to respondents, 18 percent of the merchants said they are running a mobile tablet-based point-of-sale solution for transactions.

"It's encouraging that a majority of small businesses recognize that their customers are relying more than ever on their mobile devices to find information, look for deals, and even to make purchases," said Joel Hughes, senior vice president of strategy and corporate development for Constant Contact.

With the right applications, mobile devices are capable of much more than just being a cash register and some merchants are taking advantage. Forty-four percent of respondents noted that they are using apps to manage other business operations like accounting and invoicing.

The functionality of mobile devices grows with each new application that hits the market. Because of this, businesses are adopting the technology at an increasingly high rate. This is why more third party peripherals are becoming available and the POS terminal is becoming a more popular option for retailers.