Over the next few years, many merchants will find themselves at a crossroads when it comes to using mobile devices as a part of the point of sale process. While some have already adopted, others will need to jump on board in order to meet future trends.

That is the argument that a recent report from IT research firm Informa makes. The study found that businesses have been able to serve more customers during busy times, issue electronic receipts and reduce the loss of sales due to customers' reluctance to wait in long lines.

"In the longer term, adoption of NFC- and cloud-based mobile payment services could reduce the retailers' need to have many checkout counters," the report read. "Shoppers could scan the items they want to buy using their mobile phones and pay for their shopping by simply waving their phone in front of an NFC reader, or by using a cloud-based mobile payment service."

This is going to go hand-in-hand with the growing mobile lifestyle that is expected in the years to come. According to the report, by 2016, there will be 1 billion mobile subscribers using smartphones and tablets to buy products and services every month. On top of that, 1.1 billion users will use their mobile device to make a local payment in a retail store point of sale terminal or public transportation network.

With the help of a retail solution provider that understands the impact that mobility will have on the future of payments, any merchant will be able to easily adopt the technology.