While everyone is trying to figure out just how big mobile commerce will get, eBay is just out doing something about it. That’s kind of refreshing in this day and age of hype replacing action. So what has lit the mobile fire under eBay? Simple market principles like survival and competition (you remember those, right?). Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports that this sector of eBay’s business is growing and they are doing what they can to keep it that way.

After losing ground to Amazon.com (AMZN) for years in online retailing, eBay has emerged as a leader in a new market: mobile commerce. As consumers increasingly shop with their BlackBerrys, iPhones, and handsets powered by Google’s (GOOG) Android software, such as the Motorola (MOT) Droid, eBay has become the top mobile retailer in the U.S., say analysts.

Many people in the social media world are familiar with Ted Rubin. He is one of the most enthusiastic and energetic users of social media in the business. What makes Ted quite unique is that he is an executive level social media user. It’s unfortunate that we call him unique in his efforts. We have to though because most executive level marketers barely know what social media is let alone actually use it.

I first talked to Ted when he was CMO for e.l.f. Cosmetics. It was the first time I realized that in an ‘interview’ with Ted I would just have to try to keep up because he’s got a ridiculous amount of energy. His energy is commensurate to his level of excitement about his projects. Considering the pace he kept with me, it is safe to say that Ted is completely ‘jacked up’ about The OpenSky Project, which is where he puts his efforts currently.

Whether it’s a function of the economy or the same ills that have plagued shopping carts since the dawning of e-commerce, there appears to be no letting up in abandonment rates for websites at the true point of sale, the checkout.

eConsultancy reports on several recent surveys and studies that show the trend continuing but few solutions to the trouble being found.

Thanks to a range of factors, including increased customer expectations, as well as behavioural factors such as comparison shopping, basket and checkout abandonment rates are rising.

A recent Forrester survey found that 88% of consumers have abandoned shopping carts, and named the top five reasons given by customers.

The top five reasons for cart abandonment were: