Virtual worlds, gaming and mobile commerce will play a key role in the evolution of online commerce in the next couple of years, according to recent research.

By 2010, 20 per cent of Tier 1 retailers worldwide will have a marketing presence in virtual environments. By 2012, mobile phone shopping should increase at a yearly rate of more than 25 per cent, with Asia and Europe taking the lead, according to Gartner, who conducted the study.

But retailers need to be ready to respond to the growing demand.

Recommendations for e-commerce web sites included developing trial criteria prior to launching a presence in virtual worlds and measuring results.

For mobile commerce, businesses will need to plan what information they will want to send to device, as well as how consumers will access the data.

The study predicts that the popularity of online gaming will continue expanding, as seen in Second Life. The virtual world has nearly 11 million registered ‘residents’ who spend over $1m every 24 hours buying property, items or experiences in-world.

Although viewed as an emerging new sales channel for retailers, mobile commerce is also set to increase, due to the fast evolution of handsets.

In the next couple of years, consumers will use their mobile phone increasingly as a shopping aid to search, browse, find locations and check stock, according to Gartner.