MIAMI, Fla. - "One of the first rules of business is that you have to fish where the fish are," said Don Kingsborough, vice president of retail services, PayPal, adding, "and today, that means mobile."

During the Future of Payments general session at the NACS Leadership Forum, Kingsborough discussed how mobile is changing shopper behavior, and how retailers should seize opportunities to reinvent their relationships with their customers. The ball started rolling in 2007 when Apple launched the iPhone, and there??s no looking back. Each day more iPhones are purchased than babies are born.

The iPhone "was the instigator," he said, noting that retailers must change too: "It??s no longer about location, location, location," but how retailers can access the consumer when they want to be accessed. Consumers wake up with their mobile device, and they are rarely without immediate access to it?" even in the bathroom.

In considering where the fish are, he shared how from 2000 to 2016, consumers have increasingly turned more to mobile devices as opposed to PCs and laptops. And since 2009, weekday PC use has shifted to a tablet device when users are not at work ?" another emerging device in the mobile technology space.

Kingsborough said that there??s been a lot of smoke in recent years about mobile payments, but not a huge fire. In fact, some companies have added to the confusion about when adoption will become reality with very little to show for it. PayPal, meanwhile, is realizing that success boils down to three requirements, and without all three, "consumers will pass you by":

1. A large consumer base,
2. A network of merchants, and
3. Ecosystem partners.

Speaking to his third point, Kingsborough said that the c-store industry is an important partnership opportunity for PayPal. The company is helping retailers such as Cumberland Farms and MAPCO Express build relationships with their consumers and make the payments process seamless.

The path forward, he concluded, is simple: "This is not a technology looking for consumers ?" it??s a technology that's being driven by the consumers themselves. It??s also not about payments only, but how retailers can build and grow relationships with their customers."It??s a commerce solution," he said, adding, "the fish are swimming now."