Nearly $6.2 trillion is spent by American consumers each year, and Google is making it easier than ever for us to do it. How much of that will be spent at your business?

The search behemoth launched Google Wallet this week — an extraordinary app that uses near-field-communication (NFC) technology, which lets customers make contact-less payments by simply waving their phone in front of an NFC-chip reader (using Mastercard’s existing PayPass network).

The effect on local commerce could be enormous. According to Search Engine Land:

For more than a decade people have prophesied the end of cash and credit cards. And for the past two years the drumbeat around mobile payments has grown steadily louder with the adoption of smartphones. Now numerous companies are jockeying to participate in what expected to be a huge market that will eventually generate billions in fees and revenue.

In the same way that Apple redefined and accelerated the development of the smartphone market with the iPhone in 2007, Google Wallet marks the beginning of the mobile payments era. Google is certainly not the first company operating in the sector, and it might not turn out to be the leader. But with last week’s announcement, Google has helped to bring new coherence and focus to the otherwise Darwinian and chaotic landscape of mobile payments.

Keep in mind that Wallet’s debut makes for a very a soft launch. It’s currently only available in a handful of cities (not Dallas-Ft. Worth yet) with a handful of cards, and it only works on Google’s Android Nexus S phones. So far.

But it’s definitely the start of a new era. The technology should soon be available on any smartphone toting an NFC-enabled sticker. And while Google seems to have launched the first strike, Apple and Paypal are both also reported to be on the verge of launching their own mobile payments technology soon. And don’t forget about Square. Launched by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Square is a nifty card-swiper that plugs into the headphone jack of your smartphone or iPad and basically turns it into a mobile cash register (imagine the possibilities for small businesses with that technology).

The big lesson for Dallas small businesses is simple: local search matters, and will only matter more and more as new technologies kick in.

Smartphones are becoming an increasingly large part of consumer-business relationships in America — for both e-commerce and in-store commerce. Nearly 43 percent of Americans will own smartphones by the end of 2015, and more than 90 million smartphones will be purchased in 2011 alone. Customers will increasingly expect to be able to find, procure, and now pay for products or services with their phones.

So it’s critical that potential customers can actually find your local business’ mobile web design on their smartphones when they go searching for you.

Let’s say you own an auto body shop in Dallas. When folks search for “Dallas body shops” on Google or Google Maps, or go looking for the best Dallas body shop on a review index like Yelp, it’s a good idea to be highly visible in those places.

Local search marketing requires a bit of effort and constant awareness of new customer and technological trends, but our Dallas local search marketing specialists can help. Contact us for more information.