Will Mobile Commerce Ever Rule the World?

Will Mobile Commerce Ever Rule the World?
What is M-Commerce?
M-commerce is a term that is used to refer to the growing practice of conducting financial
and promotional activities with the use of a wireless handheld device. The term
m-commerce is short for mobile commerce, and recognizes that the transactions may be
conducted using cell phones, personal digital assistants and other hand held devices that
have operate with Internet access. While still in its infancy, the concept of m-commerce
has been refined in recent years and is beginning to become more popular.

One of the basic examples of m-commerce has to do with receiving sales promotions via
the hand held device. The most common application would involve the service provider
sending text messages to the subscriber that promote new product offerings, free trials on
additional services, or other types of promotional campaigns. The subscriber is not
charged a fee for the text message, and often can respond with a return text message
without incurring any type of fee. Several major cellular services off subscribers to opt
into this type of m-commerce, or be excluded from receiving the messages.

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Where is m-commerce now?
Where is m-commerce now? The simple answer? Mostly everywhere. With the boom in
smartphone and tablet ownership, m-commerce has followed suit. In 2012, m-commerce
sales in the U.S. hit $24.66 billion, which was an 81% increase from $13.63 billion in 2011.
More impressively, looking at the 2012 holiday season alone, mobile visitors accounted
for a third of holiday Ecommerce traffic.

And you can’t look at m-commerce today without addressing “showrooming.” If you
haven’t heard of the term, showrooming is when a customer goes into a brick-and-mortar
store to check out a product, then instead of purchasing it at that store, finds that same
product online and buys it for a cheaper price. The rise of m-commerce has spurred
showrooming to grow as well, with 134% more shoppers showrooming during the 2012
holiday season than in 2011.


What is the future of m-commerce?
The most prominent m-commerce trend is its own growth. According to Forrester, annual
m-commerce sales are predicted to quadruple to $31 billion in the next five years. In 2012,
some Ecommerce sites (like Amazon) saw remarkable growth, while most businesses
experienced only limited m-commerce success. However, one thing they all have in
common is that they now universally recognize m-commerce as an important way to
enhance their brand, increase their sales and keep up with competitors. In short, the
future of m-commerce is bright, and looks like it’s getting even brighter.

Another trend in m-commerce is that customers desire more information on mobile
websites. Studies show that 80% of smartphone users want more product information
when shopping on their mobile devices. A large part of m-commerce’s appeal may be
convenience, but if that convenience comes at the sacrifice of information, customers will
be sure to look elsewhere. The larger trend here is that ultimately, businesses are in
uncharted waters when it comes to their mobile offerings, they’re still finding out what
works and what doesn’t.


The last big trend, by far, is the rise of tablet commerce. Much of it has to do with the
nature of tablets themselves. With their larger screens and portability, tablets make it
easier to navigate mobile e-commerce websites. These features make it no surprise that
55% of tablet owners use their tablets for online shopping, whereas only 28% of
smartphone owners shop on that device. Furthermore, tablets in general are growing in
popularity. Studies showed that in 2012, about 29% of adults owned a tablet, compared to
13% in 2011. These factors combined have led people to envision a bright future for tablet
commerce. According to eMarketer, tablets commerce is predicted to reach $24 billion
in 2013 and make up for more than 9% of all online sales.

Rulers of Mobile Commerce in Market Industry
According to a new Business Insider Intelligence Report, the three top mobile commerce
operators in the U.S., Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN [FREE Stock Trend Analysis]), eBay
(NASDAQ: EBAY), and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) have all but solved the secret of mobile
engagement.
Interestingly, each company uses mobile in ways that provide them with a huge audience,
yet ways that are unique to their business models. How they have done this is the subject
of the BI report.
Both eBay and Amazon have transitioned from solid PC-based e-commerce to mobile.
Wal-Mart, slower than the other two to ramp up its PC channel, has nonetheless devised
a unique mobile approach in an effort to adopt a winning strategy.
Taken separately, the “Big Three” as BI called them, offer a case study in mobile
engagement.
Amazon, for example, has more mobile-only users than Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) in the
U.S. The company’s mobile focus has to do with optimizing user experience. This is
important because many mobile users never see the Amazon website except from their
smartphones.


Advantages of Mobile Commerce
There’s no doubt that mobile web use is growing. Recent reports show that worldwide
cellular networks are experiencing a major boost. In fact, there are even suspicions that
the current infrastructure won’t be able to keep up with the new demands. 3G traffic in
markets will grow by 20% by the end of 2014. There is a forecast which reveals that more
than a third of Europeans will be using mobile internet by 2014.
Consumers have come to use mobile phones for shopping online. It’s fast, you can do it
anywhere and you don’t need a PC – just your one thing you carry everywhere with you.
Mobile phone users think that they would shop using their mobile devices more if the
procedure was not so burdensome, products were easier to find and their devices
supported secure credit card transactions. So as business owners you should take all this
into account.

But let’s see what are the main advantages that mobile commerce will bring you:
Flexible accessibility. Users can be accessible through their mobile phones and at the same
time be accessible online too by logging on to various mobile messengers like Facebook,
Twitter, Gmail and other networking platforms.
Easy connectivity. As long as the network signal is available, mobile devices can connect
to the internet and perform commercial transactions, mobile to mobile and even mobile
to other devices. No need for modem or WI-FI connectivity set up.
Time efficient. Performing m-commerce transactions doesn’t require the user to plug
anything like desktop computers or wait for the laptop to load. Just push the on button of
your mobile device and you are ready to go.


In-store rewards. In stores with NFC and/or QR code support, customers can obtain
exclusive savings right at the point of sale simply by scanning with their smartphones.
There are lots of free applications for scanning QR codes (for Android, for Apple, for
Windows Phone, for BlackBerry).

Best E-commerce Design
Mobile websites face the challenge of fitting all desktop content into a small screen
display. The user should be able to easily and intuitively surf your site. There’s an
emergent trend of using the three horizontal bars icon representing the category menu.
Taking into account the tremendous smartphone explosion, these menu buttons are a
fantastic way of starting surfing your website, but you should really know how to use
them taking into account the design of your mobile website.
Although nowadays we can visit whichever website using our smartphones, we have to
take into account many aspects in order to adapt your desktop website’s design to a small
screen resolution. Users shouldn’t “collaborate” by pinching and zooming in in order to be
able to visualize your products, that’s why you should create an adequate mobile website
that will allow an easy buying process and generate pleasing user experience.

The main aspects you should take into account are:


Resources and images have to load fast on mobile devices. You should avoid Flash
and other technologies that don’t work properly in other kinds of devices.



The text should be readable without the user having to zoom in.



Surfing and clicking links should be an easy and fast process. In order to be able to do
that, the text must be readable, so the user clicks on the right link.



The shopping cart should always be visible, that way the user always has access to it.



The user should be able to perform searches without any difficulty.


Examples of M-commerce
Here are some examples of m-commerce websites that might interest you in order to have
an idea what a good mobile websites looks like.

BestBuy. Best Buy uses almost identical icons and images on its desktop and mobile
sites. The evenness of design and navigation means that clients familiar with the
company’s website will feel right like home on the mobile website.

Juicy Couture. If your brand is fashion, your mobile website needs to convey
this quality. Juicy Couture’s is a great mobile site because it’s an excellent extension of the
company’s brand.


eBay. eBay really knows how to present products on mobile devices. On my Android,
the website loaded quite fast.


Mobile Commerce Trends and Statistics
The proliferation of tablets, smartphones and other mobile devices is changing the way
we research, evaluate and buy products and services online. Mobile-ready is no longer
optional. Online retailers that ignore their mobile customers risk losing business–big time.
The mobile phenomenon isn’t isolated to e-commerce, either. This shift in consumer
behavior represents a bigger trend that all business owners must face head-on. See what’s
ahead for mobile and e-commerce in 2012 and beyond, and see why mobile matters no
matter what kind of business you run.

E-Commerce: Going Massive
People like to shop online, and it shows. In the US, retail e-commerce sales have seen nice,
steady growth. Retail e-commerce sales increased close to 4x, from $42 billion in 2002 to
$162 billion last year.
Retail E-commerce Sales in the US, 2002 – 2011 ($ Billions)


Mobile Devices: Growing Use & Impact
The use of mobile devices is growing. Fast. As Mashable reports:
“There are almost 120 million smartphone users in the U.S. right now [in 2012], and about
half as many tablet users. By 2014, those numbers are expected to grow to over 150
million and almost 90 million, respectively.”
The growing smartphone and tablet population will definitely have an impact on online
shopping. According to online shopping platform Shopify, mobile devices will account for
40% of all e-commerce traffic by September 2013. This is up from just 4% in September
2011. By contract, PC’s will account for less traffic, dropping from almost 100% to 60% of
traffic.
Traffic Projections for Mobile Devices and PC’s


Besides making purchases or completing a payment, smartphone and tablet owners also
use their devices to do research (e.g., read reviews) and compare pricing.

Activities Completed on a Smartphone or Tablet

Mobile Commerce Sales: Dramatically Increasing
M-commerce sales are growing exponentially, too. In 2010, revenue from mobile
commerce was just $3 billion. Today, that total has reached $10 billion. In just a few years,
mobile commerce revenue is expected to reach $31 billion (globally, projections come to
$119 billion by 2015).

Projected Mobile Commerce Revenue in the US ($ Billions)


Mobile Customers: Dangerous To Ignore
Mobile shoppers are engaged and valuable. Tablet users make a purchase at close to the
same rate as users on a PC.

Online Shopping Conversion Rates By Device

And, on average, purchases made on a tablet are of higher value than a purchase made
using a PC. Not far behind are purchases made on smartphones; smartphone users also
have a healthy average order value.

Average Order Value By Device


Implications For Retailers–And All Business Owners
It’s clear that mobile poses a huge business opportunity. But in spite of this evidence, most
retailers have not taken the steps to become a contender in the mobile commerce arena.
Shopify cites research from Forrester, which shows that 71% of retailers provide online
experiences that are not mobile-friendly.

Percent of Retailers That Are Mobile-Ready

All the best for every one to watch the trend of mobile commerce trends
and ROI’s of Next year.

ROI

Will Mobile Commerce Ever Rule the World?

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Will Mobile Commerce Ever Rule the World?