Mcommerce is growing many times faster than bog-standard ecommerce
Mobile commerce (or mcommerce for short) is taking over the world of retail, driven by ever more powerful mobile technology. Below, we explain why ‘m’ could be the new ‘e’ when it comes to reaching consumers.
By Suzie Larcombe
In this article you’ll find out:
- What’s mobile commerce?
- Why it’s important right here, right now.
- Who is it important to?
- What its future looks like, and
- Where it might be heading.
What exactly is mobile commerce?
Mobile commerce, M-commerce or mcommerce as it’s sometimes known is a relatively new phenomenon. Hailing back to the late 1990s; 1997 to be exact, mobile commerce refers to the delivery of ecommerce solutions to mobile devices via a wireless connection. In other words, rather than promoting and providing consumers access to your wares via their desktop or laptop, you choose to deliver your products or services to the mobile phone or tablet that they have to hand pretty much day and night.
Why is mobile commerce important?
It’s a fact of life that few of us can now imagine life without our mobile phones. We rely on them for everything from making sure our kids are safe to filing our expenses and running our businesses. Add to this the fact that many of us run our social media activities from our mobiles too, and it becomes clear that buying products and services on our phones is the next logical step.
Not only convenient for the consumer, making your ecommerce activities accessible on mobile platforms means you undoubtedly broaden your reach and increase your profit potential.
Both accidental consumers and those deliberately seeking a specific purchase on the move, without a doubt are more likely to avail of solutions that present themselves on their mobile phones. In fact, BI Intelligence, in an article published on Mobile Payments Today website reported that in January 2013, 29% of mobile phone users used their phones to make a purchase.
Walmart, who estimated in December 2012 that an astounding 40% of their ecommerce site visits were made from mobile devices, backs up this trend. These statistics are evidence, if you were in any doubt, that the mobile commerce, as a method of delivery is well worthy of consideration if you’re serious about capturing the max from your online sales.
Who is it important to?
In the current climate where there is a battle to secure every site visitor; to win the click through race and to convert those site visitors into buyers, mobile commerce is extremely important to anyone who is serious about maximising their online sales opportunities.
With people of all generations spending their days and nights with their mobiles to hand, any business committed to selling online needs to consider the benefits of extending their offering to a wider audience. A highly efficient and flexible way of distributing your products or services, mobile commerce should certainly not be ignored.
Irrespective of whether you’re selling financial services, flooring or fancy goods, there is undoubtedly a profitable place on the mobile commerce platform for you. There is increasing evidence that mobile users are happy to carry out financial transactions such as paying bills, transferring money and resolving banking or finance issues on their mobile, either using voice calling or via sms services.
The next natural development for this media is that these early adopters will move to full online interaction via their mobiles.
In terms of both the retail and service sectors, there’s no getting away from the fact that the mobile revolution offers an exciting opportunity. Hard hit by global recession, retailers and service providers can reach out to anyone from teenagers to the grey pound or dollar, seizing the opportunity to sell more online via a mobile platform.
What’s on the mobile commerce horizon?
Although there appears to be some resistance on behalf of UK retailers and e-commerce businesses generally when it comes to dipping their toe in the water of mobile commerce, there’s little doubt that its time will come, whether we believe it right now or not. And that time will be sooner than we think. To back that up, there is evidence stateside that around one third of retailers are getting more than 20% of their traffic from mobile sources [1].
Is mobile commerce really the way ahead?
There is strong evidence from the respected e-tailing Group, a leading and respected ecommerce consultancy with a long track record, that mobile commerce is undoubtedly the way ahead.
A group that backs up their comments and research with mystery shopping and merchant surveys as well as consumer research, the e-tailing Group report that an estimated 72% of retailers are currently selling through the mobile channel and 76% say that doing so is an essential way of reaching their strategic goals for this year.
Still running behind SEO and natural search investment in pound and dollar terms, there is no getting away from the fact that mobile is something any serious ecommerce business should have on their “To Do” list.
[1] Statistic published in Mobile Commerce Daily April 16th 2013.
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