M-commerce and E-commerce are still somewhat interchangeable terms. There are many similarities between the two concepts and that’s mostly because M-commerce is considered a natural progression of E-commerce.

What is M-commerce?

M-commerce started out with the introduction of mobile access on various online stores and online marketplaces. However, as time went by and the popularity of smartphones went up, M-commerce began incorporating even more features.

These days, M-commerce is more than just mobile-ready website layouts. M-commerce contains all types of transactions done via a mobile device. Here are some examples:

• Mobile banking
• Contactless payments
• Mobile marketing
• Electronic ticket sales
• Mobile money transfers

How to categorize different types of M-commerce

If you break things down to basics, M-commerce has three categories. Within these three categories, you can fit the entire range of transactions you can make with a mobile device.

1. Mobile banking

By far the most popular, mobile banking is all about using a dedicated app to manage your bank account, which includes account summary and detailed listings, fund transfers, and making transactions. One thing to note here is that this is a limited service. Depending on the bank or the app, certain large or specialized transactions may not be permitted.

2. Mobile shopping

The next step after making websites mobile-friendly in terms of navigation was to implement mobile shopping. Today’s optimized websites allow you to make purchases using a phone.

3. Mobile payments

This category strictly covers the types of payments you can make and the apps or platforms that allow you do to so.

Who benefits from embracing m-commerce?

Although the concept has its ups and downs, there are a lot of very good things to be said about M-commerce. It’s one of the ways of doing business that’s tailor-made for the future of networking and communication.

Both retailers and consumers benefit from M-commerce. Retailers have higher revenue potential and consumers are able to find what they’re looking for faster and easier.

1. Customer experience

You never know when someone gets the shopping bug. If your store is one swipe away, you stand a good chance to make a decent chunk of money off mobile users.

2. Competitive pricing

Shoppers love competitive pricing. And, even though this is also available with E-commerce, the fact that they don’t have to use the office computer to do some personal shopping during lunch break is a massive bonus.

3. Massive growth potential

There’s a clear understanding among online retailers that business is booming. Even more so since the introduction of mobile commerce. More and more people are spending time on their phones and tablets than on home computers.

According to eMarketer’s estimates, the mobile share of all online shopping has already exceeded desktop at close to 59%, an approximate 23% increase over the past year. Therefore, targeting the trending gadgets is the smart choice.

4. Next-level omni-channel marketing

If you’re unfamiliar with omni-channel marketing, don’t worry because it’s a simple concept. It’s all about knowing where to find your customers and how to target your ads in the right place at the right time for maximum exposure.

What are the drawbacks of M-commerce?

The trend is not mature yet. Even though countless improvements have been made and many concepts have been adopted and implemented to enhance user experience, M-commerce may not become the standard for quite some time.

1. Continuous website optimization

There’s a constant need to optimize websites and apps in order to accommodate mobile users. A lot more so than for regular PC and Mac users. Staying apprised of every new innovation is hard when you’re only addressing a segment of your business – mobile users.

2. Unavailability of certain payment methods

A lot of mobile wallets only work in certain geographical locations. You would think that this only affects international buyers but it also affects store owners as they’re unable to tap into certain international markets.

M-commerce, although used around the world, is not such a borderless concept as it seems. There will be users that stick to their preferred wallets. For example, many mobile shoppers in Holland prefer to use iDeal, which is not a wallet seen on most US online stores.

Because of this, implementing tons of payment methods may be necessary. You don’t have to do it, but it’s the only way to accommodate most of your international buyers.

What to focus on in the near future

If you’ve already adopted M-commerce then it’s only natural to get ready for what’s coming. So, what do most consumers look forward to?

1. Faster checkouts

Easy-to-use digital wallets and one-touch checkouts are in high demand. The easier you make the user interaction, the more repeat customers you will have.

For faster checkouts, you have to consider more than just optimizing the website. Look at ways to minimize the amount of information the customer has to type in before making a purchase – address, credit card information, etc.

2. Website responsiveness

It’s ok to want to promote certain products, sales, discounts, or new launches. However, the more you add to a website, the slower it moves. This effect is considerably greater when dealing with mobile browsing.

Creating a mobile-unique experience may not be a bad idea, investment-wise. This means that you create a secondary website that caters strictly to your mobile audience where you strip away a lot of the unnecessary content.

3. Establish trust

Although newer generations don’t have an issue with M-commerce security, you can’t just forget about your older audience. Older generations still use the internet as well as modern smartphones on a daily basis. Getting them to trust the concept should be a main focus.

A Final Word

M-commerce is a new trend that allows retailers to appeal to a previously untapped market. As a service, M-commerce is quickly becoming very lucrative for both consumers and retailers.

There are still some kinks in terms of optimization, but things are slowly moving in the right direction. More and more payment methods come out each year. Older ones are optimized to cater to a wider range of users.

Even search engines tend to favor mobile-ready or optimized websites these days. This is a clear indication that if you haven’t considered M-commerce by now, you’ve been missing out on a lot of untapped potential.