We have witnessed the emergence and conquest of e-commerce. There has been a boom in the domain of online shopping. With the internet as a sensation today, selling through the internet is the most popular trend.
Approx. 1.2 billion people are in habit of using their smartphones to access the internet daily. Trinity Digital Marketing publication reports that in the US, nearly half of the population uses smartphones to connect to the internet.
Tailing the e-commerce, came the concept of m-commerce i.e. mobile commerce. M-Commerce can be said to be the by-product of using mobile and the internet, which ultimately results in online shopping via mobile.
M-Commerce has been gaining popularity with time but still, a vast majority of ecommerce owners and retailers are unaware of its tremendous influence. They are still juggling marketing strategies to create awareness and popularity for their online stores. M-Commerce can be one of the most popular and effective methods to enhance the customer base and overall revenue.
What is M-Commerce?
Mobile commerce is sales and commerce using wireless hand-held remote devices. These devices can be smartphones, phablets, and tablets. The basic concept behind m-commerce is bringing a pocket-friendly shopping experience to consumers.
Importance of M-Commerce in Ecommerce Growth
Why is M-Commerce Important?
M-Commerce is one of the major business growth influencers and cannot be ignored. With the numerous reasons behind this, let’s discuss a few:
1. Positive Impact of Increase in Mobile Sales
Gone are the days when mobile used to be an asset of the privileged class. In the present scenario, with the cutthroat competition between mobile companies, mobile prices have come down. A smartphone starts costing from $100.
The number of mobile users is increasing at a very fast rate. Even more than the traffic created with it on the web. Delivery at door becomes a very lucrative option for all the shoppers which tempts every user to have hands-on with shopping online.
Mobile, a Pocket-Friendly Device
Mobile being a pocket-friendly device is available 24*7 to any individual. Any necessity of shopping at any point of time can be satisfied with mobile instead of getting into the hassle of finding and then operating a laptop or desktop.
Overall, an increase in mobile sales creates a very remarkable impact and increase in online shopping, benefitting the ecommerce sector.
2. Youth Craze of Mobile Shopping
Youth is the most vulnerable section of society when it comes to mobile usage. Middle age and elderly people are usually engaged in work. Smartphone generally serves as a medium to stay connected and accomplish daily to-do tasks.
Youth on the other hand mostly exploits smartphone technology for passing time and maintaining social standards. They are smarter techno-friendly sections, understanding the menaces of any new website or technology. With a mobile phone in hand, internet access is a must and this drives them towards finding products in need and purchasing them.
Staying in Trendy
Creating a fashion statement or following a trend is the priority for the young folks going to college or enjoying a bachelor’s and carefree life while earning. The age limit of this section spans generally between 18 to 34 years of age and is most likely to get engaged with mobile internet and experience online shopping.
These youngsters are from a definite and major section of the ecommerce customer base as they have the reason, money, and will to test, try and buy the best.
3. Phones with Bigger Screens Enhance Shopping Experience
The technologies related to smartphones, be they in software or hardware, are increasing day by day. And so is the competition. A smartphone with bigger screens is the output and it has completely changed the mobile usage pattern.
Online shopping is one of the major trends set by the bigger screens. The comfort of large screens could not be ignored and even aged people do not hesitate to put on glasses to view the world of mobile shopping.
For all Ages
With time, mobile shopping has become a matter of convenience for any age class, increasing the number of customers for e-commerce. Hire WooCommerce experts to give a better user experience for all ages.
When the bigger screens hit the market, retail sales achieved through smartphones spiked and this has been clearly shown in Capgemini and IMRG’s index.
4. Innovation Results in Better Business
Innovation and technological advances are a must-watch in the smartphone sector. Every phone company is running its own competition in order to rule the market. The traditional approach of competing with better technology for any functionality has now shifted towards thinking out of the box and providing something unconventional.
Everyone is in the race to provide something new, ultimately enhancing the user experience. many brands have started strategically using these user experiences as their marketing strategies.
Single Click Options
On-the-site buy buttons and single-click checkout options are a few of the prominent features implemented in online shopping websites. The customer is at the ease of payment even with mobile phones discouraging the use of laptops and desktops for shopping.
Currently, all most all online retailers provide the option of viewing the viewed and saved items online, enriching the shopping experience. This allows the user to enjoy extra time with the selected item even when offline, resulting in more purchases.
AI and Chatbots
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and chatbots are some of the latest technical integrations in mobile phones for a better experience. The reason behind these developments has always been harnessing more customers and purchases of the mobile phone but it has been automatically positively influencing the e-commerce sector.
AI voice assistants and chatbots when integrated with apps and phones, bring in ease of shopping. The step of manually typing the product name, searches, payment, and address details is eliminated. The result is an increase in the population willing to buy online.
According to Capgemini’s Unadkat, Artificial intelligence and chatbots will be a key area of focus for retailers in the coming years.
5. Web Pages and Mobile Apps Are Majorly Employed for Online Shopping
Retail marketers have gulped down the thick and thin of mobile marketing and have come up with two separate ways to reach the remote masses. One is through mobile web pages and other mobile apps. Both of these have helped e-commerce in positive progress.
Most of the time any start-up company first launches a mobile web page. Technically, a mobile web page is easy to create and implement. There is no need for a separate web page creation for every remote device as a single one works for all. Saving all the developmental work, it’s also easy to roll out.
Mobile Web Page
This web page is very beneficial in user data analysis. The company can understand and segregate the target customer and market. Accordingly, they can go ahead with the changes in the company portal. Many development companies offering Magneto 2 development services are hired to create any kind of web page and experience.
Mobile App
The mobile app comes next to web pages and is used widely by nearly all e-commerce dealers. The app is considered to be comparatively more beneficial as the app’s customers are more loyal. They spare time and invest effort in saving and downloading apps. The probability of purchasing from these users is very high.
Online retailers avail the unique benefit of personalized communication with users. The analytics department can very well analyze the interests of any user and send messages accordingly. The push messaging technique is very well employed here.
Notifications
They can send new collections and offers notifications. Users can always be updated with the availability, price drop, and sale of the saved items. The suggestion of items that the user has already viewed once creates a mental compulsion for the customer to re-think and purchase the item
Many other such features have helped online retailers get a stronger and greater grasp on customers. Mobile apps form an integral part of business in the e-commerce sector.
6. Social Media Benefits
The E-commerce sector has been very fast in capitalizing on the advertisement of their company on social media. Social media like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter have become an integral part of daily activity. All the mobile app companies have integrated social media features like share and like with their app and online portal.
The mobile user keeps everything from shopping to mobile apps handy. In no time he/she can share updates from online websites on social media. Even one like and share from any consumer spreads like fire and reaches to masses in seconds.
Mobile Commerce Trends
Image Source:- Business Insider
The ecommerce industry is expanding at a fast rate and so is mobile commerce. In a Forbes report it was stated that in 2014, a 47% increment in ecommerce growth was observed. According to Gartner, if we consider the only United States, the total revenue incurred from mobile commerce will be equivalent to all digital commerce, by the end of 2017.
The following can be the well-followed trend in m-commerce.
1. M-Commerce is Realized as a Powerful Business Medium
M-Commerce is no more ignored and everyone dealing in the e-commerce sector is well aware of its impact. More and more companies are launching their mobile apps.
Website development involved the ‘mobile first’ attitude and any feature is rolled out for mobile users first. Even retailers without apps or websites are getting themselves registered on the Google Local Inventory.
Mobile commerce has become a mandate for e-commerce. As published in Huffington Post, Google penalizes sites that have not developed into being mobile-friendly and uses an algorithm for that. Many referred to this event as “Mobilegeddon”.
2. Innovation in Apps and Mobiles is Grabbing Attention
AI and chatbots as well as other innovations are taken seriously by all online retailers. Any integration with the e-commerce sector can provide a better personal touch and higher customer satisfaction.
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3. Customer Experience is Taken into Account
Online companies have started making budgets and doing expenditures on UX and UI teams. Good customer support is eyed as a very important factor today.
Baymard Institute reported that it is very common to abandon a purchase after adding items to the shopping cart and every two out of three customers does that. This is in the case of traditional ecommerce websites, viewed on desktop. The observation is even poorer in mobile shopping where the rate of checkout is 70% lesser.
Amazon has been en-cashing on the customer experience for a long. According to Business Insider, customers spend more time on user-friendly websites like Amazon when compared to websites like Walmart and Target. Around holidays, Amazon earns up to 70% of its market share.
Best eCommerce design services are brought into the picture to design mobile apps and websites for a more excellent and better user experience.
Future of Mobile Commerce
More and more users are expected to select mobile for online shopping instead of laptops and Desktops. The future of m-commerce is very much brighter than today.
According to Business Insider, 53.9% of e-commerce revenue will be coming from m-commerce, by the end of 2021.
The ecommerce innovations will continue to drive m-commerce growth. Currently, innovative technologies like Augmentation reality and wearable devices are rare implementations. But in near future m-commerce will be highly impacted by them and every e-commerce dealer will count on the advantage of these innovations.
Conclusion
Currently, innovative technologies like Augmentation reality and wearable devices are rare implementations. But in near future m-commerce will be highly impacted by them and every e-commerce dealer will count on the advantage of these innovations.
The traditional model of online shopping like desktops and laptops is getting replaced by mobile shopping. We have moved on with m-commerce and every e-commerce business has started making their venture mobile-friendly. Also, the tactics like ranking high on Google searches with help of Magento SEO company have become more mobile-centric. Only those who get on with the flow of m-commerce today are going to avail themselves of the benefits of m-commerce trends in the e-commerce business.