Mobile Commerce has excelled at a rapid rate in the past few years. Smartphones are dominating the new generation and ease of access to online transactions is the primary reason for the quick evolvement of mobile commerce.
The use of desktops for online purchases has diminished and it is now being replaced by hand-held devices.
In 2018, mobile commerce made a figure of around $207 billion in the US itself, and that was around 40% of the total eCommerce retail sales captured that year. And the numbers are expected to hit the $338 billion mark in 2020, reports Statista.
If you talk about global mCommerce sales, it has already surpassed eCommerce way back in 2016, and it is going to make a powerful impact in the future.
What is Mobile Commerce?
Mobile Commerce also referred to as mobile eCommerce or simply mCommerce/m-commerce is all about online transactions that take place through mobile devices or tablets.
Put simply, whenever you conduct a transaction through your smartphone, it’s mCommerce. From purchasing the smallest of things to expensive ones, today, most of the people prefer to make the payment using their cell phones. This is what has led to mobile commerce expansion.
Mobile Commerce vs eCommerce: What’s the difference?
Though this would have been pretty clear by now, let me make it easier for you to understand. The key difference between m-Commerce and eCommerce is that the latter involves buying and selling of goods through any kind of device, be it a mobile or desktop, whereas m-commerce is used when online transactions are made through mobile devices specifically.
You can also say that eCommerce is the parent category and mCommerce is the child category.
Mobile Commerce Examples
M-commerce can be witnessed in our day to day lives. A few examples are-
Mobile Shopping
When I talk about mobile shopping, Amazon hits my mind straight away. The largest eCommerce company in the world captures a huge number of sales daily through mobile devices. It has its own mobile app as well which makes it even easier to purchase anything from their store. And since it covers a wide variety of items, it is the go-to shopping store for most of the people.
And similar to Amazon, there are multiple other websites that encourage mobile shopping.
Mobile Banking
Another example of mobile commerce is Mobile banking. Until a few years ago, people either used to meet-in-person or go to a money transfer store to send money to someone. Thanks to Mobile banking which has now made it a few clicks task.
If you want to transfer money to a user, all you require is their account details like account number and IFSC code, and a single tap would deposit the money in the recipient’s account. Digital wallets like Google Pay does not even require account details if the recipient is registered on the same platform.
Benefits of Mobile Commerce
There is a reason why m-commerce has achieved a significant rise in the past few years. Some of the major advantages of mobile commerce are-
1. Better Customer Experience
M-commerce makes it convenient for mobile users to make online payments. They do not need a laptop or desktop to conduct a transaction. If you are having a smartphone and a good Internet connection (since payment may fail if there is network issue), you can make a payment anytime, anywhere, without any hassle.
2. More and more people are shifting towards m-commerce
Mobile eCommerce is expected to reach 70% of the total eCommerce retail sales this year. Therefore, it is vital that you allow your mobile visitors with the facility of easy mobile transactions. Failing to do so may result in a huge loss in your mobile conversions.
Work on the mobile version of your website. Optimize it, make it responsive.
3. Faster transactions
Everyone wants comfort. Nothing would make a person happier if he or she could perform any task without getting up from their bed. Not sure about other things but mobile commerce applications have made it possible to make payments faster and you do not need to get up from your bed and search for your laptop.
You cannot carry a laptop with you every time. A cell phone? Definitely.
Final word
The first and the foremost thing to do to improve mobile commerce is making your web pages load quickly. The faster your website loads, the more mobile conversions you will have. The use of AMP in such cases proves to be beneficial.
From the moment a visitor enters your website to the final payment page, each and every step must be optimized, primarily the checkout page, so that the visitors do not find any kind of trouble on your website.
Make mobile commerce more flexible through our Mobile App Builder.
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