Mobile commerce (a.k.a. m-commerce) is one of the fastest-growing parts of e-commerce. As younger generations are more familiar with doing things on mobile screens, online shopping has a huge potential for future growth.
Before talking about the future of mobile shopping, first of all, we must define what mobile commerce is.
What is Mobile Commerce?
Mobile commerce is online shopping activities through a mobile screen (usually a smartphone). Well, that’s a very rough definition but it’s a good starting point.
More than half of the World Wide Web traffic comes through mobile devices (52.6% to be more precise). In addition to that, mobile traffic through the apps are also huge. Some of the websites like Facebook and Twitter became just apps.
But mobile shopping is not at the same level as mobile internet traffic. Only 14.6% of e-commerce volume comes from mobile devices. Why?
There are many reasons underlying this difference. To name a few:
- That may sound a little strange, but most of people still believe desktop devices are more secure.
- There is still an area of improvement for user experience in mobile shopping. Consumers still feel more comfortable with shopping through a desktop device in many categories.
- Check out processes in mobile shopping are not friendly for most of the consumers. It’s hard to enter your credit card information on a tiny keypad.
But these obstacles are deal-breakers only for older generations. As young people are more efficient with mobile devices, all these obstacles will fade away as time goes by.
In the beginning, we said that our definition of m-commerce is a rough one. It will be unfair to define m-commerce just as online shopping through mobile devices.
As mobile devices have more capabilities than desktop computers, they provide the marketers’ arsenal with better weapons.
It’s All about Data
The bigger portion of web traffic comes through mobile devices, so mobile devices provide more information on the user’s content consumption habits. Besides, as social media is something “mobile” these days, there is more information about the consumer on mobile.
GPS, Camera, Etc.
Almost all mobile devices come with GPS and a good camera to provide the location data of the consumer and enable the consumers to do things like visual product searches. It’s important to offer more accurate products or services to the consumer.
Mobile Payment
As we said earlier, check out processes in mobile shopping today are not that friendly. This obstacle can be overcome by mobile payment.
There are huge developments in mobile payment technologies already and more to come. Once “single tap” check outs will be possible for the majority of mobile shopping platforms, it will bring a huge boost.
The Future
Mobile Shopping is expected to reach 4 trillion dollars by the end of 2020 with a growth of 18%. Maybe this prediction will not be accurate because of the pandemic which reduced the mobility, but the potential remains the same for the future.
However, marketers have still more work to do to grow their mobile business:
Provide better user experience in mobile: Especially online shops with thousands of products must create better consumer experiences. Personalization is the key here. Don’t forget that consumers are not looking for more products, but for relevant products to them.
Collecting and using data: If you have an online shop, you must find out creative ways for collecting and using your data. Mobile devices provide better tools to collect data. It’s up to you how to use it.
Mobile payment is the future: Integrations with mobile payment services can be the lifeblood for m-commerce platforms. Simplifying check out processes must be a key priority.
In conclusion, there is a huge potential in mobile shopping. But you must be know that this is a very competitive area and you must be aware of and take action on the developments in technology and changes in consumer demand.