The Growth of Mobile Commerce: Trends and Opportunities

Mobile commerce, or m-commerce, is no longer a buzzword but a booming sector that is revolutionising the retail industry. With smartphones becoming an essential part of our lives, shopping on mobile devices has skyrocketed. But what are the trends driving this growth, and how can retailers tap into these opportunities? Let’s dive into the world of mobile commerce and explore its dynamic evolution.

What is Mobile Commerce and why does it matter?

Mobile commerce is a form of purchasing and selling of goods and services through mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. It can be anything from online shopping to mobile banking or in-app purchases.

Mobile commerce helps bridge the convenience gap with functionality, allowing people to shop anywhere, anytime. For businesses, it opens new avenues for interacting with customers and driving sales.

Key Trends Driving Growth in Mobile Commerce

  1. Emergence of Mobile Wallets: Mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal are changing the face of transactions. Their ease of use and safety have gained preference among several customers.
  2. Social Commerce: Social media applications are transforming into mini-markets. Facilities like Instagram Shop and Facebook Marketplace have enabled browsing, shopping, and payment directly through the app without leaving it.
  3. AI and Personalised Shopping Experience: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is helping retailers offer personalised recommendations based on browsing and purchase history, making the shopping experience more tailored and engaging.
  4. Voice-Activated Shopping: Voice assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant are enabling hands-free shopping. Customers can now search for products and place orders using simple voice commands.
  5. Augmented Reality (AR) in Mobile Commerce: AR technology lets consumers see products in real-world spaces. One example is virtual try-ons for glasses or how furniture would fit in a room through apps.

Opportunities in Mobile Commerce

  1. Increased Customer Base: Mobile commerce is an important method of bringing retailers to a wider market, including people in areas that have no shop as such due to its unavailability.
  2. Customer Engagement: Features such as push notifications, chatbots, and live streaming keep in touch with customers; it also motivates them to buy again.
  3. Leveraging Data Analytics: Data about customer shopping behavior can be analysed to refine the marketing strategy and have a better output.
  4. Cross-Border Commerce: Cross-border sales will become more manageable through mobile commerce as geospatial constraints reduce.
  5. Subscription-Based Models: The use of subscription services through applications could bring recurring revenues for the retailer, with predictable cash flows.

Challenges in Mobile Commerce

  • Security Concerns: The concern is that most customers do not want to provide sensitive information over the internet. Retailers have to ensure a secure payment gateway and data protection mechanism.
  • Mobile Optimisation: Responsive design, rapid loading time, and user-friendly navigation are needed for a smooth mobile experience.
  • Increasing Competition: There is cutthroat competition in m-commerce. Thus, businesses must innovate to sustain this platform.

Role of Mobile Apps in M-Commerce

Mobile apps are the core of the mobile commerce revolution. They make the mobile user experience much more personalised and immersive than that of mobile websites. Features such as offline browsing, loyalty cards, and one-click checkouts make apps a must-have for today’s retailers.

Future of Mobile Commerce

  1. 5G Technology: Imagining the future is easier with the faster speeds of internet; this technology would make the video content quality, AR experiences, and app functionality more improved.
  2. Blockchain for Secure Transactions: Blockchain technology promises to make mobile transactions more secure and transparent, fostering trust among users.
  3. Sustainability in Mobile Commerce: Eco-conscious consumers are pushing retailers to adopt sustainable practices, such as carbon-neutral deliveries and eco-friendly products.

How ETP Unify Can Accelerate Mobile Commerce Success

ETP Unify, a powerful, cloud-native unified commerce retail platform by ETP Group, is designed to empower retailers in the mobile commerce space. Here’s how:

  • Seamless Omni-channel Integration: ETP Unify provides a seamless shopping experience across mobile apps, websites, and physical stores.
  • Real-Time Data Analytics: Leverage insights to understand customer behavior and offer personalised promotions.
  • Scalable Solutions: The platform adapts to your business needs, whether you’re a small retailer or a global brand.
  • Enhanced Customer Experience: With advanced features like mobile wallet integration and AI-driven recommendations, ETP Unify helps retailers deliver exceptional shopping experiences.
  • Secure and Reliable: ETP Unify is made with top security measures for protecting the data of your customers at all times.

ETP Unify positions retailers to thrive in the fast-paced world of mobile commerce, ensuring they stay ahead of the curve.

The growth in mobile commerce is unstoppable, and its pace depends on technological advancements as well as the evolution of consumer behaviors. By staying ahead of the trends and embracing innovative solutions like ETP Unify, retailers can unlock unparalleled opportunities and secure a competitive edge in this rapidly evolving landscape.

4 sure-shot ways to attract mobile shoppers

Mobile devices, the offspring of inspiring technology have been a revolution since their inception and continue to undergo further evolution with the daily advancement in technology. Even today, there is something new happening every year when it comes to mobile technology. The number of mobile users has also increased exponentially over the last few years. Mobile devices have penetrated into the lives of the masses and have percolated to an extent where the first thing most people do when they wake up is check their mobile phones. Such is the power and influence of this technology that it has disrupted many industries and the retail sector has been the one to feel it the most.

The mobile disruption in retail has given rise to a new breed of shoppers who are commonly known as ‘mobile shoppers’. These are the kind of customers who are always on the go and their mobile phone is their go-to device to cater to most of their activities including shopping. As mobile penetration increases further, so will the number of mobile shoppers and retail businesses must be able to grab a share of this incremental customer base. Below are 4 sure-shot ways retail brands can attract mobile shoppers:

  • Mobile channel for shopping: Retail organizations must ensure proper integration of mobile commerce or m-commerce into their business. This acts as an additional channel for retailers to extend their reach as well as be available to shoppers’ on-the-go. Some ways of implementing mobile commerce would be by having a mobile friendly/responsive shopping website or downloadable mobile apps.
  • Mobile engagement: Another technique by which retailers can expand their brand presence and reach larger audiences is by planning and implementing engagement strategies to cater to their mobile customers. There are various avenues that retailers can use such as mobile ads, sms, calls, and more to be on top of their customers’ and prospects’ minds.
  • Mobile payments: Revolutionizing the traditional payment methods through secure mobile payments is something retail companies must certainly consider. As mobile shoppers are highly mobile savvy, allowing them to pay using their handheld devices will be much appreciated by them as it enhances the payment experience while shopping.
  • Mobile based geo-marketing: Location based marketing is an excellent opportunity for retailers to promote their brands to mobile shoppers. Mobile devices have made it easy for retailers to enable shoppers to locate the nearest store or to send them notifications about the new or promotional offers within a particular region.

Consumers are increasingly spending more time on their mobile phones and an increasing number of shoppers are turning to mobile before any other channel. In order to make the most of this scenario, retailers must use the right mobile technology and think of ways to create and deliver lasting ‘mobile first’ experiences.

The Customer is King (but not dead). Long live the Customer (still not dead..)!

As the year draws to a close, aside from setting budgets and other plans, it’s typically a good time for some reflection. In our company, where we primarily bring enterprise level, solutions to mid-large retailers in the lifestyle segment, it’s been quite the year. Specifically, we have seen significant growth in interest in all things omni-channel. Conversations with prospects, customers, and partners around this are never the same, and hence always interesting. I thought it might be interesting to share an overview.

Fundamentally, most retailers understand there is this thing called E-commerce which is growing rapidly in South East Asia, with this growth generally seen as an opportunity, and typically I hear comments like “yes, we really should be doing something/more online”. However, the sense of concurrence on activity in the online retail world ends there. The number of options open to retailers is large and ever growing. As such, the possible strategies are almost endless. (Own site, marketplace, a mixture as a tasty starter?)

At this point I should clarify we are talking about retailers here, not marketplaces or any other pure-play E-commerce or M-commerce operations. Whilst they are the flavour of the month for many customers (huge range of choice, low prices, free delivery, interest-free credit terms – what could possibly go wrong?), they are not true retailers. Genuine retail requires a physical presence where real, live customers can touch and feel goods, and receive service from real, live sales associates. The differences in the 2 models appears easy to understand. And for many retailers, it would be preferable if they had the option of keeping to this traditional methodology. Creating and maintaining a presence online, whether it’s purely for branding purposes, or it’s a full blown electronic extension of the physical store, is costly and fraught with complexities and costs that often only surface once the process begins. Think ball of string + unravelling. And that’s only the beginning. Once content has been created and uploaded, there remains the often-under-estimated process of making sure the Customer gets what he/she wants, how and when he/she wants.

So as a first step, many, quite understandably, adopt basic models; we simply show what inventory is sitting in a specified area of the main warehouse, and fulfil from there. E-commerce box ticked. Minimal revenues, minimal costs, and minimal disruption of the ongoing business. Done. Now let’s focus on more important issues such as clearing a slow-moving line or re-distributing that stock, currently sitting in Malang, to Bali, to complete broken size ranges or fulfil a regional preference in terms of size/colour. Now if we can find an app for that, perhaps we can take this online/digital thing a bit more seriously…

The solution is, of course, not an app. It is simply making the customer the centre of attention. Just like they were when they stepped into a dry goods store back in the Old (Wild) West. Mr. Shopkeeper knew all his customers not only by name, but by preference. Over the years, as businesses grow and attention spans shorten (kudos if you got this far by the way), that customer intimacy has shrunk. Convenience has risen yes, but gone is the attention most human beings either crave, or at the least, appreciate. So how to bring back the Old West service then, in an age of smart-phones and Alibaba?

The answer is omni-channel. Simply defined as a merging of the offline and online retail worlds, it allows us to start paying better attention to our customer, delighting them more often, and creating a better business at the same time.

This win-win may sound too good to be true but it’s based on some simple business rules – give your customer what they want, where they want it, when they want it, at a price they like, and you are half way home. The challenge is executing these promises across multi-channels, whilst keeping the whole experience simple from the customer perspective. Arming your team with enterprise-class solutions which take care of inventory, fulfilment, and loyalty regardless of the touch-point is a basic. Empowering your sales associates to cross and up-sell, and never lose a sale due to “out of stock” is extremely valuable. As is developing loyalty strategies which improve margins, not erode them. And rather crucially, is to start looking at your business as a whole, not as online versus offline. Because the customer lives in both worlds, at the same time. And he/she is definitely very much alive…

 

This article has been written by:

Stephen Dodgson, Principal Management Consultant, ETP Groupstephen-dodgson-etp

Originally from Yorkshire, England, Stephen has spent around 30 years working in various markets including Asia, Europe and Africa, across several sectors: fashion, media and enterprise level IT solutions. He currently consults to many of the finest retailer brands in South East Asia, providing enterprise level, omni-channel ready solutions.

Founded in 1988, ETP is an Omni channel Retail Solutions company headquartered in Singapore, serving market leaders in more than 22 countries across Asia Pacific, India and the Middle East. ETP’s Omni-channel Solutions include Omni channel POS, Mobility, CRM, Marketing and Promotion Campaigns, Order Management & Supply Chain Management, and Merchandise & Assortment Planning.