During the last decade a cold war was waged between small businesses
as they struggled to take full advantage of the online space. The key
advantage of e-commerce - that it can quickly introduce your services
to a global audience - also presented small businesses with the issue
of massively increased competition. The web is, after all, an
environment where consumers can compare prices, reviews and customer
feedback at the click of a button.
Businesses in every sphere
have battled to differentiate themselves online, engaging in a virtual
arms race to take advantage of the latest technological developments
and win a greater market share. Yet, this crowded online marketplace
has left many small businesses searching for the next platform that can
provide a competitive advantage for customer engagement.
Enter M-commerce
Mobiles
have become a ubiquitous accessory with over 4 billion mobile handsets
in use worldwide. Nokia, the world's largest handset manufacturer,
sells 13 phones a second, while Chinese mobile operators see 5 million
new subscribers each month. Mobile phones are also increasingly common
in countries where access to laptops or PCs is extremely rare. Many
African populations now regard their mobile phones as indispensable -
indeed telecoms is often their only reliably functioning utility. Thus
mobile handsets represent a means to not simply reach more consumers,
but also to monetise markets previously inaccessible to e-commerce.
Unlike
laptops and PCs, mobile phones normally tend to be within close
proximity to their owner. This makes them a uniquely valuable platform
for businesses. For example, businesses selling a product that is time
specific, such as event tickets, can add value to their offerings by
reminding customers of the booking. If a platform to purchase tickets
is also available for mobile then businesses can fulfil their
customers' needs instantly. Customer interactions via mobiles also have
the potential to take advantage of in-built handset technologies, such
as cameras, GPS navigation and accelerometers. If your business can
take advantage of a handset's unique properties with new applications,
your brand will remain in a customer's pocket 24/7.
However, it will take consumers some time to accept the premise of paying for goods via their mobile phone, just as it took time for online payments to be adopted in the last decade. Many consumers are still unsure of the security of higher value mobile payments. While PCs and laptops are now protected by advanced firewalls and virus scanners, many consumers are unaware of the dangers to exactly the same data on their smartphones. There are also few comprehensive security programs available for the platform and, because we carry our smartphones with us at all times, these devices are more exposed to physical theft and misuse. Vendors will also have a need for greater security if higher value or physical products are offered to consumers.
Upward mobility
There
are a number of routes through which businesses can take advantage of
the growing mobile marketplace. The widespread uptake of smartphones
has blurred the lines between online and mobile payments, with many
handsets now capable of recreating a PC-quality internet browsing
experience. With an estimated 10% of UK retail sales taking place
online in 2010, the uptake of mobile transactions will only continue to
increase as mobile technology is no longer a barrier to making mobile
purchases and it will be increasingly easy to reach customers through
mediums such as the mobile browser, Bluetooth, Wifi, Applications, 3G
and high speed data networks. However, high-quality mobile browsing
experiences are currently only possible on a small section of handsets,
limiting the number of customers who can be reached effectively through
this means.
As an alternative small businesses may wish to
create their own mobile applications. The rise of mobile applications
has already changed the way businesses interact with consumers and many
app stores are now enormously popular. Apple's App Store has seen over
2bn downloads of 100,000 applications by 60m users, while more than
200m users worldwide can access Nokia's Ovi Store and Google's Android
Marketplace. Mobile applications can offer consumers anything from an
easier means to make purchases via their phone, to providing useful
services or simple entertainment. The level of interactivity and
response times from mobile apps is far greater than the mobile web and
they are also capable of taking advantage of individual handset
features, such as the iPhone's accelerometer.
The rise of mobile
application stores and improving mobile internet capabilities are
whetting the consumer appetite for m-commerce. Undoubtedly, now is the
time for every entrepreneur to ask themselves how can their business
take advantage of mobile.
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