How To Increase Global M-commerce
The early age of the internet offered many possibilities for customers and business enterprises. For one, the idea of making purchases online captured our imagination. This, in turn, allowed firms to switch to online stores, facilitating digital transactions while catering to our needs as customers.
But, with consistent advancements in technology influencing market trends and consumer behavior, ecommerce, too, evolved in a bid to stay up to the task. Among those noticeable changes, mobile commerce or m-commerce has emerged as the next unstoppable thing that is not only driving e-commerce growth but also enhancing customer experience.
More than the addiction, it is our dependence on smartphones that continues to fuel the growth of m-commerce. From connecting with friends, ordering food, booking tickets, buying gifts or daily essentials to even finding partners, we do it all on our smartphones. It's just like a personalised genie, but better. You don't have just three wishes, with m-commerce, the possibilities are endless.
Growth Of M-Commerce
There are 5.31 billion unique mobile phone users in the world and more than half of the internet traffic is driven from them. Today, a staggering 79 percent of online buyers are choosing smartphones to make purchases digitally.
In 2020, the global m-commerce market was valued at $628 billion - a figure that is expected to rise in coming years. According to Statista, the global share of m-commerce sales in e-commerce has climbed from 52.4 percent in 2016 to a whopping 72.9 percent in 2021. The m-commerce market is expected to grow at a CAGR of roughly 34 percent between 2021 and 2026. Also, Insider Intelligence predicts m-commerce to nearly quadruple its percentage of total retail sales between 2020 and 2025.
The availability of cheaper data connections, greater accessibility to smartphones and better connectivity have all played a key role in transforming m-commerce into the mainstream sales channel for brands. Thus, mobile commerce is no longer an option, but rather a necessity for enterprise businesses. Building their online presence on the mobile-first approach is the shortcut to success for brands across industry verticals and business models.
Mobile Commerce (M-Commerce)
While e-commerce caters to all commercial digital transactions, m-commerce is strictly mobile (or tablet), enabling convenience and saving time. Imagine being a retailer and operating business via an offline store or a website. You might be able to stay relevant for a while but you're not ahead of the game. This is where m-commerce can really make an impact. It enables brands to enhance their web presence by making mobile-compatible and visually appealing websites that have a better chance of influencing customers. In an age where time and convenience is of utmost importance, m-commerce can take your brand to a whole new level.
Benefits Of M-Commerce
Accessibility & Usability: M-commerce apps are rapidly becoming the preferred retail stores for customers as it offers one of the fastest shopping experiences to date. There aren't many things more convenient than accessing online shopping at your fingertips. A more streamlined user experience that is easy to navigate and requires minimum effort, further, allows customers an enjoyable experience and makes sales and leads easier for brands.
Low Marketing Costs: Mobile apps allow brands to develop a direct connection with the end users. This, in turn, offers a new and invaluable marketing channel for firms to take advantage of. For starters, you can influence customer behavior and buying patterns via notifications about offers and other useful information to sell products. And, it doesn't stop there. The integration of social media can also help you save big on marketing campaigns with customers spreading the word about your brand online.
Fast & Secure Transactions: Making full use of the technological advancements, m-commerce apps have not only made transactions faster but also more secure with improved payment gateways. Being faster than a traditional website puts mobile apps in the driving seat. Providing customers an opportunity to buy things quicker than normal is also very lucrative for brands.
Insightful Customer Data: Irrespective of the industry, knowing the taste, preferences and behavior of the customers is a luxury now every retailer can afford. With the use of mobile analytics, brands can track consumer data from the moment of product discovery all the way to purchase. This further imparts valuable knowledge about consumer behavior, allowing brands to prepare their products well and strategise better for their target audience. For instance, targeting millennials and Gen Z has never been easier - all thanks to m-commerce apps.
Encouraging Growth Of M-Commerce
High-Speed Performance: In the mobile-first era, failure of an app to load or function properly is not only embarrassing but also catastrophic for the brand image. The personalisation and visual appeal of an app will account for nothing if it doesn't function properly. Thus, with continuous changes in consumer demands, brands need to focus on making their mobile apps faster, ensuring high-speed performance, and more dependable going forward.
Tackling Poor Connectivity: Today, it is essential for brands to be available round the clock for their customers. But, what do you do when customers travel to geo-locations with poor internet connectivity, or say, you want to penetrate a region with unreliable internet connection? Well, you can use Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) that can deliver a fast, engaging and uniform experience. Using modern web capabilities, PWAs get installed on the device and give an app-like user experience. They are cost-effective and even work offline, leveraging the cached data to offer an uninterrupted browsing experience.
Vocal For Local: No matter where you're based, approaching operations in a new region demands changes in strategies. Brands need to ensure that content, look, and structure of their app is in sync with the local culture of the region in question. You can roll out a multilingual app, allowing customers to use local languages of their choice. By introducing flexible payment options like Cash-on-Delivery (COD), you can influence customers into buying products and grow sales. Similarly, brands can also use local logistics solutions to facilitate faster deliveries that can, in turn, enhance customer experience.
Conversion Oriented Pages: A mobile app or website can have all the essentials to make their homepage appealing but it will still fall short if the product pages aren't up-to the mark. A greater emphasis needs to be placed on the visual elements, content and navigation of the product page. You need to show potential customers what your product looks like, what it feels like and why they absolutely need to own it. An effective product can directly add to better traffic and higher conversions. Failure to do so will ensure all your marketing and advertising efforts go down the drain.
Making It Personal: There is nothing like personalisation to make customers feel valued. Thus, brands can offer data driven personalised discounts to increase orders on mobile devices. Since, mobile buyers are generally impulsive, if prompted with right discount offers they can click to buy much sooner. As much as the discounts, offering seamless and secure payment options can facilitate faster checkouts on mobile which can also enhance customer experience.
A Necessity In Mobile-First Age
Two-thirds of the entire world's population, currently using mobile phones with access to the internet, can be targeted by brands through m-commerce. This, in today's digital world, is more of a necessity than a luxury for a modern-day retailer.
With technological advancements consistently affecting the industry, brands are persistent in their efforts to improve consumer experience on mobile apps. An enhanced and more personalised app experience can directly lead to firms making more sales conversion on mobile devices. Brands can now ensure that the data and search results on their mobile websites and apps load faster which has further accelerated the buyer journey on smartphones and other mobile devices.
As we continue to chase technology for an improved way of living, m-commerce is expected to have a greater impact, both on customers and retailers, in years to come.
