M-commerce, aka mobile commerce, is not only the trend but one of those practices that brought revolutionary changes in ecommerce. Though m-commerce is the subset of e-commerce, it is equally contributing to the success of online businesses.
With the increasing count of mobile users, the mobile-first approach primarily came as one of the important ranking factors for websites on search engines. When merchants found that their ranking is degraded because of responsiveness issues, they came up with another website explicitly optimized for mobile phones. The mobile users were directed to the mobile-only version and others to the web view. It served well for quite some time, but mobile devices and varying screen resolutions created another hurdle. It’s practically not possible to have the website designed distinctly for different configurations, it’s costly as well as the critical task to manage it that way.
The solution to this situation came as per the demand of the time with responsive search-engine-friendly themes.
Now, you may wonder why we are highlighting something that has happened in the past. We advise you to reread it!
This information talks about the brilliant changes that happened because of a shift in technology and mobile devices’ arrival. You can visualize the demand for mobile compatibility in the industry, and ignoring it can cause a lot of damage to your business. Though it won’t be any physical damage, you will lag behind your competitors.
So, you already have information about one of the crucial prerequisites for getting started with mobile commerce, and, ie. DEMAND in the market.
It’s the right time to make a list of more pointers you must know before diving deep in m-commerce.
User demographics
GSMA Intelligence’s report says that there are 5.15 billion mobile phone users across the globe. When you know there are so many mobile users and Internet users, is there any user shortage? No, there is no inadequacy of users, but not all of them will be interested in your offerings. If you don’t have a website as of now, you probably go with the previous stats to create a responsive website across all platforms. Competitive research and their adapted practices can clarify options you need to deploy for m-commerce for your business. Those of you already own a site and planning for mobile app development can refer to analytics to understand your target audience better. This knowledge will help you add all those features resulting from active participation from your users.
While analyzing your online store stats, emphasize the locations to which users belong to and places you are already serving. How many users in that location are interested in mobile commerce and have accessible resources to practice it? The more you dive into details of data, the better you will understand your user demographics, and more you will understand the features needed in your mobile app, be it for mobile payments or shopping.
Usability
M-commerce is an umbrella term that covers all the transactions made online via mobile devices. It can be the task of mobile payment, mobile shopping, or mobile banking. Depending upon your business model’s demand, you will be choosing the type of m-commerce strategy you will need. In general, service-based businesses go for mobile payment and mobile banking options. In contrast, product-based businesses need a blend of all three mobile commerce options.
Think about the products or services you are selling and how many of your customers are shopping through mobile devices. Please keep track of their locations and have the fair quality of Internet access and smartphones. Even if 30% of your users are getting converted through mobile devices, your business will flourish well with the support of mobile commerce. In other conditions, you need to think about more factors before going ahead with mobile commerce.
Framework
Though mobile commerce is not only about mobile apps, they are also crucial entities of m-commerce. If your business has a demand for a mobile app, compare the framework, you will design your mobile app. Think about the features you want for your mobile app and create the essential documentation to get a budget for development. When you have the list of features and budget sets, it will easier for you to select the best possible option for your app.
User Requirements
Understanding user requirements is tricky when you are starting afresh. Market research, discussion forums, and community groups can be the first ones for you to gain knowledge about user requirements and hurdles. Keep an account of problems that users face with businesses like yours and how solutions to fix them. This is enough to get you started. Once you go live, you will start getting user feedback to find the loopholes to be fixed.
If you plan a startup ecommerce store to manage on your own, Builderfly can be the best platform for you. For your wholesale, retail, or reselling business, you can register, design your store and launch instantaneously. Create your account for free and get hands-on experience for all ecommerce features. You will have access to all tools and features you want to take your business online, right from a web-store to mobile app to marketplace integration and even reselling platform. We have it all to scale your ecommerce business, take your first step, and start now.
