Mobile Shopping - M-Commerce

The proliferation of smart phones and people using their cellphones to venture online has created the need for smarter marketing and smarter retail platforms. People are using their mobiles to check their emails, do their banking, visit social networking sites, and to research and purchase products with higher frequency, opening up new business opportunities for retailers. It is important you provide your customers with a mobile web browser that is optimised for use, integrated with both your in house systems and your current webstore and works to meet your customers’ online mobile need, which can be largely unique from typical retail requirements.  

The m-commerce basics

M-commerce is the process of selling or purchasing goods online using a cellphone. The increased usage of smart phones means that most mobile commerce (m-commerce) platforms will be in the format of a mobi site, a website that works specifically for cellphones. To enjoy success in m-commerce it is important that you optimise your mobi site in a way that meets your consumers’ needs. With m-commerce this is often simple usability requirements, such resizing your webpages to fit a phone screen, streamlining your categories and simplifying your product display page. It is important you optimise your checkout process for m-commerce – customers don’t want to be zooming in and out of the screen and struggling to complete checkout, nor do you want them to be when you are so close to making a sale. Saves the bells and whistles for your website, customers are going to be using your mobi site for specific purposes, and need to be directed straight away to the product they are looking for.

How to utilise m-commerce

Localisation:

The idea of localisation is making m-commerce increasingly important as a marketing tool as well as a retail platform. Many smartphones have a built in GPS which can alert businesses of their customers’ whereabouts through, for example, an iPhone application. The application can then send customers marketing incentives such as coupons or promotions based on their location. As people choose to download your app you are targeting already established brand loyalists with deals that they can access within minutes – a pretty powerful purchase incentive. Latest social media phenomenon Foursquare has rapidly caught onto this trend, with retailers offering incentives such as customer loyalty points via the app to people who visit their store frequently.  

Coupons:

Even without localisation, coupons are an excellent marketing tool, and not just because it is brand loyal customers receiving them. Figures are showing that people are more receptive to mobile coupons than any other phone based advertising. To take advantage of this, American retail giant Target have created a both a mobi site and a mobile app. These technologies allow customers to choose coupons online and have them scanned straight off their cellphone at the checkout, providing huge incentive for purchasing while in store. These daily deal coupon give customers a good reason to utilise Target’s mobile technology, and to browse their products on a day to day basis. As most customers always have their mobile phones with them it makes sense to deliver marketing communications via this channel, as you are more likely to catch them when they are out and about.

Comparison shopping:

Comparison shopping is a huge driving force behind mobile commerce. The proliferation of webstores means that customers are researching almost every purchase, and are being driven towards those stores that they can research online. Optimising webstores for mobi sites allows customers to comparison shop on their cellphone while they are out physically shopping, giving them more power than ever. Having a mobi site that utilises reviews and rating, coupons, availability and product prices gives your customers the information that can influence their purchase decision. Having an optimised checkout is crucial when it comes to comparison shopping as customers typically want to buy an item as soon as they have decided they want it. You need this make this step as easy as possible for your customers –particularly if they are standing in your competitors store.

Your phone as a shopping assistant:

To support the kind of shopping process m-commerce provides, mobi sites should act as a shopping assistant to your customers. Cellphone users should be able to make wish lists, add items to their basket, view recommended items and buy online. Your app should support your website and demonstrate your full product line; people don’t want to shop somewhere that only has half the products when they know they can choose from the full range elsewhere. Your web app should be integrated with both your back end office systems (point of sale, customer relations management etc.) as well as with your website in order to provide a consistent brand experience. Integrating the back end ensures customers are seeing up-to-date pricing, accurate stock levels etc. while integrating with your website allows customers to do things such as logging into their accounts on their mobiles and seeing what they added to their carts while on a computer. This kind of integration between websites and mobile sites provides a seamless online customer experience between computer and cellphone use.

Mobile commerce suggests big changes in regards to direct marketing, customer experience and comparison shopping. Retailers need to streamline what they have learnt through their ecommerce experiences and create a mobile web platform that meets the specific needs of shoppers on the go, without compromising brand experience. Your mobi site should have the information needed to support customers who are comparison shopping and researching products while out and about, and needs a functional, optimised checkout should customers choose to go with your brand. Localised marketing, online coupons, optimised usability and integration between in house systems and your website are all key points of mobile commerce and will make all the difference when it comes to successfully maintaining your branding, and ensuring that it’s you who gets picked for the sale, not your competitors.