Phew, I am kind of proud of myself for my self-control because I didn’t just spend money recklessly this month. Yes, all these online shops just can’t leave me alone and I sometimes curse myself for letting my guard down. Back then I used to be so lazy to shop because I had to get ready first and go to the mall, looking at people, crowds and many things I didn’t want to see as an introverted person. Now, I can literally buy anything I want in a flash, straight from my phone. The lesson from this is that we know how powerful ecommerce in this day and age. As time goes by, the inventors are trying to make things easier for us – shopping included. That being said, 2019 is also the year of changes and new stuff. Yes, it’s more like mobile commerce instead of just ecommerce. What’s the difference, actually? On the surface, ecommerce and mobile commerce are virtually identical. The former means selling products over the internet via desktop or laptop computers. The latter means doing exactly the same – but through handheld devices like smartphones or tablets. Ecommerce may focus on a company’s online store, while mobile commerce targets people who shop straight from their phone. Customers shop from brands and retailers through several channels on their phones, including social media, mobile commerce apps, mobile websites and many more. Why? It’s simple; shopping through your phone is easier and you can do it anytime and anywhere. For that reason, big shopping brands like Sephora, Zalora, etc. have started using mobile apps to ease transactions.

If you are a new business owner looking to start mobile commerce business, I know it can be hard sometimes knowing the competition between mobile commerce has been vastly strong nowadays. As a person who provides content marketing services, I have been helping clients get over their fear of starting out because of the tight competition between them and their competitors. Yes, nowadays the rise of mobile commerce is inevitable and the competition is rising high as well. Don’t worry; I’m going to guide you to the access to success through mobile commerce with this article. Keep reading to find out!

Before we start with the guide, let’s talk about benefits of mobile commerce from user perspective first so you can grasp the essential knowledge of mobile commerce. Here they are:

• Easy transaction anytime and anywhere
• Additional discounts if ordered from the app
• New app member benefits
• Easier access to products
• Faster loading time

Now that you know the benefits from user perspective, let’s move to the types of mobile commerce. Mobile commerce is not just limited to buying and selling goods through mobile-specific channels. There are other ways you can make use of mobile commerce application, such as:

• Mobile bookings: Now we don’t have to go to the train station to get tickets anymore. We can just book straight from our phone. All types of bookings like plane tickets, hotels, trains, etc. are available through mobile commerce
• App-specific marketing and discounts: Perhaps Starbucks is the perfect example for this specific marketing strategy where LINE users can get a buy 1 get 1 promo by showing a specific message they get from Starbucks official LINE ID denoting a buy 1 get 1 promo to the cashier. Yes, this is something that can only be done through mobile commerce.
• Mobile banking: Going to the ATMs is tiring enough if you only need to send money, right? Mobile banking provides solutions to send money anytime and anywhere you go, unless you are in need of cash, though.
• Mobile payments: Why do you need cash when you can pay it straight from your phone? With a cashback, no less! People are basically cashless, right now.

So, how do we get started with mobile commerce?

Optimise your mobile commerce site or app

You may have different kinds of marketing strategies and plans, but if your business mobile app or site is not user friendly, no one will end up buying from you. According to research on Google, more than 60% of mobile users will quickly abandon a mobile site or uninstall an app if it’s glitchy or hard to use. Your mobile commerce presence needs to designed and coded for different devices, platforms, and browsers to ensure that end users get a seamless experience.

Use responsive design

I remember the first time I accessed a website through my mobile phone, where there was no laptop and only PC at home while I was on my way to a mall. It was such a bad experience that I couldn’t help going straight to home after that to access my PC so that I could buy something. Why was it such a bad experience? It was because the site was not adjusted to my mobile device size and it ended up ‘freezing’ the whole screen. It’s a good thing that now we can access any site from any device because of the rise of responsive design in this day and age. Responsive design is a design approach to adjust a site size to the size of any device so that the site can be accessed by any device. If your mobile commerce company knows this approach, implement it immediately or your visitor will lose interest in your mobile app or mobile site.

Make it simple for the users

Sure, unique design may attract the eyes of your visitors, but as soon as they find it difficult to access your mobile app or mobile site, or your mobile app or mobile site is hard to understand, they will lose interest already and leave it. Therefore, make it unique but make it simple as well. Use clear and easy navigation so that users can understand where they go and what they should do.

That’s how you understand mobile commerce. In the end, how successful a business is depends on how persistent we are. If you are afraid to take risks, then having a business is not for you, because starting a business needs courage and determination to succeed and that includes taking some risks. If you are ready to start mobile commerce, you can contact us now and let our team help you.