mCommerce is the future of sales – so experts predict. The share of mobile commerce from retail e-commerce sales surpassed $3.65 billion. It’s a rapidly evolving concept that bends to the needs of a new generation of shoppers. Over 75% of people now shop online at least once a month, with many reporting it’s far more convenient to open a phone and shop online. New studies even find that 53% of eCommerce sales will now come from mCommerce.
Still, is mCommerce the idealistic approach to a new generation of sales, and if so, what complications are there to consider? Let’s explore.
What Exactly Is mCommerce?
mCommerce is simply mobile commerce – the art of shopping using a mobile device or tablet. We’re arguably in an era that heavily relies on cell phones and tablets, with the average person spending 4.8 hours of the day scrolling their life away. Still, this opened the door to a new era of shopping that’s here to stay. What started out as responsive websites that opened on a cell phone has now transitioned to the likes of sophisticated brand apps and even social commerce – the art of shopping using mCommerce, but through a social media app.
Some say mCommerce also birthed online banking and paying bills. Technically, shopping, online banking, and bills intertwine.
Essential Considerations
mCommerce for sales isn’t as easy as making a website responsive to cell phones or creating an app to facilitate sales. The website has to load and operate seamlessly so as not to discourage shoppers. Did you know that when a website doesn’t load within two seconds, shoppers close it down and look elsewhere? You can imagine what they would think if a website took longer than two seconds and had poor design and usability related to responsiveness.
One of the emerging trends is mCommerce apps – but they also come with essential considerations related to coding and security. A study by Arxan Technologies revealed between 75% to 97% of apps on the IOS and Android app stores have been hacked. That’s often related to weak coding and errors that can be identified by Static Application Security Testing (SAST). Hacks can lead to sensitive data leaks and a whole lot of trouble for brands that have to salvage a reputation.
One last consideration is that the shopping experience must be hassle-free and seamless. That relates back to creating a responsive website that shoppers can access from any cell phone device and making the experience the same across all channels. Testing, feedback, and enhanced features will all help to achieve that. A reliable app will produce reliable results – and in 2021, people spent 82 billion hours scrolling through mCommerce apps. Incorporating a sophisticated app is also part of the increasingly popular omnichannel – a multichannel sales approach – shopping experience.
Is It The New Generation Of Sales?
Yes, without a doubt. mCommerce may once have only appealed to the digitally inclined generations – but it’s an evolving trend that every generation is embracing. There are an estimated 187 million mobile shoppers to capture the attention. And, considering on-the-go shopping is becoming increasingly popular post-pandemic rather than visiting the shop floor, there has never been a better time to invest in mCommerce.
Lately, there has been a rapid acceleration in mCommerce attributed to a few advancements in technology. 5G, for example, provides better connectivity than we’ve ever experienced – connectivity once plagued the upward trajectory of mCommerce because people found it too difficult to have the connectivity to shop. There’s also the fact that people are more addicted to their cell phones than ever before – the average person taps their phone every ten seconds to check for social updates or to start browsing.
Mcommerce is one of the most exciting developments for brands related to the already thriving eCommerce industry. It opens up a new channel for sales and has since opened up an even newer channel for sales in the form of social commerce. Brands have the potential to capitalize on the growing industry by providing shoppers with a somewhat more direct route to their brand. mCommerce truly is the future of on-the-go sales and shopping in general.
