From the moment a user gets up till they go back to sleep, scrolling through feeds, texting, and shopping happens over a handheld. Mobile users have shifted to online shopping and food delivery apps, resulting in significant growth in mCommerce. Even the statistics indicate this shift.
Among the world’s population, 80% are smartphone users, meaning there are around 6.4 billion users globally. This data clearly explains the growing importance of smartphones in our lives today, specifically mobile devices in eCommerce.
Table of Contents
1. What is MCommerce?
MCommerce, which stands for mobile commerce, refers to commercial transactions through apps or mobile websites. Mobile commerce is a subcategory of eCommerce or the mobile version of eCommerce. The mobile commerce vertical is rapidly expanding, with the percentage and share of digital purchases increasing yearly.
As mobile assets become more convenient and more people worldwide gain access to smartphones and tablets, the capacity for mobile purchases continues to grow.
However, eCommerce and mobile commerce are not the same things. While mCommerce is similar to eCommerce, online store owners must take a different approach to ensure that their eCommerce websites can deliver a mobile experience. Merchants should ideally ascertain that their websites are mobile-friendly during the initial stages of eCommerce development to carve out a niche for their business in the segment.
Understanding mobile optimization as an eCommerce business owner is imperative to your success. Annual revenue from mCommerce has increased significantly over the last decade and will rise further in the coming years. Hence, eCommerce businesses can use mobile devices in eCommerce for marketing, sales, customer service, and enriching customer journeys.
2. Some compelling statistics about the role of Mobile Devices in eCommerce
- Mobile retail eCommerce sales are expected to surpass $430 billion in 2022 and $710 billion in 2025
- By 2024, there will likely be over 187 million active shoppers in the US alone
- Half of the mobile shoppers use a smartphone to compare the product price
- A bad mobile shopping experience significantly lowers customer expectations of a brand
- 67% of online shoppers are likely to purchase from a mobile-friendly eCommerce website; 61% are likely to leave a mobile-unfriendly eCommerce website
- 52% of customers are less likely to engage with an online store that is not mobile-friendly; more than 48% believe not having a mobile-friendly website is synonymous with not caring about customer needs
The above statistics and figures clearly illustrate the impact mobile devices have on eCommerce.
3. Role of Mobile Devices in eCommerce
The mobile phone has become an influencer marketing for an eCommerce company to keep up with market trends. Today, mobile commerce is a platform for bringing eCommerce to the masses, which works for everyone.
With an uptick in online shopping, most customers prefer web stores to buy or sell their products and services. Especially after the pandemic, people have shifted to online shopping. Mobile-responsive stores have gained traction because mobile phones are pocket-friendly devices available to anyone anytime.
With a mobile device, you can meet any shopping need at your convenient time, even in the wee hours of the night. Users can forget the hassles of finding and operating a laptop or desktop or logging into an actual website. Overall, an increase in mobile sales significantly impacts online shopping, benefiting the eCommerce sector.
People who want to buy products online use their mobile phones to check for pricing, comparison, reviews, and product descriptions before ordering something. Many records show that orders on eCommerce websites via mobile phones are higher than average desktop website sales. As a result, to increase sales, the business owner must have a responsive website. If the mobile view is not perfect or user-friendly, the visitor may leave and visit another website.
Mobile applications and websites load 1.5 times faster than web applications and traditional websites. Customers can make purchases more quickly when using mobile devices in eCommerce because there is no need to pull data from the server. People prefer purchasing products and services directly from their smartphones rather than finding a suitable time to sit with their laptops or desktops because mobile apps and websites provide the same functionality.
Let us discuss each positive aspect in detail:
3.1 Better User Engagement
Mobile devices in eCommerce provide eCommerce businesses with unprecedented opportunities. When you consider that mobile devices, unlike PCs, are inherently personal, personalized communication and content take on a new meaning. It is already manifesting in using NFC (Near Field Communication ) technology in mobile devices in eCommerce for payment. Another benefit is the increasingly common push mechanism, such as notifications on Apple devices.
Unlike in the past, when an eCommerce organization had to rely on a user visiting the website, an eCommerce organization can now engage in real-time engagement with the user by utilizing push messaging techniques.
3.2 Enhanced Customer Experience
Post-Covid, since customers are more comfortable with online purchases, creating an intuitive app is a great idea. Customers are more likely to return to apps with intuitive navigation, social media integration for sharing feedback, and personalized push notifications.
It is much easier to capture your customers’ attention when you have a user-friendly app that provides them with a customized buying experience and a seamless user journey. Also, with an eCommerce mobile app, you can directly reach out to your customers and integrate your solution with social media platforms.
You can encourage your target audience to provide feedback, communicate with one another, and spread the word about your business. When your app becomes popular with your target audience, you can monetize it by placing in-app ads to increase revenue.
3.3 24/7 Customer Support
AI-powered chatbots can help businesses save up to 30% on customer support costs. Such a solution is an excellent way to maximize resources while providing high-quality service to customers. Chatbots can answer customers’ questions 24 hours a day, help them find specific products, solve simple problems, and even place orders.
These intelligent assistants can mimic human-like communication and recognize customers’ needs, making it easier to provide a personalized experience and keep users engaged. Mobile Shoppers find AI-based chatbots easy to access compared to desktops.
3.4 Create Loyal Customer Pool
Mobile devices in eCommerce help to increase customer retention rates and create more loyal customers. Let us see how!!
1. One-click Ordering
One-click ordering allows mCommerce apps to save customers’ data in their profiles, eliminating the need for them to re-enter this information manually. It will save your customers time while increasing your sales.
It’s inconvenient for customers to re-enter their name, address, and credit card information every time they want to purchase in your store. As a result, mobile has an 85.6% cart abandonment rate. Customers conserve time by using one-click ordering, so this mCommerce trend will continue to sustain.
2. Voice Shopping
Voice shopping allows customers to buy online using virtual assistants such as Siri and Alexa. Businesses can benefit from this future mobile commerce trend because 71% of customers prefer voice search over text search.
Customers can use voice shopping to place orders while cooking dinner, waiting for a taxi, or going for a walk. Customers use voice commands to search for a specific product, track their orders, add items to a shopping list, and complete transactions.
3. Augmented Reality
Augmented reality isn’t just for video games. Businesses benefit from AR-enabled interactive experiences that showcase their products and allow customers to try them on before making a purchase. AR has evolved into a fantastic tool for improving customer experience and altering the shopping experience.
The market for augmented reality apps will reach $15.5 million by the end of 2022. eCommerce businesses that follow this mCommerce trend will stay ahead of their competitors and generate more revenue.
4. Target Audience in a Better Way
Mobile analytics can provide a wealth of information about customers’ browsing habits, patterns, and user behavior. This information can increase customer retention and provide unique and personalized offers to the audience, such as segmented promotions and recommended products.
With this advanced mobile analytics, it is easy to target customers with relevant offers that are more likely to convert.
3.5 Types of Mobile Commerce
3.5.1 Mobile Shopping
The mobile device is critical to the success of mobile shopping. However, today’s customer expects an omnichannel experience; they want their favorite brands to be available on their preferred channel. Mobile banking is an electronic medium for managing and making bank transactions via a mobile device.
Mobile shopping is nothing more than what we call online shopping in general, i.e., purchases made through various online applications such as purchasing a book from Amazon or purchasing a bottle from Flipkart.
3.5.2 Mobile Banking
Mobile Banking is online banking optimized for handheld devices. It is similar to “Net Banking,” through which a customer with a bank account in a particular bank can manage their account and view their banking details using the bank’s website. The only difference in mobile banking is that the transactions get usually done through a secure, dedicated app the bank provides.
Customers can use it to access accounts and brokerage services, conduct financial transactions, pay bills, and trade stocks. Mobile banking services may use SMS, chatbots, and other conversational app platforms to send alerts and track account activity. Customers can, for example, use the WhatsApp chatbot which can be built using WhatsApp API to view their account balance, transfer funds, review loans, and conduct other transactions in real time.
3.5.3 Mobile Payments
Mobile Payments are a viable alternative to traditional payment methods like cash, check, credit, and debit cards. They allow users to purchase products in person by using a mobile device. Customers can buy products using digital wallets like Apple Pay instead of swiping a card or paying with cash. PayPal, Venmo, and Google Pay are other popular mobile payment apps that serve the same purpose.
Mobile consumers also use QR codes to pay for items using their phones. Employing mobile payments, users get to send money directly to the recipient’s cell phone number or bank account.
3.5.4 Mobile Advertising
Mobile advertising is a type of advertising that uses SMS, mobile web posters, and push notifications. Companies use this service to promote their products and services by placing advertisements between the content commonly searched by users. Any user considering purchasing their product category will review it, and their sales will increase.
3.6 Importance of mCommerce in eCommerce Growth
mCommerce is a significant business growth influencer that you cannot overlook. Let us look at the many reasons for this:
3.6.1 Availability of Mobile Devices
Mobile phones are pocket-friendly devices available to anyone at any time. You can meet any shopping need at any time with a mobile device. Users can forget the hassles of finding and operating a laptop or desktop. Overall, an increase in mobile sales significantly impacts online shopping, benefiting the eCommerce sector.
3.6.2 Faster Purchase
Mobile applications and websites load 1.5 times faster than web applications and traditional websites. Customers can make purchases more quickly when using mobile devices in eCommerce because there is no need to pull data from the server. People prefer purchasing products and services directly from their smartphones rather than finding a suitable time to sit with their laptops or desktops because mobile apps and websites provide the same functionality.
Annual revenue from mCommerce has increased significantly over the last decade and is expected to rise further in the coming years.
3.6.3 Mobile-friendliness Boost Sales
According to one study, 67% of online shoppers are more likely to purchase from a mobile-friendly eCommerce website, while 61% are more likely to leave a mobile-unfriendly eCommerce website. A bad mobile shopping experience significantly lowers customer expectations from a brand.
According to a survey, 52% of customers are less likely to engage with an online store that is not mobile-friendly, and more than 48% believe that not having a mobile-friendly website is synonymous with not caring about the needs of the customers as well as the online selling business.
3.6.4. Takeaway
Mobile commerce has a vast market reach. It offers a very convenient and simple system for conducting business transactions. Many of the global population carry a mobile phone in their pocket. As a result, the market is enormous.
meCommerce also allows businesses to target customers based on location, service provider, device type, and other factors. It has the potential to be an effective marketing tool. mCommerce reduces cost due to the streamlined processes, which now have a low transaction cost, a low carrying cost, and a low order processing cost.
Author Bio
Jennifer Simon is a well-experienced WooCommerce developer at Virtina. She has been helping eCommerce customers gain in-depth knowledge about various eCommerce trends.
