Mobile commerce is no more a future trend, rather a revolution, that has changed the approach of e-commerce businesses towards their customers. Nowadays, as mobile phones become commonplace replacing the traditional computers, M-Commerce is on the trajectory to emerge as the main selling channel owing to its multiple benefits for businesses of all sizes. Reports reveal that the number of smartphone users is increasing globally. Further, it will go up to 2.87 billion by early 2021. Consequently, M-Commerce has gained a strong foothold in the e-commerce industry as it offers people the flexibility to buy and sell goods or services from anywhere by making use of their smartphones.
As per Statista, retail e-commerce sales via mobile devices in India were estimated to be nearly $38 billion in 2020. According to Responsys, nearly 76% of mobile shoppers aged between 18-34 have enabled push notifications on their smartphones. M-Commerce apps with push notifications improve the conversion rates of a business by accurately targeting prospective customers. Moreover, m-commerce currently accounts for about 70-80% of e-commerce sales.
Benefits of M-Commerce for Brands
M-Commerce offers an unparalleled and seamless online shopping experience on mobile devices. It has also simplified the process of browsing, payment and delivery of products. Consumers now have easy access to products and information related to them. Here are some other benefits that explain the popularity of M-Commerce in the current market:
Easy Store Access
M-Commerce has eliminated the need for customers to physically travel to stores to buy products. Rather, they can discover the items online via wireless devices and make purchases on the spot. This effectively reduces efforts and also saves time and money. Customers can simply visit the brand website, browse, choose and place an order for the product.
New Marketing Channel
Selling products to end-users has become super easy and convenient with M-Commerce and its enhancements. M-commerce provides sellers with a new marketing channel that also makes sales possible in minimal time. With the help of mobile apps, all the information is available to customers at their fingertips. Thus, reminding customers about products and services becomes easy. Through personalized emails and push notifications, brands can directly interact with their customers.
Tailored content
With M-Commerce, brands can market their customized content and personalized products. This will helps them in getting better engagement, customer loyalty and retention, and more reach. It boasts a brand’s services in terms of user location, social media profiles, interests, items viewed, etc. Sellers can manage to serve their customers better with mobile apps, as based on shopping patterns and individual preferences, they can deliver customized content to their end-users. A business owner can track user’s shopping behaviour and recommend the relevant products. Moreover, customers help in spreading the word if an app comes with social media integration.
Enhanced Customer Experience
M-commerce is evolving majorly because it brings in customer satisfaction and happiness. By improving customer experience, brands can achieve better conversion rates and revenues. People are familiar with smartphones and tablets, and that’s why they prefer navigating on these devices. The online shopping app should be convenient, fast, interactive, and exclusive as far as reaching goals is considered. Speed and simplicity in the app’s interface are important as an easy buying process will result in more sales. Adding exclusive features like discounts, offers, notifications, etc will further boost sales.
Higher Return on Investment (ROI)
Technical pundits say that around 70% of people prefer purchasing goods and services from a convenient and mobile-friendly e-commerce site. Thus, word-of-mouth is a zero-investment formula for the sellers and brings them happy and contented customers. An increase in sales will be the reward garnered from a mobile-optimized website that has the necessary in-built tools for driving ROI.
Summing up
Mobile application and M-Commerce will continue to grow in the forthcoming times. Mobile marketing helps reduce costs, increase ROI and acquire new customers. It is estimated that mobile commerce will overtake non-mobile commerce by 2021. Business owners will need to take note of and leverage the inherent benefits of M-commerce to stay ahead of the curve in future.