Mobile commerce or M-commerce is the new buzz word in the industry. We tell you why it makes sense for your business to go the m-commerce way.

According to a report by Gartner, by 2013, more people will use their mobile phones than PCs to get online and mobile searches have grown 4x times since 2010.

The report also says that there will be one mobile device for every person on earth by 2015. According to Adobe Systems ‘Adobe Mobile Experience Survey, 2011,’ apps are fun and useful, but many prefer mobile sites for shopping.

According to the survey, about 81 percent of users prefer mobile sites to apps for researching prices, 79 percent for product review and 63 percent prefer mobile sites to purchasing. Mobile penetration in India is expected to touch 1 billion by 2014, which would be much more than PC penetrations. M-commerce is an extension of e-commerce and is a product of the rapid technological progress in the field of telecommunication. Nansi Shi, in his book, has defined m-commerce as “the exchange or buying and selling of commodities, services, or information on the Internet through the use of mobile handheld devices.” With the changes in GSM networks, WAP protocols and 3G technologies, m-commerce in the country is slowly but surely taking off. M-commerce is currently the biggest buzzword in the retail industry. Incorporating mobile technology, particularly for the latest generation of phones, is seen by many as a large untapped potential.

While the potential is real and huge, most have not exploited or shown the eagerness to get on board. Most retailers acknowledge the possibilities of mobile retail but a large number still is slow in utilising them.

This, however, should not be a matter of concern as online retail in the country was also slow to take off. One of the earliest proponents of online retail was the travel industry, with many gaining popularity with airline ticketing. Today, the same enthusiasm has catapulted into a host of e-commerce sites doing good business.

Given the increasing importance of online sales, it seems amazing that many retailers have not taken the next step of going mobile. It may be easy to conclude that the retail industry is slow to adapt to any new technology but this change has to come sooner rather than later. Fueled by a large middle class population, mushrooming urban centers, and near pan-India coverage of mobile technology, m-commerce is here to stay.

Why m-commerce:

Price is an important aspect for the sensitive Indian consumers but there are other aspects to attracting customers, which includes service, warranty and convenience.

M-commerce is proving to be a big enabler when it comes to convenience. Consumers can virtually order a service or shop from the comforts of the house, office and even on the move.

However, the biggest boon m-commerce seems to be throwing up is that now retailers can be found, especially during the holiday season when searches for retailers and products rocket. The potential of m-commerce goes well beyond purchasing via handsets. It also provides a fabulous way to interact with consumers, providing information and getting to know their preference.

Today, m-commerce has extended to providing maps, store locators, barcode scanning, news about product and services, and leveraging the power of social and community buying. These interactions can help retailers boost sales across all of their channels, not just mobile.

There are many more smartphones in the Indian market than ever before but tablets are fast catching up.

The time is not far away before tablet searches exceed smartphones and this is another area for retailers and companies to look at.

Uphill ride:

M-commerce and in fact e-commerce does not come easy as having a website optimised for mobile, tablet and desktop can be pretty unwieldy for smaller retailers and business.

Modern day retailers and companies work out the systems they need based on their target customers and the technology is out there to work out the type of device a consumer has

and adapt your business accordingly, although many SMEs may not have access to such new technologies.

It is especially tricky to work out mobile sites as it is a tough job to optimise a site to fit mobile screens. Google’s new service, Ready to GoMo is one such technology out there which helps you be m-commerce ready in a simple way, free of charge.

Most have retailers and companies have not taken to m-commerce in a big way since many are not sure about the potential. Despite the advances, infrastructural issues like connectivity and logistics still remain an issue in the country.

Many, on the other hand, prefer to wait on the sidelines and figure out the ways of the market. They prefer to find a balance between being too early and making mistakes and being too late to take advantage of it. Many prefer to simply wait and learn from the mistakes of the first movers.

Road ahead:

For startups in the m-commerce space, investors in the country have already shown keen interest and are quite bullish about the prospects.

Large sums of money have already started flowing to make m-commerce revolution possible in the country and the outcome of such initial investments will be keenly watched.

Transacting over mobile will not be slow to take off as was the case with e-commerce. For anyone who thinks that m-commerce would take another decade to peak would be living under a rock.

One of the inhibitors of online growth was that consumers were not used to using technology, today there is a huge chunk of people who are tech savvy and prefer online.

Dogged by poor connectivity, reliability of products on offer and the authenticity of the sites, the online user experience were pretty poor in the early days of e-commerce.

We cannot expect this to be the same situation with mobile as retailers has learnt from their mistakes, connectivity has improved and reliability of products on offer has been all but taken care of.

The potential of these new technologies is huge but some still argue that the industry will be watchful before investing in unproven strategies. Having said that, m-commerce offers tremendous potential for companies and retailers to take their business to the next level.