What is m-commerce? 

COVID-19 changed many consumer behaviours and habits but, it also created new opportunities for nimble brands prepared to adapt quickly. Once such opportunity comes in the form of m-commerce.

With contactless the preferred method of payment during the pandemic, today’s consumers are now comfortable paying for products and services using their smartphone. This is just one reason we are starting to see a huge spike in m-commerce. According to the State of the Industry 2021: Mobile Marketing in EMEA report , 68% of marketers say that the adoption of m-commerce is one of the most important consumer shifts to come out of the pandemic. As a result, the majority of marketers are expecting to increase their mobile marketing budgets this year.

So what IS m-commerce?

The term might sound terrifyingly techy but the good news is that m-commerce is actually a very simple concept – and something you can easily tap into with your new small business app design.

It is defined as “ the buying and selling of goods and services through wireless handheld devices such as smartphones and tablets ”. If you have an e-commerce store built into your small business app, you’re already deploying m-commerce as a revenue stream.

Creating a strong m-commerce offering

We know that m-commerce is simply the term given to purchases made on a mobile device. And if you allow in-app purchases or have a store within your app, you’re already using m-commerce. But how can you make your offering better?

Elevate the user experience: Mobile users want convenience. This means making your m-commerce a key part of your revenue stream means removing any barriers to use. Consider how your user experience could be elevated. Would removing some form fields make it easier for users to transact through you app? Could you add one-click payment options with digital wallets?

Speed test: Your m-commerce offering needs to work fast, as we know longer wait times increase the probability of users going elsewhere to complete their purchase. Conduct test runs and time them. Is you app working quickly enough? Does your mobile site load as fast as you like? Does the checkout process take too long to load in?

Are you encouraging sales ? One of the drawbacks of m-commerce when compared with traditional in-store purchases is that it’s harder to request additional information. You can overcome this barrier and encourage more sales by incorporating a customer service function or chatbot within your app or mobile site. Make it easy for customers to buy with confidence by allowing them to ask questions, request more details, reserve items in their basket or use AR to allow the user to visualise the item in their space.