Author: JT

Innovation could change the way people use their mobile devices to shop

Continued innovation may power the growth of mobile commerce. The sector is still in a relatively nascent stage, which makes it prime for innovation. Retailers, in particular, may bring new things to the mobile commerce sector as they continually seek out better ways to engage consumers. Target has reportedly begun developing its own mobile payments service, which it intends to launch at some point next year. Retailers are not the only ones bringing new services to the mobile commerce space, of course, as social media companies have also begun doing so.

Pinterest is showing more support for mobile commerce

Pinterest has been working to better support mobile payments, making it possible for users to purchase Pins they are interested in. The social networking site is now notifying users when products they are interested in drop in price, making them more financially attractive. This has proven particularly popular during the holiday season, but Pinterest has had trouble promoting mobile commerce among its user base overall. Forrester Research suggested that the launch of the company’s mobile commerce initiative was “weak” due to the limited inventory that merchants have.

New technology is making mobile shopping more convenient and secure

Introducing new services and features to the mobile commerce sector has made consumers more interested in the concept of mobile shopping. Notably, consumers are quite interested in services that they consider to be convenient. Security is also a major issue for many consumers, which has lead to the introduction of new security technologies that are designed to improve the mobile payments space as a whole. Biometric technology, in particular, has become a powerful tool for keeping consumer information safe.

Companies are looking to improve their mobile commerce platforms

Many companies involved in the mobile commerce space have been testing new services in an effort to make mobile shopping easier and more attractive to consumers. As more innovation comes to the sector, services that already exist are likely to improve, offering consumers better options when it comes to shopping and purchasing products with their mobile devices.

These firms are now looking to the Gulf region as one where there could be a wealth of opportunities.

Chinese mobile technology manufacturers are now starting to turn the ripples they’ve been creating in the industry into some rather promising waves, particularly after Lenovo managed to implement a similar strategy in 2013 in order to gain a top spot in the PC sector.

Recent research is now showing that smartphone manufacturers are aiming to replicate that achievement.

The Gartner research firm has said that Lenovo, Huawei, TCL, XIaomi, ZTE and Oppo have all made their way into the top ten ranks. Moreover, some of those mobile technology companies from China have established regional headquarters in Dubai. This only underscores the idea that those businesses have been looking toward the Gulf region as one of their next opportunities for advancement. Among those companies, Huawei has established itself as the third largest smartphone maker, with Lenovo in fourth place and with the fifth place holder being Xiaomi.

It is only recently that Huawei has started to take a more serious stance in mobile technology.

The majority of the revenues generated by Huawei have been in networking equipment. However, more recently, it has become a much more important player in making smartphones. In fact, it was the only manufacturer to have seen year over year growth of over 70 percent in third quarter shipments. Comparatively, the growth seen by Samsung during that period was 14.61 percent and that of Apple was not that much higher, at 20.62 percent.

According to the Huawei Middle East vice president, Pan En, “In the area of consumer electronics, we are especially proud of the stellar growth we’ve seen globally and the increased demand for our mid- to high-end devices.” Similarly, the Lenovo Gulf general manager, Mohammad Hilili explained that the Gulf region is and has been quite a strategic location for quite some time now.

Hilili pointed out that “We launched our first tablet and smartphone in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Then we expanded to other countries. We see a lot of potential in Dubai, especially being a hub.” Equally, he said that the Middle East and Africa (MEA) are two of the primary reasons that are foundations behind some of the strong mobile technology growth being recorded by Lenovo.