China’s mobile commerce market becomes a battelfield for two large companies

Two of China’s largest companies have entered into a proverbial war over the mobile payments market. Both Alibaba and Tencent have high hopes for the mobile space and have been aggressively establishing a strong presence in the mobile commerce sector. Alibaba has managed to capture a strong lead with its Alipay platform, but Tencent still has a strong connection to Chinese consumers through its WeChat application. Now, the two companies are beginning to fight in the cab-calling services arena.

Cab-calling services receive more attention from Alibaba and Tencent

Cab-calling services are becoming somewhat common in China. These services are very straightforward in than consumers can call for a taxi and arrange for transportation. Some services allow users to pay for their taxi directly from a mobile device. This is meant to make it more convenient for consumers that have become more reliant on their smartphones and tablets to pay their cab fare. Alibaba and Tencent have entered into a price war with their respective Kuaidi and Didi applications.

Applications set to compete more aggressively

The two applications offer similar cab-calling services. As such, they have begun intensely competing with one another for consumers that will likely use one over the other for the foreseeable future. Tencent has announced that those using the Didi and WeChat applications will receive a price subsidy on their travels. Alibaba has also announced a similar initiative, claiming that those using the Kuaidi application and paying for their trip with the Alipay platform could receive significant discounts.

Mobile commerce competition continues in China

Competition in the mobile commerce sector is unavoidable for large companies that intend to establish a strong following in the mobile space. Chinese consumers have become enthralled with the concept of mobile payments and new services are becoming available to them at a rapid pace. These services intend to capture their attention and support for years, but few have managed to actually do so. Tencent and Alibaba have managed to attract support from most consumers in the country concerning their mobile initiatives.

As smartphones, tablets, and wearable tech now includes GPS and other tracking, it has made experiences easier to customize.

According to a recent report from the Pew Institute, the majority of smartphone using adults are now using their mobile devices to obtain information such as directions, which indicates that location based marketing has more of an opportunity now than it ever has before.

In fact, consumers actively use their smartphones for information based on where they are.

This is the type of communication that they want, and if location based marketing is used properly, it can offer them exactly what consumers are seeking. The Pew Institute’s data showed that 74 percent of smartphone owners who are aged 18 years or older “say they use their phone to get directions or other information based on their current location.”

The penetration of smartphones has also expanded the opportunity presented by location based marketing.

According to the data from the report, smartphone penetration in the United States has now reached 74 percent and it is continuing to rise. This means that a very large percentage of cell phone users are using geolocation technology and are open to some level of mobile marketing based on where they are.

Consumers are using geolocation for a range of different types of activities, particularly when it comes to shopping. This is making for hot mobile marketing news as mcommerce using companies that are always seeking new and effective ways to reach consumers through their devices of choice.

Shoppers can be influenced by location based marketing as they conduct searches for directions to a specific place, to find the nearest shop in a chain, or simply to discover the best place to grab a coffee based on where they are at that specific moment. They may also research a product and then want to find it in a retail store that is nearby and that offers it for a good price. Increasingly, they are relying on their mobile devices to tell them what they want and where they can find it. Businesses that want to ensure that they stay on top are working to make sure that they can be found at exactly those moments.