Tag: m-commerce

Mobile commerce may be more about technology for retailers

Mobile technology has begun to change the way consumers participate in retail and commerce as well as how they interact with one another and the world around them. As such, businesses have been forced to adapt to the changing interests of consumers and embrace mobile engagement strategies and focus more heavily on mobile commerce. Gartner analysts suggest that a focus on mobile commerce is beneficial for retailers, but companies should prioritize their use of mobile technology over commerce initiatives in order to optimize revenue generation.

Embracing technology could help boost revenue

Many technology firms around the world have taken a strong interest in mobile commerce. These firms are offering mobile commerce services to retailers and marketing these services as ways to boost revenue by engaging mobile consumers. Gartner analysts suggest that these services may have little impact on revenue if retailers themselves do not become more accommodating to mobile technology. Optimizing websites so they can be easily viewed on mobile devices and providing consumers with ways to find information with their smartphones and tablets while in physical stores is considered more important than actually having a mobile commerce platform.

Retailers have high hopes for mobile commerce

A recent Gartner survey suggests that the world’s leading retailers have high hopes for the mobile space as well as e-commerce. The survey shows that retailers expect the majority of their sales to continue coming from physical stores, but 14.6% will come from e-commerce and 6.5% will come from mobile commerce by 2017. If retailers do not focus more on accommodating mobile technology, however, they may miss out on potential revenue from consumers eager to spend money through their mobile devices.

Mobile sector continues to evolve

Return on investment can be a tricky subject in the world of mobile commerce. There are a wide range of platforms available to consumers, but none of these have yet established themselves as a leader. Moreover, mobile commerce itself is continuing to evolve. The sector is moving away from NFC technology, which has formed its backbone for the past few years. As mobile commerce changes, ways to generate revenue through this sector are becoming somewhat vague.

The latest report from the firm has shown that while shopping over smartphones and tablets, expectations are higher.

The “UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper Study: A Customer Experience Study” results have just been released by comScore and have revealed a number of online and mobile commerce insights that may be helpful to retailers and other organizations hoping to sell and market over the internet.

Among the central insights included elements of the overall experience that help to drive brand preference.

The mobile commerce study also examined word of mouth recommendations and customer loyalty drivers. What it determined, was that people who shop online are becoming increasingly demanding. Their expectations from retailers are higher than they have ever been.

There are a number of specific things that mobile commerce shoppers want from their experiences.

Among them is that mobile commerce shoppers want to be able to obtain a great deal more information right from the very beginning of their online shopping experience, as well as additional options throughout the checkout and delivery processes, and more channels in which to interact with their preferred brands and retailers.

The comScore report also pointed out that mobile commerce using consumers also want a seamless process for returns, as well as free shipping on their orders, and mobile and social access. The study showed that consumers identified those issues as among the most important to meeting their expectations and their needs.

According to the UPS Canada vice president of customer solutions, Nicolas Dorget, “This study highlights the critical three Cs of today’s retail online customer experience – channels, choices and convenience.” He went on to say that “Retailers can win shoppers over by providing a consistent and positive omnichannel experience. From mobile apps to social media platforms, today’s consumers value – and even expect – services to work together across the entire shopping continuum from pre-purchase to post-purchase.”

Retailers and brands can use the insight from this mobile commerce report to be able to fine tune their marketing and their shopping experiences in order to ensure that they appeal to their customers and stand out from what the competition has to offer.