Tag: m-commerce

Shopping over smartphones and tablets is moving ahead in a striking way within that country.

Emarketer has now released data that has shown that the m-commerce marketplace in China, representing shopping occurring over smartphones, tablets, and other types of mobile devices, will be reaching $334 billion, this year.

That figure represents a record breaking 49.7 percent of the total expenditure over online channels.

This prediction suggests that over 10 percent of the total retail sales in China will be occurring over m-commerce by next year. This trend in China is an important one, and it is an estimated 450 percent greater than what is going on in the United States. In the U.S., it is believed that sales over mobile commerce will rise by 32.2 percent. The retail sales over smartphones and tablets will represent 22 percent of the total online shopping. That said, from a broader perspective, they will make up only a tiny 1.6 percent of all retail sales in 2015.

This is microscopic next to China’s m-commerce portion of all sales, which is 7.9 percent.

It is clear that the Chinese retail market is seeing notably faster and greater mobile commerce growth than the trend throughout the world. That said, its own marketplace continues its direction toward the digital sphere. Online retailers are working hard to ensure that they are continually prepared to evolve as consumers expect, and they are working hard to help to bring that same ease of shopping into areas of the country that are harder to reach.

Two giants – JD.com and Alibaba – are making major investments into the rural communities of China, where there is the most room for online shopping growth within the country. In fact, the current rate of mobile commerce use is greater in the rural areas than it is in the large urban centers. This makes sense, considering that people in the major cities have a much greater availability and selection of products than those who are away from the ocean of brick and mortar shops.

That said, m-commerce needs to be implemented strategically. Even Alibaba has seen less than one tenth of its online purchases shipped to rural areas despite the massive potential there.

Project aims to bring Internet access to developing countries throughout the world

Facebook is working to expand mobile Internet access in developing countries. the Company has become involved with Internet.org, a project that works to make the Internet more accessible throughout the world. Over the past 12 months, the project has brought Internet access to more than 9 million people across 17 developing countries. These countries have limited Internet access due to the costs associated in running an expansive network. Facebook now intends to expand the mobile Internet through the project.

Facebook is adopting a greater focus on the mobile space

Facebook has a strong focus on the mobile space. The social media company has seen a dramatic rise in smartphone ownership throughout the world and many people are now beginning to use their devices to access the social network. Facebook now plans to offer free basic Internet service to mobile users in the 17 countries Internet.org has had an impact. Providing this service will allow more people to access the social network on their smartphones and other mobile devices.

Providing free Internet access could be a good customer acquisition tool

Chris Daniels, vice president of product for Internet.org, notes that the initiative is a customer acquisition tool. The initiative will provide mobile operators with the ability to provide consumers with a small amount of free data in the hopes that these people will be converted to paying subscribers in the near future. According to Facebook, the project has lead to a 50% increase in customer base for mobile network operators.

Expansion of mobile Internet may bring mobile commerce into the forefront

Facebook’s efforts may also lead to the expansion of mobile commerce. As many people are beginning to rely more heavily on using their smartphones to shop, they are using social networks in order to find out more information about products they are interested in. As the mobile Internet continues to expand, consumers are likely to use their access to shop online. Facebook has already begun investing in the mobile commerce space, hoping to provide consumers with the services that can help them shop online.