eBay continues to shine the limelight on mobile commerce
For several years, eBay has dominated the e-commerce scene, with only Amazon considered to be its most significant competitor. The online retailer has put a great deal of emphasis in improving the online shopping experience of consumers and has recently begun to embrace more commerce in an aggressive fashion. Indeed, eBay anticipates that mobile commerce will account for a significant portion of its sales in the coming years. This week, CEO John Donahoe outlined plans to take the company in a relatively new direction: Offline commerce.
Retailer aims to blur the lines between physical and digital commerce
Donahoe is eager to bridge the gap between the digital and physical worlds when it comes to commerce. This has been accomplished to some degree by eBay already through the adoption of mobile commerce. Consumers shopping for products from their mobile devices have shown how blurry the lines between physical and digital retail have become. This summer, eBay plans to partner with several retailers in order to make mobile commerce have an even more tangible presence in the real world.
Pop up shops gaining notice
According to Donahoe, eBay will be working to support “pop up” shops this year. The idea behind pop up shops is somewhat simple: A store front that can be located anywhere and sell products online to those using mobile devices. These shops are becoming more popular in the retail industry, especially when it comes to retailers trying to reach out to busy consumers. In 2011, UK retailer Tesco created a pop up shop in South Korea, where QR codes where used to sell products to consumers using public transit. eBay has plans to follow in Tesco’s footsteps to some degree.
New York may soon have new pop up shops
The online retailer will be leveraging the power of QR codes in order to sell products. These codes can be scanned by a mobile device to initiate a mobile transaction. The products are then delivered to a consumer’s home or elsewhere as defined by the customer. PayPal and eBay already have strong ties to several physical retailers and expect that this initiative will be well received. The retailer plans to launch this new initiative this year in New York.
Mobile Internet could foster the growth of mobile payments
As commerce grows to be more mobile-centric, the quality of the mobile Internet is beginning to attract a great deal of attention. Most consumers with smartphones and tablets use their devices to browse the Internet for one purpose or another. The common consensus among these consumers is that a slow Internet connection is tedious and frustrating. In terms of mobile commerce, slow connections could be catastrophic as they could lead to multiple charges during a transaction due to consumer frustration and cause many to shy away from the idea of mobile payments altogether.
Faster Internet speeds provide better services to consumers
In order to ensure the continued growth of mobile payments, better Internet connections are required. MasterCard, one of the financial service companies investing heavily in the mobile commerce field, believes that current mobile Internet networks are simply not conducive to the long term growth and adoption of mobile payments. The company claims that 4G networks provide the ideal speed through which consumers can enjoy mobile commerce. These networks do not only allow for quick and efficient mobile payments, they also enable more connectivity between merchants and consumers, allowing both parties to interact more dynamically.
Businesses begin feeling pressure to modernize
High-speed Internet connections have long been reserved for stationary computers stuck in homes. The advent of mobile technology drew attention to a new way that the Internet could be used while people are away from their homes. Thus, the mobile Internet has become a major part of the lives of consumers, a growing number of whom are becoming seriously reliant on their smartphones and tablets. These consumers are forcing businesses to look at the mobile space more seriously and find ways to cater to the needs of a new generation of customers.
Some businesses may be unprepared for the adoption of 4G Internet
According to MasterCard, more businesses are beginning to see the value of mobile payments and how mobile commerce, as a whole, can be supported through the adoption of high-speed mobile Internet. MasterCard notes that many businesses may not be ready to facilitate 4G connectivity as the services they offer are based on slower Internet speeds, but the momentum behind mobile commerce may force these businesses to update their services if they want to get in on the action.
