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The trend of shopping online instead of a brick-and-mortar store continues. In September 2017, Visa reported a 6.5% surge in online shopping compared to a 2.6% decrease for physical purchases. Many of the online growth is from Amazon, Walmart, and other big flourished names. Therefore, making it difficult for smaller ecommerce sites to thrive in this competitive epoch. And, the first and foremost step is winning customer’s trust. “Trust is the undeniable foundation of every successful sale”. Presently, shoppers have abundant options available at a click of the mouse, and it’s easy for business owners to track every click. But, the most inescapable measure – trust – is arduous to understand completely. According to buySAFE, approximately 81% of online shoppers are biting one’s nail while shopping on a website with which they are not familiar. This eventually means loss of sales and losing customers in the long run, leaving an impact on your conversions. So, is there any escape to eliminate these doubts and build long-term relationships with these circumspect users? What elements of an online store experience are trust builders or trust deal breakers. Without any further ado, let’s start uncovering. What Makes An Online Store Trustworthy The pioneer ecommerce development company like Xicom continually studies those very questions. In the past year, the professionals conducted a series of in-depth interviews with a diverse set of clients varying from distinctive verticals, asking them to walk through their latest online purchase experience. They asked each shopper to review their recent
Several times, I find myself taking double-take when someone refers to mobile commerce as “The Next Revolutionary Thing”.
For me, this implies that mobile commerce is a trend, a passing furor that will soon be a fad or eclipsed by something else.
But, it’s not!
Is mobile commerce different to ecommerce?
Yes, and no.
Undeniably, mobile commerce is a natural progression of ecommerce.
In some aspects, they are nearly the same, but there are also critical differences between them.
And, as a result, you will see me many times using e-commerce rather than mobile commerce. But, I will only swap them when referring to the aspects that overshadow; there will be times when only mobile commerce will do.
Why Does M-Commerce Matter?
Did You Know!
In 2017, mobile ecommerce sales account for 34.5% of total ecommerce sales, and the number is surging exponentially.
In 2021, 72.9% of all retail ecommerce is expected to be produced via m-commerce sales globally from 2016 to 2021. This clearly portray, your website and online store should already be accessible on mobile devices, but that doesn’t mean your business is all set for mobile commerce.
And, also according to eMarketers, you could be missing out on a lot of sales. More notably, the use of mobile is influencing the consumer purchasing behaviour even when in a physical brick-and-mortar store.
One-third of the purchasing decision is influenced by looking up additional information on a product through our mobile device.
But, before we step ahead, let’s start from the start.
What Is Mobile Commerce?
Mobile commerce, popularly known as m-commerce, consists of any monetary transaction completed using a mobile device.
It’s an improved version of ecommerce, allowing people to buy and sell goods or services from anywhere and anytime using a mobile phone or tablet device. But, to put simply, m-commerce is more than just a simple evolution of ecommerce. It also caters as a trigger for new services and industries, or also helped existing ones to grow, consisting:
- Electronic tickets and boarding pass.
- Mobile money transactions.
- Mobile banking.
- Digital content purchases and delivery.
- Location-based services.
- Mobile marketing, loyalty cards and coupons.
- Contactless payments and in-app payments.
What Are The Different Types Of M-Commerce?
While m-commerce sheaths an exclusive array of transactions, the leading app development companies in Dubai categorize them in three types:
- Mobile Banking
A little different from online banking, though you may find some transaction types are restricted or confined on mobile devices. Mobile banking often includes a dedicated app, though some banks have started experimenting with chatbots and messaging apps.
- Mobile Shopping
Similar to ecommerce, but easily accessible through mobile devices. Mobile shopping is now made possible through mobile-optimized sites, dedicated apps, and even social media platforms.
- Mobile Payments
With so many different mobile payments options available to choose from, as a business owner and a frequent user of BigCommerce, your exposure and interest in mobile commerce would primarily relate to shopping and payments, which is uncovered in the rest of the article.
Advantages and Disadvantages (If Any) Of M-Commerce
There are perils related to many aspects of doing business, but this should never be viewed as a mammoth hindrance.
While the advantages usually outnumber the disadvantaged, there are numerous ways to overcome many pitfalls, especially when you are already familiar with some of them.
So, let’s start with the good one, first!
The Common Advantages Of Mobile Commerce
- An Entirely Good Experience For Customers
Whether you agree or not, ecommerce already made shopping more convenient.
Now, consumers have an easy access to:
- An exclusive array of products.
- More competitive pricing.
- All without ever having to step away from your comfort zone.
With mobile commerce, they still carry these benefits, and now there is no more need for a desktop computer.
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As long as everyone carries a mobile, they can shop whenever they want, wherever they are. New mobile commerce apps enhances the customer experience even including:
- Chatbots and messaging apps
Chatbots and messenger apps make it easier for businesses to interact with their customers using apps and services their customers already use and love.
- Augmented Reality
Integrating Augmented Reality is imperative nowadays. Brands like Sephora and Ikea among top retailers use AR technology to complement their mobile commerce business.
Unsurprisingly, there is a phenomenal growth potential. Global ecommerce sales reaching $4.058 trillion in 2020, portraying 15% of total retail sales.
With the above image portraying the unprecedented rise, the percentage of m-commerce will also continue to rise. And, as more retailers see huge traffic coming from mobile devices, it’s high time to hire an ecommerce developer and start right away!
3. A Real Omni-Channel Experience.
If you are new to the term Omni-channel, let me help you with the word.
An omnichannel experience is when stores sell both – offline and online – probably also selling through numerous online channels (i.e. Amazon, Facebook, B2B and eBay)
It’s also recommended to list your product wherever consumers are already spending their time. This is popularly known as contextual commerce (the more strategic take on overarching omnichannel terms).
To put it simply, omnichannel is about being where your customers are and making it possible for them to buy anything they want.
And, m-commerce makes this a lot easier than any other form of multi-channel marketing and selling.
4. Numerous Payments Options
With now and then, payment solutions are emerging; it’s now possible to offer customers a truly diverse range of payment options.
This doesn’t mean you have moved ahead “card or cash”, but mobile commerce comes up with mobile wallets, which make one-click checkout possible in more than one store.
So, no more need to manually entering your card details and shipping details the first time you place an order at a new online store.
A handful of mobile payment solution consist of:
- Apple Pay
- Amazon Pay
- Visa Checkout
Everyday Pitfalls Of Mobile Commerce
- Frequent Need For Optimization
This is not much of a pitfall as it needs to change your way of thinking when it comes to developing and managing your online stores.
But, to have an idea, the speed at which the pages of your website load play a crucial role in conversions and repeat business. So, it advised to partner with trusted solution provider for app development in Dubai that are aware of advancements in technology and changes in optimization best practices to make sure your website offers an unforgettable experience.
- Numerous Payment Options
You will be surprised to know having several payment gateways is both – a Boon and a Ban when it comes to mobile commerce.
Several mobile wallets are not available in all geographical locations, while consumers in some locations prefer one payment option over another.
All countries have their nuances like that, so it is so crucial to use Adyen with BigCommerce. Adyen braces a behemoth volume of sales and allows customers to choose their preferred payment methods by cluttering up the checkout flow with a bunch of distinctive payment options.
You can even use IP addresses to automatically fill in a country’s preferred payment as someone’s checkout; you would not disrupt the checkout flow for the end-user.
– Rogier van Genugten (The CEO at Vinyl Express)
But, remember offering more choices for payment is not always beneficial.
A frequently cited study from 2000 stated that a higher number of choices often lead to a decline in sales and customer satisfaction.
Moreover, it won’t be easy to get the right mix of payment options when your online store first launches, but in time you will clutch reams of data about your customers that will let you adjust them to what your customer uses and wants.
One-click solutions will always be a preferable choice because they make checkouts less cumbersome. Still, on the same note, it doesn’t ignore other payment options because they only work in some specific locations.
- An Easy Comparison Of Prices
The conventional approach to doing a bit of comparative shopping was to know the prices in advance by scanning many catalogues and ads before stepping to any brick-and-mortar stores.
Alternatively, you could have opted from one shop to another and get a great deal in the process. But, all thanks to m-commerce – it has simplified things.
Armed with more than a mobile phone, clients can compare the prices rapidly – and shipping costs – for dozens of stores until they grab hands on the most
valued deal.
And, most of the time, this happens without even getting noticed.
You can overcome this by – same like your customers – constantly being aware of your competitors’ charging for the same products, not just the one close to you, but also those miles away, and in some scenarios across the borders.
- Compliance With A Wider Range Of Regulations
This is considered as a pitfall for traditional ecommerce and mobile commerce, knowing and complying with several taxes, Laws and other regulations for all the countries you do shipping.
Some online stores avoid this by selling and shipping to residents of one country or only to a handful of countries. But, this severely limits the size of the market, which is meant to be a benefit of ecommerce.
While it’s true that some products can only be shipped to some specific countries, but for everything else, you should – as your business grows- evaluate the feasibility of emerging across boundaries.
A small yet reliable escape with an ecommerce development company is to make some of your products available via Amazon, so while your own store only ships to specific locations, you will be able to ship more widely, with Amazon taking care of many of the regulations involved.
Hello To Mobile Payment Options
Putting your finger on the right payment solution for your ecommerce business is even more critical when everything funnels to mobile.
Often, your customer would prefer skipping the need for adding card details and shipping details, so a one-click solution that integrates with mobile wallets offer you and your customer a lot more than expected.
For some brands, choosing the right payment solution can result in an immediate upsurge in conversions.
So, a mobile payment is one type of m-commerce that has become an industry all of its own.
Some mobile payments options are:
- Mobile wallets
- Contacless mobile payments
- Closed loop mobile payments
- Money transfer
- Mobile point-of-sales
- Carrier payments
While all of these are not applicable to ecommerce, it helps to understand what each type of mobile payment means.
- Mobile Wallets
Integrating mobile wallet option in your online store proves to be a boon for online shoppers to securely store their credit card details, shipping details and more.
The perk to shoppers is that they don’t need to fill in the complete details again when paying for online purchases. At checkout, they simply select the mobile wallet they are registered with and authenticate using Touch ID or a PIN.
- Contactless Mobile Payments
Contactless mobile payments make use of some specific payment gateways to facilitate payments made in-store.
Some supported mobile wallets include:
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
While, some banks launch their own mobile wallet too.
So, the time you are making a payment in a physical location, customers can place their phones close to a supported terminal to validate and transmit payments, rather than swiping their debit or credit card.
- Closed Loop Mobile Payments
Closed-loop mobile payments are the same as mobile wallets but are related to a single brand through a dedicated mobile app.
Examples are:
- Starbucks
- Taco Bell
- Walmart Pay
All of the above allow users to add their card details to the mobile app and then use the app to make the payment in-store.
4. Money Transfers
As you know, earlier money transfer was limited to banking apps, but now there is an upthrust in the number of ways to send or receive money from one person to another on a mobile device – that too without using a banking app.
The early adopters are:
- PayPal
At present, You Have:
- Snapchat
- Mobile point-of-sale (POS)
Mobile POS is a way for smaller merchants to process card payments without a conventional card reader.
A handful of trusted ecommerce companies in Dubai integrate this solution with several ecommerce platforms for a seamless journey. So, if you have both an online and a physical store, your sales and inventory are automatically synced.
5. Carrier Payments
Despite the fact they are used less frequently, carrier payments were the original form of mobile payments. They were once a popular method for paying for downloadable ringtones but are now usually used for making charitable donations.
The user sends a message to a specific mobile number, and the value of the transit amount is added to their next cellphone bill.
The Final Thought
The surging comfort of mobile users in shopping via mobile devices is an indication that mobile commerce is here to stay. The way both mobile app and retail shops complement each other is expected to see more transformation in the consumer market and mobile app development technology.
Companies are emerging to match the expectations of their potential customers, and at nonce, mobile apps are playing a crucial role in influencing customer behaviour.
App Development Companies in Dubai 