M-commerce, or mobile commerce, is one of the most important pillars of e-commerce. It means that the purchase or commercial transaction is not made on a computer or laptop, but on a smart device such as a smartphone or tablet. Let's find out what trends are shaping the future of mobile commerce.
What is m-commerce?
The future of mobile commerce is, as far as we know, on an upward trajectory. Forecasts predict that mobile sales will account for 43.4% of e-commerce sales in 2023, an increase of 1.6% on the previous year. But what is m-commerce?
Mobile commerce, as the name implies, means shopping on mobile devices, typically smartphones and tablets. It should not be confused with e-commerce, which is the umbrella term for online selling and buying. It can be said that mobile commerce is within e-commerce, a type of e-commerce.
As smartphone use grows, people will want to use it in more and more areas of their lives, including shopping. The time is not far off when more purchases will be made on mobile than on desktop devices. This is of course supported by many different factors! For example, the ease of shopping on social media platforms is helping the spread. It's also fortunate that it's enough to enter your card details once, after which it's a single click to place an order. The purchasing power of millennials and Generation Z is growing, and these generations have grown up with almost a mobile phone in their hands. It is natural for them to rely on mobile for most things.
Mobile commerce has huge potential. In the United States, spending on such commerce has exceeded $387 billion, twice as much as in the pre-COVID era. The coronavirus outbreak has been a boost for e-commerce and m-commerce. After the epidemic subsided, the pace of growth slowed, but there is still a clear upward trend.
But what trends are shaping the future of mobile commerce? Let's find out the most important ones.
The future of mobile commerce: key trends
In many respects, the trends shaping m-commerce coincide with the trends that are shaping technology and online trading. Let's look at which of these trends to pay particular attention to!
Voice search
Voice search is a standard feature that more and more people are using. It has also required the emergence of smart speakers, which provide the necessary technology. Voice assistants have already helped us to compile shopping lists, but in the future we will also be able to rely on them for shopping itself.
Chatbot
Chatbots are software that simulate human conversation to provide information about a product or service. The technology brings back a bit of what physical stores used to offer, the ability to ask someone in person about a product. Thanks to artificial intelligence, chatbots will have even greater potential, so it's definitely something to look out for. The AI will be able to rely on databases to serve customers' needs with as little human intervention as possible, even during mobile shopping.
Omnichannel
Omnichannel commerce is about selling a product or service through multiple channels, such as a store, mobile app and social media. This allows you to deliver your product to your target audience across multiple platforms and formats. Experience shows that omnichannel strategies are more effective and generate more sales.
One-click order
This trend has been mentioned above and is expected to become even more widespread in the future. The history of one-click ordering dates back to 1999, first introduced by Amazon. It makes shopping quicker and easier for shoppers, as they only need to enter their purchase, billing and payment details once, and the website can remember them so that they are automatically displayed for the next purchase. This feature significantly supports conversions and simplifies transactions.
This method, which is well established in online commerce, will also increasingly infiltrate m-commerce, allowing visitors to make purchases with a single click on their mobile phones.
Commercial apps
If smartphone, then app! Users prefer to shop via a mobile app rather than a web browser. Apps are easier to navigate, more secure and provide a better user experience. From a user perspective, a mobile app and one-click shopping is the best combination.
Social commerce
We have already touched on social media commerce, which includes solutions that allow you to buy products and services through social media sites with a single click. In these cases, the transaction does not require the installation of an app or a visit to another site, but can be made simply through the interface.
VR/AR
AR or augmented reality and VR or virtual reality offer exciting opportunities for mobile commerce. They mean that you no longer have to make a random purchase, you can even virtually try on the product you want to buy. This will give you more confidence to buy and make it more likely that you will order a product that really fits, which will reduce the return rate. It's a huge asset that makes life easier for shoppers, it's useful, and it helps to increase engagement.
Personalisation
It is particularly important to provide customers with personalised content and messages, which will help them to identify more easily. Sites that provide them with useful information are valued, as they enhance the customer experience.
The Inhabitad solution
Inhabitad offers a retail media solution for retailers. The system allows retailers to sell specific areas of the webshop to brands, who can then reach visitors at the point of purchase. From the user's point of view, an efficient method has the advantage of providing them with in-depth information on the shopping habits of their target group, which they can use to further refine and personalise their messages.
Click to discover Inhabitad's solution!
