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Welcome to the Rediscover Your Brand™ podcast! I’m your host Mike McCormick. For the past couple weeks, we have been talking about the different types of Internet marketing and how you can effectively use them. Well, this week we are going to steer into a slightly different direction but keep the same Internet focus, just go into a little more specific subject. This week we are going to focus mainly on Mobile Commerce. We are going to cover what Mobile Commerce is, how it is related but also different than e-Commerce, and why you should be using it.
To start let’s talk about what Mobile Commerce is. We can say mobile commerce is still kind of in its early days, but I am here to give you a brief explanation. Well, first mobile commerce is being referred to as m-Commerce in most instances so if you see or hear m-Commerce you will know they are talking about mobile. m-Commerce is the idea of creating mobile sites where users can go purchase your products. Basically, it is just having a site where users can use their smartphones, tablets, and other mobile web-capable devices to purchases products off without having to fire up their computer, call or go into one of your store locations. The idea is really simple and it is basically just expanding your business to mobile users.
Now there are a couple of different platforms you can utilize when establishing your m-Commerce site. These platforms consist of mobile applications, dedicated mobile, or responsive web design – known as RWD. If you choose the take the route of mobile applications you will design an application different from your current E-commerce site that users will download straight to their mobile device. These applications will allow users to bypass their mobile browsers by opening the application straight from their home screen. Mobile Applications are perfect for frequent customers to purchase their products in a logical manner. To move along you can also go down the route of establishing a dedicated mobile site. Dedicated mobile sites tend to have the same look and feel of a mobile application but can only be viewed on a mobile web browser. With dedicated mobile sites, users will avoid having to download sites along with always having to download new updates whenever you decide you need to update. Dedicated mobile sites and applications have similar aspects to them and they both limit the content you are allowed to have. We all know that content is the most important aspect of a site and we never want to limit our existing content. With this thought in mind comes responsive web design, which will never limit any of your content from your large computer screens all the way down to small cell phone screens. Responsive web design allows you to establish one site based on a flexible grid pattern that adjusts to the screen size it is being displayed on. RWD cuts down on the cost as well as the time of maintaining multiple websites that help you reach your target audiences. With RWD you only have to maintain one site that will not lose any content when moving from one platform to another. With all the different mobile platforms and designs you can choose from, you should look for the one that is a perfect fit for your needs. Each one has different pro’s and con’s to them and each target audience also likes a different setup, so knowing your target audience will also help when deciding which type of mobile commerce site is best for your organization.
Since we have established the different platforms and designs for m-Commerce sites now let’s talk about how m-Commerce is related to e-Commerce. We all know that e-Commerce stands for electric commerce which is the selling and purchasing of products and or services through electronic formats such as the internet or other computer sharing networks. With this idea in mind, we have just established that m-Commerce is a subsidiary or e-Commerce. They both come from the same notion of ideas that allows users to purchases items over the internet. Now they differ from the idea that e-Commerce sites are strictly for computer use and m-Commerce sites are strictly for mobile web use. But there actually is not really any difference at all to them. M-Commerce sites actually just allow mobile users to access your e-Commerce site in appropriate manners. This actually clears up a lot of confusion when thinking that they may be related but are two different things is not true, they are definitely related and m-Commerce is put in place to help e-Commerce out in the mobile world.
Now! Why and how do we use it are huge questions to ask when thinking about m-Commerce, and I am going to answer both those questions. First, we all want to know why we need to utilize m-Commerce and bring them into our e-Commerce family, well first of all 28% of the U.S. population use their mobile device as their primary way of accessing the web. In 2010 8.4% of individuals used their mobile devices as their primary way of purchasing items, within two years that number has jumped 9.9% to 18.3%. Every day more and more people are just using their mobile devices instead of firing up their computers and these numbers may seem low now but they are rising as the mobile world continues to grow. With the idea of mobile web use on the rise, it is becoming more and more appropriate that organizations’ that have e-Commerce sites jump into the mobile world. When it comes to the how it pretty much is establishing and designing a site for the mobile web. Users do not want to be frustrated when interacting with your site on a mobile device, they want to navigate, find what they are looking for, and purchase those items without going through the trouble of zooming, pinching, pulling, and extensive scrolling to find or view what your products or services. It comes down to finding that perfect mobile site that suits your organizations’ needs as well as your target audience needs, whether is a mobile application, dedicated mobile site, or responsive web design site your organization will gain more attention if its accessible on mobile devices. There are multiple reasons of how and why to utilize m-Commerce, but explaining them all would just take up to much time, so simply all you need to know is that m-Commerce is the way of the future, and utilizing it right now will benefit your organization in more ways than you can imagine because you will be the forerunner in your industry.
That’s it for episode 35th, I’m your host Mike McCormick and this has been brought to you by ArtVersion interactive agency. You may contact us on Facebook at Facebook.com/Artversion, on Twitter at Twitter.com/Artversion, and at Artversion.com. Thanks for Listening!