Mobile commerce or m-commerce is an increasingly popular platform for many reasons. It is in fact touted to be the next generation of e-commerce. Due to this rising popularity, a number of companies are eager to jump onto the m-commerce bandwagon in order to offer their customers a quicker and easier access to their brand. With more than 66% of the worldwide population having access to mobile phones and apps, m-commerce seems to be the best option for businesses to expand their brand’s reach while acquiring new customers. M-commerce platforms offer sellers a great opportunity to effectively sell their products across a huge market.
Owing to the various proven advantages that mCommerce brings to both large and small business by offering the same functionality as a desktop app, is it on the trajectory to being the preferred selling platform in future.
Faster purchases
Having a mobile app rather than a mobile version of your website has become quite a necessity nowadays. Mobile apps tend to be at least 1.5 times faster when it comes to loading date and search results as compared to websites. This in turn results in great customer experience and faster purchases which thereby increases the overall sales of the products. After the launch of their app, Amazon brought about the concept of intuitive mobile browsing and increased their customers from 43 million to 67 million within a span of just a year.
Better Customer Service
We are at a juncture where customers smarter, quicker and demanding. In light of this, offer great customer service is something that cannot be ignored. When it comes to m-commerce, the best way to ensure a happy customer is to provide a mobile app that is fast, interactive, easy to use. Offering a smooth customer experience will in turn bring up sales and conversion rates. Including exclusive features like discounts, notifications, coupons and clear payment gateways are sure shot ways to retain customer loyalty.
Instant Direct Customer Connection
Unlike websites, m-commerce apps offers a whole new level of personal engagement. While the use of email marketing for seasonal sales and new product announcements are a great method to promote ecommerce websites, push notifications is the best possible medium of communication for m-commerce apps. Instant messages about any sale, discount or offer on their favourite brands makes users a lot more inclined to visit the app with a simple click. With this level of personal communication directly from the store to the customer, brand loyalty is more likely to develop. More and more users welcome these messages that keeps them updated about the exclusive discounts or offers.
Diminishes Marketing Costs
Investing in an m-commerce app can help cut down on a major chunk of your marketing campaign expenses. Since you will be able to reach your customers directly and quickly, there is no longer a need for other collaterals such as SMS marketing, printed newsletters or brochures. In fact, most of the marketing of your business will be done by the users themselves if your app has social media integration. Ads placed within your app can also provide you with additional revenue. Compared to a physical store, the maintenance, development and support charges are significantly lower when it comes to a mobile app.
Deeper Analytics
The right set of data is crucial in order to truly understand you customers and maintain the success of your business. Basic information like name, age, sex, location, email and shopping history and buying pattern can easily be collected via mobile apps using set user analytics of varying levels. By thoroughly analysing the rich customer data, shopping patterns and trends from the data gathered from your m-commerce app, you can create a better customer experience by anticipating their needs more effectively. Being familiar with your customer’s patterns and trends equals increased sales and a prosperous business.
Geolocation /Store Navigation
Personalized location-based notifications can be hugely beneficial for increased sales. Location services can help navigate your user to the stores within their vicinity. This makes it easier for the customer who will be inclined to make quicker purchases. In store navigation is also growing popular in newer apps. Users can easily track their location of their desired products within the store without having to ask for help. Brands like Home Depot has made use of this facility by adding store maps as well as aisle maps with over 40,000 items within each store. Features like these greatly increases the chance of repeated store visits as well as better branding options.