Mobile E- commerce
What is it?
Mobile e- commerce also known as mobile commerce or even m-commerce is one of the latest additions to the E-commerce concept. It started in the late 90’s but has been on a strong rise the last couple of years.
We use the term mobile e-commerce to describe online transactions using wireless devices (the most common are laptops, mobile phones, tablets) that can connect to the internet. The interaction with an online network is necessary to complete the purchase as there is a necessity to buy online and exchange money for it to be considered as an e-commerce transaction.
One of the most popular forms of mobile e-commerce is the use of the app-store for your smartphone. Here you can buy apps for your smartphone or tablet to use a certain feature. There are 3 different business models here. First there is the free-to-use or free-to-play model (this is not an e-commerce as there is no transaction of money to use all the features). The second business model involves a free download of the app which grants you a basic use of the appliance. However certain other features that you may want to use will have to be bought with money (this ranges from software to emoticons or in game additions for you mobile games. The third and final big cluster is one for which you have to pay to have any access to the app. A onetime fee will grant you access to all capabilities (this is sometimes also supplemented with an in-app-purchase part to buy further content, but these are a smaller contingent).
Examples here can be found by just turning on your smartphone, you quickly see that there are many different apps for many different uses. Many games use the free-to-play or in-app purchases concept. You can buy music and books for your phone by paying a standard amount. Or you can even buy emoticons for your online messenger services. However we are only at an early stage for mobile e-commerce. We are only at the start of an endless supply of possibilities.
Future of mobile e- commerce
The mobile e-commerce business is booming, when we look at internet expenditures this is one of the areas that has been growing the fastest over the last couple of years. According to a report from Custora by the end of 2014 the mobile e-commerce market should have a revenue of about 50 billion US dollars. This is still nothing compared to the global e-commerce market, but when you compare it to 2010 when the revenue was still a measly 2 billion US dollars than there is no denying that mobile e-commerce is on a rise.
However the question remains, will mobile e-commerce be able to overthrow the desktop variety of e-commerce anytime soon. There are two parts to the answer here. When we look at normal consumers than I would say yes there is a high possibility that this will someday happen. But as long as the B2B conversion rate keeps being so astronomically large I believe that desktop purchases will remain on top.
The mobile electronic commerce sector should not despair because many retail purchases are showing no sign of getting back on track. This means that mobile e-commerce is here to stay and that they still have a big part to play in the e-commerce landscape. And even if the landscape of commerce in general would change we believe that mobile e-commerce has conquered a special spot because of its easy website adaptation and often a user friendly interface that allows the consumer to e-shop in peace and quiet.
Case: “WeChat”
Background information
Often seen as the Chinese version of ‘WhatsApp’ the Chinese instant messaging and voice message application ‘WeChat’(Weixin, meaning micro-message in Chinese) was developed by Chinese company ‘Tencent’ in 2011. Since it’s humble beginning in mainland China, ‘WeChat’ has evolved to a user base of 600 million users as of October 2013. In China this is the most commonly used instant messaging service as off course ‘Facebook Messenger’ is blocked. However over the past 3 years ‘WeChat’ has evolved from a free-to-use model into an in-app-purchasing model. These purchases are however limited in Western countries but the Chinese version has many interesting mobile e-commerce practices that will be coming to the Western market in 2015 at the latest.
Mobile E-commerce
When you look at the free-to-download model we see a lot of similarities with American company ‘WhatsApp’. ‘WeChat’ uses a similar system when it comes to the instant messaging service, the free voice messaging service and the ability to share your pictures with friends. That was the basic startup of ‘WeChat’. But the last year this has evolved to a more mobile e-commerce based market where transactions can be made for in-app uses such as mini-games or special packs of emoticons (most of these packs will go for about 80 eurocents).
This may not seem like an interesting aspect for mobile e-commerce as it feels somewhat limited. However this changed in May of 2014 when Tencent launched a new addition to their app. They called it ‘WeChat Little Store’ and it allows store users to offer their goods through the online application (meant as a direct competitor to Alibaba). They basically gave businesses a chance to offer their products through they ‘WeChat’ account and the consumers are able to purchase these goods using their smartphones. In China this has been a very successful addition to the ‘WeChat’ application as the Chinese have no issue with buying and selling items through a social network system. A big part of the success for the business has been the way ‘WeChat’ handles all the administrative work. The businesses only have to price and place their products online ‘WeChat’ will handle all processing, logistics and payments.
A Western release is still being tested (because outside of China buying through a mobile platform is normal, but buying through a social media system still feels a bit awkward for many people). But the release is targeted for late 2014 or early 2015.
Mobile e- commerce also known as mobile commerce or even m-commerce is one of the latest additions to the E-commerce concept. It started in the late 90’s but has been on a strong rise the last couple of years.
We use the term mobile e-commerce to describe online transactions using wireless devices (the most common are laptops, mobile phones, tablets) that can connect to the internet. The interaction with an online network is necessary to complete the purchase as there is a necessity to buy online and exchange money for it to be considered as an e-commerce transaction.
One of the most popular forms of mobile e-commerce is the use of the app-store for your smartphone. Here you can buy apps for your smartphone or tablet to use a certain feature. There are 3 different business models here. First there is the free-to-use or free-to-play model (this is not an e-commerce as there is no transaction of money to use all the features). The second business model involves a free download of the app which grants you a basic use of the appliance. However certain other features that you may want to use will have to be bought with money (this ranges from software to emoticons or in game additions for you mobile games. The third and final big cluster is one for which you have to pay to have any access to the app. A onetime fee will grant you access to all capabilities (this is sometimes also supplemented with an in-app-purchase part to buy further content, but these are a smaller contingent).
Examples here can be found by just turning on your smartphone, you quickly see that there are many different apps for many different uses. Many games use the free-to-play or in-app purchases concept. You can buy music and books for your phone by paying a standard amount. Or you can even buy emoticons for your online messenger services. However we are only at an early stage for mobile e-commerce. We are only at the start of an endless supply of possibilities.
Future of mobile e- commerce
The mobile e-commerce business is booming, when we look at internet expenditures this is one of the areas that has been growing the fastest over the last couple of years. According to a report from Custora by the end of 2014 the mobile e-commerce market should have a revenue of about 50 billion US dollars. This is still nothing compared to the global e-commerce market, but when you compare it to 2010 when the revenue was still a measly 2 billion US dollars than there is no denying that mobile e-commerce is on a rise.
However the question remains, will mobile e-commerce be able to overthrow the desktop variety of e-commerce anytime soon. There are two parts to the answer here. When we look at normal consumers than I would say yes there is a high possibility that this will someday happen. But as long as the B2B conversion rate keeps being so astronomically large I believe that desktop purchases will remain on top.
The mobile electronic commerce sector should not despair because many retail purchases are showing no sign of getting back on track. This means that mobile e-commerce is here to stay and that they still have a big part to play in the e-commerce landscape. And even if the landscape of commerce in general would change we believe that mobile e-commerce has conquered a special spot because of its easy website adaptation and often a user friendly interface that allows the consumer to e-shop in peace and quiet.
Case: “WeChat”
Background information
Often seen as the Chinese version of ‘WhatsApp’ the Chinese instant messaging and voice message application ‘WeChat’(Weixin, meaning micro-message in Chinese) was developed by Chinese company ‘Tencent’ in 2011. Since it’s humble beginning in mainland China, ‘WeChat’ has evolved to a user base of 600 million users as of October 2013. In China this is the most commonly used instant messaging service as off course ‘Facebook Messenger’ is blocked. However over the past 3 years ‘WeChat’ has evolved from a free-to-use model into an in-app-purchasing model. These purchases are however limited in Western countries but the Chinese version has many interesting mobile e-commerce practices that will be coming to the Western market in 2015 at the latest.
Mobile E-commerce
When you look at the free-to-download model we see a lot of similarities with American company ‘WhatsApp’. ‘WeChat’ uses a similar system when it comes to the instant messaging service, the free voice messaging service and the ability to share your pictures with friends. That was the basic startup of ‘WeChat’. But the last year this has evolved to a more mobile e-commerce based market where transactions can be made for in-app uses such as mini-games or special packs of emoticons (most of these packs will go for about 80 eurocents).
This may not seem like an interesting aspect for mobile e-commerce as it feels somewhat limited. However this changed in May of 2014 when Tencent launched a new addition to their app. They called it ‘WeChat Little Store’ and it allows store users to offer their goods through the online application (meant as a direct competitor to Alibaba). They basically gave businesses a chance to offer their products through they ‘WeChat’ account and the consumers are able to purchase these goods using their smartphones. In China this has been a very successful addition to the ‘WeChat’ application as the Chinese have no issue with buying and selling items through a social network system. A big part of the success for the business has been the way ‘WeChat’ handles all the administrative work. The businesses only have to price and place their products online ‘WeChat’ will handle all processing, logistics and payments.
A Western release is still being tested (because outside of China buying through a mobile platform is normal, but buying through a social media system still feels a bit awkward for many people). But the release is targeted for late 2014 or early 2015.