E-commerce has seen explosive growth in recent years. However, where that commerce occurs is shifting away from computers and towards mobile devices.
Just look at Cyber Monday 2020, when mobile commerce accounted for 37% of all sales. It will only go up from there, as mobile devices advance and people shift more towards buying online in general.â€
Related Article: Although BF/CM has passed this year, its never too early to prepare for next year. Be sure to read our 7 Tips For Early Black Friday and Cyber Monday Prep to position your business for success in Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2021.â€
Anyways, targeting mobile users with your marketing will set you apart in the near future. Read on to learn more about mobile commerce, its advantages, and how to do well with it.
What is M-Commerce?
M-commerce is shorthand for mobile commerce. Mobile commerce is essentially e-commerce conducted through mobile devices, such as smartphones or tablets.
Mobile commerce is likely increasing in popularity for a few reasons.
First of all, devices have become sufficiently advanced to rival the e-commerce shopping experience on a computer. Many shoppers appreciate the convenience of pulling their phone out of their pocket and buying instead of heading over to their computer and booting it up—especially when the phone is just as easy to use.
Of course, mobile devices can also be taken on the go more easily, creating a more convenient shopping experience. People can buy things whether theyre at home, on the subway to work, dining out, and more.
Its also worth noting that many brands are creating their own m-commerce apps, making the mobile shopping experience much more intuitive. Shoppers can go beyond a mobile-optimized site and hop right into the app to knock out their shopping.
For example, Amazon has an app thats much easier to use on a mobile device than their website. Big brick-and-mortar brands like Walmart have their own apps as well, making it easy to shop entirely online. Some customers even use the app to check item availability before going into their local store if they cant wait for an item to ship.
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M-Commerces Future
As mentioned earlier, mobile commerces only direction is skyward as we move into the future. Mobile e-commerce is set to reach $3.56 trillion in 2021, several trillion more than where it was just a few years ago.
Types of Mobile Commerce
When you hear mobile commerce, you probably imagine buying products online. However, thats only one form of mobile commerce. There are many others:
Nowadays, the lines between mobile commerce and general commerce are blurring. The discussion is shifting away from the mobile availability of certain forms of commerce in favor of optimizing the mobile experience for users.
Advantages of Mobile Commerce
Mobile commerce offers numerous advantages to brands.
Accessibility for Customers
The main benefit customers see is accessibility. They can take their shopping everywhere they go, thanks to their smartphone and sometimes their tablet.
For you, this means your customers have more chances to see your brands marketing online. They also have more opportunities to buy from you. In the past, if they got the impulse to buy something from you while out and about, theyd have to wait until getting home. By then, the urge may fade. Today, they can simply pull out their phone and buy.
Better Marketing Timing and Targeting
Once again, you have a constant, low-level presence in your customers life. You can sell to them no matter where they are.
With this in mind, you can use the environment they might be in at any given time throughout the day to your advantage. For example, imagine you are a fitness brand. If your audience hits the gym between 5 and 7 pm, you can target them with your ads in that timeframe. Plus, they will be in a fitness mindset, meaning they might be more primed to buy fitness products.
Another example would be later at night. If theyre on their phone before bed, and you sell sleep-related items (such as pillows or blankets), perhaps set your ads for that time.
Mobile commerce allows you to target based on a variety of other factors as well, such as: