Some may mix e-commerce and m-commerce terms thinking that are aimed at the same objectives, though they’re both used for buying and selling goods. In this article, we’ll look into how they differ, and which one is the next stage in online shopping.
Key Differences
Both terms refer to buying and selling goods over the Internet, but customers use different devices. Desktop computers and laptops are typically required in e-commerce, while in m-commerce — wireless mobile devices.
Below are the top differences between e-commerce and mobile commerce.
Mobility and Accessibility
Mobile purchases are easier to perform compared to shopping experience via an e-commerce website. Customers can browse goods and pay for them with their smartphones wherever they can access the Internet, which makes mcommerce much more accessible for customers.
Adding seamless search bar to your ecommerce site
You should use ecommerce search like Expertrec which loads within milliseconds and provides lightning fast results. Ecommerce store owner can also engage their customers through personalized search features of expertrec and everytime when users interact, it creates an experience to improve the possibility of conversions. Search bar often come up with functionalities like Facets and filters, Voice Search, Personalization search, NLP enabled search, Autocomplete, Ads free search etc.
Push Notifications
Another thing that makes mobile commerce and e-commerce different is how retailers reach their target audience. Compared to promotional letters sent to the email list, push notifications seem to be less intrusive and more efficient. Why?
Promotional letters are often delivered to a spam folder or can simply be ignored by recipients. With push notifications, retailers can reach users instantly through their mobile phones. Indeed, recent statistics prove the effectiveness of push notifications by reporting an opt-in rate of 67.5%.
Location Tracking
The location tracking metric used by m-commerce is more precise. E-commerce shoppers are only tracked by the IP addresses of their computers, while m-commerce can take advantage of positional tracking technologies like GPS or Wi-Fi connections. The accuracy of location tracking allows retailers to more precisely target users by sending them alerts of promotions and discounts.
Payment Options
While shopping on an e-commerce website, customers can only pay with credit cards. Mobile shopping apps support more payment gateways such as mobile banking, credit cards, call rates, and others.
Security
Mobile commerce apps apply additional security features such as two-factor authentication, face recognition, fingerprints, etc. In times of growing cyber attacks, it has been important as never before to protect user personal information. Compared to m-commerce applications, e-commerce websites still mostly use username-password protection.
Why Mcommerce Is on the Rise
The rise of mobile commerce is unprecedented. It has arisen from how people use smartphones and other mobile devices. According to OuterBox, 79% of smartphone users purchased something via mobile phones in the past 6 months. Statistics show that the number of m-commerce sales has been increasing and doesn’t tend to decrease. According to Business Insiders, mobile transactions hit an estimated $284 billion or 45% of e-commerce at the end of 2020.
With the number of smartphones used worldwide, it isn’t surprising that global mobile digital ads spending is expected to hit $240 billion by 2022. Moreover, many brands have leveraged the fact that consumers are getting more dependent on their mobile gadgets. For example, retailers and bankers launched mobile shopping and payment apps that are so popular now. So, why is mobile commerce the future?
mCommerce Benefits for Retailers
Better Customer Experience
Mobile commerce applications provide a shopping experience to customers as they don’t need a laptop or desktop to make a purchase and transaction. They just need a smartphone and a good internet connection, accelerating the buyer journey. As a result, leads that came from mobile searches are converted to clients faster.
Opportunities to Reach New Markets
Using only e-commerce channels is limited when it comes to reaching potential customers. With the increasing number of smartphone users, mobile commerce is an opportunity to explore new markets. According to Statista, the number of smartphone users is expected to reach 7,516 billion by 2026.
Easy Store Access
Thanks to mobile devices, customers can access online stores from any location, no matter if they are at home or on their way home. They don’t need to log in to their accounts on desktops while they are at home, but simply take their smartphone and buy in a few clicks.
How to Create a Mobile App for your Retail Business?
Well, there are two options to choose from — build it in-house or outsource it — and both have pros and cons.
- If you have your staff team of UX/UI designers, developers, and QA engineers, you can create a mobile retail app with your in-house resources. Still, if you lack some specialists, you’ll have to go through recruiting, onboarding, and project development processes. And that’s not taking into account salaries, employment taxes, paid vacations, and other costs. So, what’s an alternative option?
- Another way is to outsource mobile app development to a software development company with relevant expertise in online commerce. They will develop your app at all stages and deliver a ready-to-use mobile solution, taking responsibility for all processes associated with application development.