What M-commerce is

M-commerce or mobile commerce is a form of digital commerce that advertises and markets to users of mobile technology rather than traditional e-commerce or electronic commerce methods. As mobile device operating systems and networks evolve, their functionality has enabled multiple applications that can also offer business services. This m-commerce service platform is a digital venue for businesses seeking another way to access consumers.

Mobile phones are available to individuals at times where desktop and laptop computers are not. Not advertising to existing and potential clients via m-commerce represents a loss of market access in a market that is increasing in size.  Global Business Insights, a business intelligence firm, identifies four key areas in which m-commerce holds high potential; banking, gaming, travel and retail. Mashable, an Information Technology news reporting firm has also identified banking as an m-commerce trend in addition to ticketing, and retail shopping.

Markets available through m-commerce vary by nation according to the Wireless Center. For example, in Japan, 77 percent of Internet enabled mobile users make use of email via their mobile hand-held devices whereas in North America, that number is 27 percent.  The numbers for North American mobile device users in terms of mobile banking, mobile retail and mobile games are 6 percent, 3 percent and 7 percent respectively according to the wireless center. These percentages may seem small, but if the number of mobile of Internet enabled mobile phones is in the millions, which it is, the market is sizable and growing.

Market observers of m-commerce have pointed out a few obstacles exist to the successful integration of m-commerce with mobile phone use. Specifically, these obstacles include things like screen size, memory limitations,  limited interface, and infrastructure.  It is evident with the transition to newer generations of mobile phone technology that these obstacles are being addressed one by one. For example, touch screen mobile phones can increase the speed of use over push button phones.

Developments that enable improved m-commerce include open source mobile phone operating systems have led to assimilation of new mobile software applications. Additionally, both mobile hardware and infrastructure has advanced enough to allow mobile global positioning (GPS), video streaming, music downloads, and access to information services. Mobilethinking, an m-commerce marketing consulting firm has quoted Morgan Stanley as estimating by 2014, 74% of North America will have access to 3G or 3rd generation mobile technology. This serves as an indicator of where the market will be spending more time regardless of the generation of mobile technology.

In terms of sales via m-commerce, additional factors apply. For example, what mobile service providers give clients the best access to mobile Internet, and which mobile handset operating systems have the most market exposure and potential.When developing an m-commerce campaign it is a good idea to first identify if one's business services are suited for m-commerce and how cost effectively an m-commerce sales effort is likely to provide a positive rate of return in one to five years.  

To illustrate further, if a business provides retail goods, would an investment in a Symbian OS compatible shopping interface be worth it? For those businesses at the leading edge of mobile trends such as banking, the decision is easier, but for other businesses that have to compete for limited mobile time and space, obtaining revenue via m-commerce points to higher marketing innovation and lower cost advertising integration.

Sources:

1. http://bit.ly/dpumqt (Global Business Insights)
2. http://bit.ly/bPtg47 (Wireless Center)
3. http://bit.ly/da739F (Mashable)
4. http://bit.ly/cjMfPW (Bowels)
5. http://bit.ly/a2f9uU (Mobilethinking)

The Future of M-Commerce in the Marketplace

The future of m-commerce in the marketplace is more than likely an expanding potential market. With mobile phones individuals who would otherwise be less exposed to the marketplace have a new tool by which to access that marketplace. 

Those  without televisions or computers may find mobile technology to be more practical and useful than traditional forms of information technology.  Key factors in the reach of m-commerce is the distribution of mobile phones throughout the world in addition to a mobile infrastructure that is cost effective to utilize.

At its core, m-commerce provides a future mechanism by which a growing demographic can keep in touch with the world, and be informed by the world. According to Data Monitor, a business information service, internet sales in the United Kingdom conducted via mobile phones is expected to double in approximately three years time. Company's that fail to access this market will be missing an opportunity for a potentially larger market share. This opportunity i.e. future m-commerce via mobile technology will include 80 percent of the U.S. population by 2013 per a report by Marketresearch.com.

Mobile technology is also reported to be the most widely distributed form of consumer technology worldwide according to a Cornell University study by Allision Gertzog and Nicole Wolf. This study quotes the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as claiming 4.6 billion mobile subscriptions were being used at the end of 2009.  

Gertzog and Wolf also claim mobile communications is not only  the technology of choice among different international demographic groups, but also a medium by which those persons interact via services. Thus, mobile technology serves as the foundation for the future of m-commerce and in some cases an existing market.

In order for m-commerce to realize its future marketplace potential mobile operating systems must be compatible with business mobile applications and business computing must be able to store and transmit transaction information securely. This presents a technological entry barrier for some businesses. However, mobile phone applications aren't the only way to access this market because businesses already equipped with an internet sales mechanism may benefit from the internet access made possible via wireless access protocol (WAP).

The technology of m-commerce is also likely to develop the marketplace further. For example the use of 3d-barcodes to save mobile phone users time accessing web information may become more widespread. 

Short message servicing (SMS) may also increase in volume and investment into mobile broadband infrastructure will help support an increasing amount of data transfer via mobile devices. As mobile phone service providers and businesses become more in alignment, the cost infrastructure of providing m-commerce services may also improve allowing consumers to feel m-commerce is an affordable way to perform transactions.

The future of m-commerce marketplaces aren't a business pathway paved with gold as the infrastructural necessity indicates. This is further illustrated in a report by the Research Institute for Telecommunications and Information Marketing. For example, in a study by RITIM, additional barriers to a future m-commerce marketplace are technological know how, and import restrictions that affect the supply demand relationship. 

In other words, just because a mobile infrastructure exists and millions of users have access to the mobile market doesn't necessarily incorporate the capacity or willingness to engage in m-commerce. In such instances the future of m-commerce may depend heavily on national economic policy, commercial development of the m-commerce market both in terms of infrastructure, affordability and practicality.

Sources:

1. http://bit.ly/gfKYnh (Cornell: Gertzog and Wolf)
2. http://bit.ly/ax2v2v  (Market Research.com)
3. http://bit.ly/9dLOoF (Data Monitor)
4. http://bit.ly/fgvuo6   (RITIM)