The rapid growth of mobile devices and the good Internet penetration rate have driven many brands of retail and electronic commerce to adopt strategies based on mobile. Indeed, it is not possible to use your laptop/desktop everywhere you go, but it is always possible to use easily your mobile devices (feature phone, smartphone, tablets) at any time for doing online purchases. This is one of the reasons many brands are launching their mobile applications and deploying a chatbot to assist consumers.

What is m-commerce?

M-commerce, (or mobile commerce) refers to the use of mobile devices to sell or buy goods and services online through the Internet. The mobile device types could be smartphones, tablets or any other devices such as watches, bracelets and so on. It means that customers do not require a laptop or desktop for this purpose. M-commerce includes many activities such as mobile banking, mobile shopping, mobile payments, and more. With the increase in the use of smartphones and Internet connectivity, m-commerce has become an important part of e-commerce activities.

Améliorez l’expérience d’achat des clients grâce aux sites et applications mobiles

Source : https://www.magestore.com/blog/mobile-commerce-what-why-and-how/

What are the different types of m-commerce?

M-commerce can be divided into three main categories which are: mobile shopping, mobile payments, and mobile banking.

Mobile Shopping: also known as Mobile Retailing, Mobile Shopping allows customers to shop online. It is consisting of browsing, finding, and purchasing a product online by using mobile devices.
Mobile Payments: also known as m-payments or Mobile Money Transfers, Mobile Payments are an alternative to the traditional types of payments, such as cash or credit/debit cards. Payments here are made via mobile apps.
Mobile Banking: popularly known as Net Banking, Mobile Banking is online banking. It is especially used by banks and financial institutes to send out alerts and account activities to customers through SMS, apps and chatbots.

Differences between m-commerce and e-commerce

M-commerce and e-commerce seem similar in that way both involve the features of selling and purchasing goods and services via the Internet. However, there are some differences between them:

Portability: m-commerce refers specifically to purchasing goods and services through mobile devices, while e-commerce refers to the purchases through Internet, regardless of the devices used.
Convenience: as customers use mobile devices for m-commerce purchases anytime/anywhere, it’s more convenient than e-commerce when customers use laptops/desktops to purchase.
Payment options: m-commerce is offering more B2B payment options through apps (Google Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, etc.) unlike e-commerce which has few payment options.
Personalization: it is easier to personalize an m-commerce shopping experience with data collected from a customer’s mobile device than an e-commerce one.

Benefits of m-commerce

M-commerce has a lot of benefits for merchants and wholesalers, including:

Increase reach: m-commerce allows merchants and wholesalers to reach a wider audience
Improve customer experience: it offers a mobile-friendly website and a seamless checkout process
Increased efficiency: m-commerce can streamline the ordering process for merchants and their customers, reducing the time and effort required to complete their transactions
Enhanced data collection and analysis: a possibility for merchants to have access to valuable data on customer behavior and preferences, which can improve marketing efforts.
New revenue source: a possibility for merchants to use m-commerce to offer new products and services which can help them to generate additional revenue.

Disadvantages of m-commerce

In addition to the above benefits, m-commerce includes the following disadvantages:

Fraud and security concerns: customers have regularly some trust issues regarding the safety of their private information. Also, sharing personal information, credit/debit card number and bank account details for online payments are a lot of concerns for them.
Connectivity Issues: the massive m-commerce obstacle is the Internet connection issue. Customers will face issues and get irritated when Internet connection quality is poor.
Absence of devices in rural areas in some countries: it is a big challenge in rural areas for people to buy smartphones because of a dearth of availability of mobile phones and Internet connection.