Which products for mobile ecommerce?posted in ecommerce by admin / 0 Comments
As smart phones continue to increase in market share the increase in the number of applications to provide mcommerce is rapidly increasing. However online retailers seem unsure as how to best prepare for the migration of traditional online customers to this new platform.
Retailers don’t really need to worry about this just yet unless they perceive that they are operating in a sector that will have some of the earliest adopters to the mobile commerce platform.
The first purchasers of course will be the early technology adopters, keen to try the new technology first and with little fear of security risks that might deter less savvy customers.
So this brings us to our first product grouping for mcommerce: Technology. This is a no-brainer. With technology being a highly commoditised product type quite often price is the only concern. By having a mobile friendly bar-code scan enabled mcommerce shop retailers can expect to pick up some of the earliest mobile purchases. This will also leave them perfectly poised to periodically update their mobile sales platform.
Sticking with commoditised products it would be wise to follow the logic that whichever products began to sell first on the web will also sell early on mobile. This brings in books, DvD’s and gifts.
I will leave clothing to a separate point because this is where mcommerce will come into it’s own. By having the ability to scan and order goods through smart phones there will be a definite increase in the number of physical shop browsers who can use high-street stores to check the physical attributes of a product before ordering for a better price online (or on mobile as the case may be).
By having your products show up after a bar-code scan from a smart-phone you can greatly increase the instances of impulse purchase. Previously a consumer would have to remember to search for a product when at a laptop or PC, perhaps having seen it out in town earlier. Now the ability is there at your restaurant table to scan your bottle of wine and order a case online or any number of similar situations.
The other basics that apply to online selling will generally transfer to mobile with some alterations. Readability for mobile may need to be tweaked with a reduction in the average syllable count in product descriptions, image sizes reduced, shopping carts specially adapted to charge mobile phone billing or to tie in with NFC capabilities.
Of course the non physical type products are already selling well through mobile applications including gaming and music. It is when everyday purchases migrate to mcommerce that we will see the this platform com into its own.
