M-commerce - What is it and is it important
Jon Richardson • November 15, 2020
Mcommerce - The best kept secret in town
We are all familiar with the term ecommerce and if you have been following my blog you will know that the UK is the 3rd largest ecommerce market in the world, behind China and the USA. But fewer people are familiar with the term mcommerce.
So, I thought I would look at mcommerce in this blog to answer a few questions and bust a few myths.
What is mcommerce?
Mcommerce or mobile commerce is sales made online via a mobile device be it a smartphone or a tablet. That could be a new pair of trainers from a mobile friendly website, paying for parking on an app, a takeaway ordered from Deliveroo, a ride on Uber or a pint at Weatherspoons paid for on their App.
How big is mcommerce?
It’s BIG, but let’s look at some stats that will allow us to understand just how big.
- Sales from mobile devices makes up 43% of all ecommerce sales in the UK.
- Mobile Commerce has seen a 40% increase since 2017.
- 73% of adults in the UK have a smartphone.
- More than 50% of online traffic is from a mobile device
- Mcommerce contributes over £60bn to the UK econnomy
Mobiles make shopping extremely accessible. Rarely are our phones out of arms reach and with them we have access to millions of businesses across the globe. That equates to consistent and increased sales. Once your customers get in the habit of purchasing from you from their mobile they will continue to do so time and time again.
M-commerce can be a major income stream for retailers and hospitality companies. We are increasingly reliant on our smartphones and Gen Zers typically have a mobile first philosophy. As such mcommerce will inevitably become the preferred method for online shopping within the next five years.
Social media sites such as Facebook, and Pinterest have introduced "buy buttons" that let shoppers make purchases without having to leave the platform. And many retailers have introduced one-click checkout to their sites. This requires shoppers to enter their payment information once, so they can use the one-click option to make purchases without having to re-enter it. Making it ever easier to make purchases.
Where Is the opportunity?
Again, let us look at some statistics to help us understand the current picture:
- 99.9% of businesses in the UK are SMEs, that is approximately 5.9 million companies.
- 40-60% of these companies do not have a website
- Only 30% of small business websites are mobile friendly
- 66% of ecommerce time is consumed on a mobile device
- 90% of time on mobiles is spent on Apps
There are some obvious industries where a good mobile friendly website and mobile apps have been proven to increase sales. The hospitality sector is an obvious one, you only have to type food into Google Play or the App Store to see the prevalence of restaurants and pubs that have an app. Pubs, restaurants, cafes and takeaways all enjoy increased customer loyalty and frequency of purchases when they have a mobile app.
Hair and beauty salons and other services companies that also sell products can also benefit from their own App. Not only can the app provide a booking facility, but it can also incorporate a shop where customers can buy that hair conditioner or moisturiser that they love. Importantly they can do this at any time and from anywhere, not just when they are in your salon.
By having a mobile friendly website you are immediately differentiating yourself against your competition and opening up a much wider audience for your business. However, a mobile app will exponentially improve your ecommerce and mcommerce sales.
Aren’t Mobile Apps Expensive?
The answer here is Yes and No!
Yes! if you have a bespoke App coded from the ground up you will incur significant costs. No, if you use an app builder platform then the cost becomes very affordable.
Technology has made apps much more accessible and commercially viable for small companies in the same way websites are. There are many that provide a good option in this respect, Shopify, Wordpress, Wix, Woocommerce to name a few.
However, it does take time to both build and manage an ecommerce site or mobile app, not to mention the learning curve involved. This is a luxury most small businesses owners do not have which is why there are specialists in this field.
It is also important to realise that whilst solutions like Shopify, Wix, Woocommerce and Wordpress appear to be cost effective alternatives there are always costs to consider. The upfront design & build fees, hosting, technical support and the inevitable ongoing changes all cost most money.
At Overt Digital Media we provide websites and mobile apps for a single monthly payment with no upfront costs. This fee includes the design and build, hosting, technical support, access to the content management system (CMS) and ongoing changes. This allows small companies to budget and forecast their costs year on year.
We are extremely proud to have helped many start-ups and small companies to implement an ecommerce element to their business and even a number of individuals that have started or ramped up their ‘side hustle’. You can see many examples of these by clicking here.
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