MOBILE COMMERCE

ADVANTAGES IN RETAIL INDUSTRY

AHMED JAVED RANA (BBA-M-2007-05) INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION. UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB

Definition: Mobile Commerce is any transaction, involving the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods and services, which is initiated and/or completed by using mobile access to computer-mediated networks with the help of an electronic device. M-Commerce or m Commerce, conducts commerce by using a mobile device, such as a mobile phone, a Personal digital assistant PDA, a Smartphone, or other emerging mobile equipment. Introduction: M-commerce can be B2B, B2C or any other of the classifications available with e-commerce world. M-commerce, although not fully mature, has the potential to make it more convenient for consumers to spend money and purchase goods and services. Since wireless devices travel with the consumer, the ability or perhaps temptation to purchase goods and services is always present. This is clearly a technique that can be used to raise revenue. Also, the successful future of mcommerce depends on the power of the underlying technology drivers and the attractiveness of m-commerce applications. Retail Shopping Industry: The consumer experience of walking into a store and buying something has not fundamentally changed in over 100 years. Meanwhile, e-commerce has carved out a considerable market despite the drawback of buying a product that cannot be seen, and is not instantly available. This success has been fueled by the development of technologies that create a more relevant and informational user experience, and by the emergence of effective, performance-based online marketing models. However, e-commerce is still one-seventh the size of offline retail and its growth rate is slowing. Real-life stores are here to stay.

M Commerce and Shopping Industry: Mobile shopping is breaking down the walls of traditional brick-and-mortar stores by giving consumers the ability to easily find a cheaper price in a store down the street. Dozens of smart phone applications, such allow consumers to look up a product by scanning it or typing in the bar code. The app then returns a list of prices for the same item at nearby stores or through online retailers. For the first time ever, consumers are routinely bringing computers into the store with them when they go shopping. This has created a unique opportunity to create a rich, interactive shopping experience drawing in part from the lessons learned in e-commerce and in part from new, unique opportunities made possible by location-based services, and also to create new, performance-based marketing models.

Advantages of using M Commerce for Shopping: Mobile vouchers, coupons and loyalty cards Mobile Commerce technology can also be used for the distribution of vouchers, coupons, and loyalty cards. These items are represented by a virtual token that is sent to the mobile phone. A customer while shopping presenting a mobile phone with one of these tokens at the point of sale receives the same benefits as if they had the traditional token. Stores may send coupons to customers for some discounts Mobile Purchase Merchants can accept orders from customers electronically, via the customer's mobile device. Merchant may deliver the catalog electronically, rather than mailing a paper catalog to the customer. Some merchants provide mobile websites that are customized for the smaller screen and limited user interface of a mobile device

Mobile marketing and advertising Mobile commerce, mobile marketing refers to marketing sent to mobile devices. Companies have reported that they see better response from mobile marketing campaigns than from traditional campaigns. Payment of bills (M billing) mobile commerce to allow customers to access account information and make transactions pay bills , such as purchasing stocks, remitting money. Intra business Applications Mobile commerce provides large number of Intra business applications, including inventory management, sales force automation, wireless voice, job dispatching, wireless office, and many more for a shopping outlet. Location is unimportant: M commerce enables consumers to order there desired products from anywhere as location is not an issue in mobile commerce. Reach a larger audience: M commerce enable consumers from all over the world to purchase things from wherever they want as the whole world is connected through Better customer service: By using mobile commerce retailers are able to provide better customer services as they get aware of the needs of their consumers. Target marketing: Mobile commerce helps in targeting the right people for the right product within no time as it time is not a constraint.

Providing wider reach: The age of mobile shopping is here to stay, consumers can access millions of products at the palm of their hands and retailers can increase their reach and overall sales.

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More value added services New forms of specialized stores and niche marketing Reducing transaction cost Streamline business processes Competitive pricing Reducing time between order & delivery

Conclusion: Mobile commerce is one of the growing field which has a lot of potential and if proper awareness and infrastructure is provided it would be a source of economic development.