M-commerce: Adapt your E-Commerce to Cell Phones

E-commerce has grown exponentially in recent years, and that is why adapting it to the most commonly used devices has become a necessity to attract new potential customers. M-commerce is the channel with the highest growth rate and more possibilities for the future in the world of online sales, so in today’s article, the essay writer will tell you what it is, what its benefits are, and how to implement it within your strategy.

 

What is Mobile Commerce?

M-commerce, mobile commerce, or mobile commerce refers to all transactions that are made through mobile devices (including tablets) and that have Internet access. These can be done through a browser or through an application.

It is often thought that m-commerce is limited to sales through online stores, but this is not the case. There are different types of mobile commerce categorized as follows:

• Mobile shopping: This category includes all online stores that have the option of selling through mobile devices.
• Mobile banking: This category includes all online banking applications for transfers and transactions.
• Mobile payments: More and more businesses are accepting payments through mobile devices using NFC technology. Transfers through Bizum, Verse and contactless payments in apps such as Google and Apple Pay fall into this type of e-commerce.

 

Differences Between Ecommerce and Mobile Commerce

The terms e-commerce and m-commerce do not compete. Mobile e-Commerce is a strategy within global e-commerce and should be considered as such since the target audience is not the same and consumer habits are different.

E-commerce focuses on an overall shopping experience, while m-commerce creates a strategy focused on providing a unique shopping funnel through mobile devices.

 

Some Figures on m-Commerce

Mobile devices play an important role in the e-commerce sector, and the figures prove it:

According to a report made by Statista on the most used electronic devices between 2016 and 2021, you can see the growth in the use of smartphones doubling the figure over the years. Contrary to what happens with desktop computers, that decrease over time.

This demonstrates the great opportunity for businesses to optimize their mobile commerce and gain more audience and revenue. However, a careful and detailed adaptation has to be made as users are becoming more and more demanding about the quality of the sites they visit. Factors such as personalization, customer service, and user experience are essential to retaining our potential customers.

 

6 Tips to Adapt your Web Site to m-Commerce

The first thing you should do before optimizing your m-commerce is to find the ideal solution for the type of project you have. You can create a mobile website, a responsive website, or if your type of business requires it, a web application. Once you have defined it, you can resort to these tips:

 

1. Take care of the speed

The loading speed is one of the most important factors on the web. According to previous studies, a customer can abandon your store if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. Therefore, before launching your mobile commerce, test and modify what is necessary for your mobile commerce to be optimal.

If you are designing a mobile website and use the desktop version as the element to replicate, we recommend omitting the subpages that have little relevant content for the user, as these will be the ones that may jeopardize the performance of your website.

 

2. Simplify the menu

Do not use the desktop menu in your web application or responsive page if it contains drop-down sections and a lot of information. Users behave differently on mobile devices and want the process to be short and easy to use.

Let me give you an example: If on your desktop page you have a menu with the main category “woman,” subcategory “dresses,” and a drop-down in that subcategory “news, featured offers,” it is preferable that in your mobile version you only have the category woman and dresses. Within this category, you will be able to create filters that include the other details along with data such as size, color, etc.

 

3. Fewer elements, more interaction

Create applications or web pages with more effective content. Remember that the screen is much smaller, and the more irrelevant information you have (both text and image), the more scrolling the user will require and the less chance of conversion you will have. Your sales target should be the first thing that appears so that in two or three clicks, the user can get to the payment of your product.

 

4. Touch screen usability

The particularity of mobile devices has to do with the absence of a mouse in exchange for the use of the thumb. Therefore, it is important that elements such as buttons (CTA) are located in visible places and with an adequate size so that the user does not need to enlarge the screen. Buttons such as add to cart, mark as favorite or should be the ones that have more space when the user clicks on them.

Remember to use bright colors to highlight those things that you want the user to see at a glance, use elements such as the search button to take your user quickly to what they want to see, as well as enable the autocomplete option. Anything that can save the user time will increase the likelihood of conversion.

 

5. Optimize the shopping cart

If you work on optimizing all of the above elements but have a shopping cart that is difficult to use, the rate of abandonment will increase. Check that its operation is easy, that they can see all the products they have added in a clear way, and that they have the possibility of eliminating or modifying any factor without having to return to the product.

If you have a mobile application and a website, it is important that you allow data synchronization. That is, if a user adds items to their cart from the app, they should be able to finalize the purchase on the web and vice versa.

 

6. Include push notifications

Within your email marketing strategy, it is important that you include push notifications about item availability, abandoned carts, discounts, and new prices. If the user has synchronized his email to his cell phone, he will be able to perform any of these actions automatically and enter them again into your sales funnel.

 

Benefits of Mobile Commerce

If the numbers continue to advance as they have been doing, it is safe to say that mobile commerce will surpass e-Commerce. Consumers depend more than ever on their mobile devices, and that is where companies should be aiming for the future. If you are still not sure, here are some of the benefits of applying this methodology.

• One-click shopping: The adaptation of mobile commerce to different platforms has made shopping faster and easier. A clear example of this is the implementation of the purchase button on social networks such as Instagram, which allows you to manage the order without leaving the tool.
• Mobile search attracts more sales: According to Google, 9 out of 10 searches performed via mobile have triggered an action in which more than half have ended in a purchase. This means that users who search via mobile have a greater interest in purchasing.
• Geolocation: Having m-commerce includes the ability to track via GPS. This allows companies to target particular customers and tailor their promotions to specific regions.
• Omnichannel: You open the possibility for the user to find you on any device, whenever they want, whenever they want.

As you can see, m-commerce is growing, and it is a great opportunity to start implementing it in your business. When you start implementing small changes, you will start to see the results.

We hope you found this article on techniques to adapt your online store to m-commerce useful. If you want to go deeper into e-commerce and learn techniques to improve your sales conversion, join our Master in e-Commerce. You will learn how to make the most of your online media to gain new customer loyalty. We are waiting for you!