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04 Mar 2010
During the last decade businesses in every sphere battled to differentiate themselves online, engaging in a virtual arms race to take advantage of the latest technological developments and win a greater market share.
The crowded online marketplace has left many small businesses searching for the next platform that can provide a competitive advantage for customer engagement.
Mobile handsets are a way to reach more consumers and monetise markets – perhaps in Africa or further afield, where everyone has a mobile, but many do not have a PC – previously inaccessible to e-commerce.
Businesses selling a product that is time-specific, such as event tickets, can add value by reminding customers of the booking via their handsets. If a platform to purchase tickets is also available for mobile, then businesses can satisfy their customers’ needs quickly, in one spot.
Customer interactions via mobiles also have the potential to take advantage of in-built handset technologies, such as cameras, GPS navigation and accelerometers. If a business can take advantage of handset features with specific applications, their brand will remain in a customer’s pocket 24/7.
It will take consumers more time to accept the premise of paying for goods with their mobile phone, just as it took time for online payments to be adopted in the last decade. Many consumers do not think mobile phone payments are secure, and some are simply unaware of the risks.
There are also few comprehensive security programs for mobile devices and, because phones are often carried on a person most of the time, they are more exposed to theft and misuse. Vendors will also need better security if more expensive or physical products are being offered via mobiles.
Many handsets are now capable of creating an internet browsing experience similar to that on the PC. Mobile transactions will only increase, as the technology is no longer a barrier to making mobile purchases and it will be increasingly easy to reach customers using mobile browsers, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, applications, 3G or high-speed data networks.
As an alternative, small businesses may wish to create their own mobile applications. Mobile applications have already changed the way businesses interact with consumers. Apple’s application store claims around two billion downloads of 100,000 applications by 60 million users. Some 200 million users have accessed Nokia’s Ovi Store and Google’s Android Marketplace.
Mobile applications can offer anything from an easier way to make purchases to useful services or simple entertainment. The level of interactivity and response times from mobile apps is fast and they can also harness individual handset features, such as the iPhone’s accelerometer.
The rise of mobile application stores and improving mobile internet capabilities are whetting the public appetite for m-commerce. Resellers should consider today how their customers could take advantage of mobile technologies.
Raam Thakrar is chief executive and co-founder of Touchnote
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