Mobility today is not just a fad. It is a mega trend, which is driving not just personal, but enterprise way of working. The growth in this technology adoption is faster than any other ever before. This mega trend has impacted the world in a big way. The way business is done today is the result of the rapid evolution of mobility in the past 5 years. One such important business impact has been the rapid evolution of mobile commerce, or m-commerce. It's growth in the future is determined by some key trends, each of which contributes to the larger wave.
1) Mobile data is growing, fast - The rapid increase in the mobile traffic has raised the interest of enterprises, especially the business to consumer organizations like retail, insurance, and banking. Most of these businesses are investing, and heavily at that, in mobile apps that allow users to execute financial transactions over their mobile devices. As these applications grow, so will m-commerce.
2) Mobile marketing is growing - Mobile devices are very personal gadgets. They are an extension of the users' personalities. They are the center of the users' attention for most part of an given day. It is this personal nature of these devices, that lures the marketers, and they clamor for a piece of time and attention on them.
However, there are technical and social challenges that they need to surmount before they can achieve success. Firstly, there is device and technology fragmentation. There are multiple platforms, screen sizes, resolutions, and browser types. Designing for such a complex and diverse environments is not as simple as putting up a website. Secondly, with the widespread audience, you have to learn to utilize the location and time zone information to catch the target at the right time. Lastly, you can't overload the user with information. You need to keep it short and simple (KISS).
Despite these obstacles, marketers are investing heavily in mobile marketing. What does it tell us? It tells us that there is a positive ROI to these initiatives. This means m-commerce is profitable
3) Location-Based Services (LBS) - According to Google the most popular search queries are geographical. Before making a trip to the car, users check where they can get a particular service or product. This gives the local businesses a great opportunity to locate and service their potential customers. They can use the search data to identify the location of their next store, and see if geographical proximity influences buying decisions.
4) The inundation of applications - With global downloads reaching billions, mobile apps have fundamentally changed the way users go about their lives, including their financial transactions. More purchases today happen over smart devices. The numerous functionalities provided by these apps create a very conducive environment for the propagation of mobile commerce.
5) Virtual Wallets - Mobile wallets are the next big thing in finance. The NFC enabled devices can effectively replace your wallet, allowing you to make payments just by waving your mobile phones at reader devices at retail locations. There are also the unique barcode scanning and reward cards that can be stored in your device.
Final words
Mobile phone market is growing, and so are the applications of the device. M-commerce provides a lucrative sector for both the developers and the corporates. As the technology matures, we will see more and more interesting applications of the smart devices in the financial sector.