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Mobile Commerce (also known as M-Commerce, mCommerce or U-Commerce, owing to the ubiquitous nature of its services) is the ability to conduct commerce, using a mobile device e.g. a mobile phone ( or cell phone), a PDA, a smartphone while on the move,and other emerging mobile equipment,like dashtop mobile devices. In an academic definition (Tiwari and Buse, 2007, p. 33) it is characterized in the following terms:
"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."[citation needed]
Contents |
History
In 2000 and 2001 hundreds of billions of dollars in licensing fees were paid by European telecommunications companies for UMTS and other 3G licenses. The high prices paid were due to the expectation of highly profitable mobile commerce applications. These mobile commerce applications would be delivered through broadband mobile telephony provided by 2.5G and 3G cellphone services.
PDAs and cellular phones have become so popular that many businesses are beginning to use m-commerce as a more efficient method of reaching and communicating with their customers. Although technological trends and advances are concentrated in Asia and in Europe, Canada and the United States are also beginning to experiment with early-stage m-commerce.
With the forthcoming spectrum auction by the FCC, scheduled for early 2008, there will be major auction rule changes that will create more consumer options while reducing control by telecom operators as "network gatekeepers".
The less price sensitive early adopters from the 13-25 age group could drive the initial growth. Growth in mobile products such as ringtones, games, and graphics may displace spending on many traditional youth products such as music, clothing, and movies. This would radically change the dynamics of all visual entertainment and product-service distribution world wide so marketers could target end-users with diverse youth mind sets. The youth market has historically shown rapid viral growth which later gains acceptance in the mass market. While emerging markets are proving to be the ideal solution for sustaining revenues in the face of falling ARPU average price per unit, analysts say the rapid commercialization of 3G services is likely to open up new opportunities in developed markets.
In order to exploit the m-commerce market potential, handset manufacturers such as Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, and Qualcomm are working with carriers such as AT&T Wireless and Sprint to develop WAP-enabled smart phones and ways to reach them. Using Bluetooth technology, smart phones offer fax, e-mail, and phone capabilities.
"Profitability for device vendors and carriers hinges on high-end mobile devices and the accompanying killer applications," said Burchett. Perennial early adopters, such as the youth market, which are the least price sensitive, as well as more open to premium mobile content and applications, must also be a key target for device vendors.
Products and services available
Mobile ticketing
Tickets can be sent to mobile phones using a variety of technologies . Users are then able to use their tickets immediately by presenting their phones at the venue.
Tickets can be booked and cancelled on the mobile with the help of simple application downloads or by accessing WAP portals of various Travel agents or direct service providers.
Mobile ticketing for airports, ballparks, and train stations, for example, will not only streamline unexpected metropolitan traffic surges, but also help users remotely secure parking spots (even while in their vehicles) and greatly facilitate mass surveillance at transport hubs.
Mobile vouchers, coupons and loyalty cards
Mobile ticketing technology can also be used for the distribution of vouchers, coupons and loyalty cards. The voucher, coupon, or loyalty card is represented by a virtual token that is sent to the mobile phone. Presenting a mobile phone with one of these tokens at the point of sale allows the customer to receive the same benefits as another customer who has a loyalty card or other paper coupon/voucher. Mobile delivery enables:
- economy of scale
- quicker and easier delivery
- effective target marketing
- privacy-friendly data mining on consumer behaviour
- environment-friendly and resources-saving efficacy
Content purchase and delivery
Currently, mobile content purchase and delivery mainly consists of the sale of ring-tones, wallpapers, and games for mobile phones. The convergence of mobile phones, mp3 players and video players into a single device will result in an increase in the purchase and delivery of full-length music tracks and video. Download speeds, if increased to 4G levels,will make it possible to buy a movie on a mobile device in a couple of seconds, while on the go.
Location-based services
Unlike a home PC, the location of the mobile phone user is an important piece of information used during mobile commerce transactions. Knowing the location of the user allows for location based services such as:
- local maps
- local offers
- local weather
- people tracking and monitoring
Information services
A wide variety of information services can be delivered to mobile phone users in much the same way as it is delivered to PCs. These services include:
- news services
- stock data
- sports results
- financial records
- traffic data and information
Particularly, more customized traffic information, based on users' travel patterns, will be multicast on a differentiated basis, instead of broadcasting the same news and data to all Users. This type of multicasting will be suited for more bandwidth-intensive mobile equipment.
Mobile banking
Banks and other financial institutions are exploring the use of mobile commerce to allow their customers to not only access account information, but also make transactions, e.g. purchasing stocks, remitting money, via mobile phones and other mobile equipment. This service is often referred to as Mobile Banking or M-Banking. More negative issues like ID theft, phishing and pharming are lurking when it comes to mobile banking, particularly done on the mobile web. Net security technology free from redundancy and paradigm shifts away from mobile web-based banking will be an optimal solution to mobile banking in the near future.
Mobile Banking in the world
This part of the mobile commerce is very popular in countries where most of their population is unbanked.
Countries like Sudan, Ghana and south Africa received very well this new commerce.
In Latin America countries like Uruguay, Paraguay Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Guatemala and recently Mexico started with a huge success.
In Colombia was released with Redeban
Guatemala have the support of Banco industrial
And Mexico released the mobile commerce with Omnilife, Bancomer and a private company.
Mobile brokerage
Stock market services offered via mobile devices have also become more popular and are known as Mobile Brokerage. They allow the subscriber to react to market developments in a timely fashion and irrespective of their physical location.
Auctions
Over the past three years mobile reverse auction solutions have grown in popularity. Unlike traditional auctions, the reverse auction (or low-bid auction) bills the consumer's phone each time they place a bid. Many mobile PSMS commerce solutions rely on a one-time purchase or one-time subscription; however, reverse auctions are high return applications as they allow the consumer to transact over a long period of time.
Mobile purchase
Mobile purchase allows customers to shop online at any time in any location. Customers can browse and order products while using a cheap, secure payment method. Instead of using paper catalogues, retailers can send customers a list of products that the customer would be interested in, directly to their mobile device or consumers can visit a mobile version of a retailers ecommerce site. Additionally, retailers will also be able to track customers at all times and notify them of discounts at local stores that the customer would be interested in.
Mobile marketing and advertising
Mobile marketing is an emerging concept, but the speed with which it's growing its roots is remarkable. Mobile marketing is highly responsive sort of marketing campaign, especially from brands’ experience point of view. And almost all brands are getting higher campaign response rates [1]. Corporations are now using m-commerce to expand everything from services to marketing and advertisement. Although there are currently very few regulations on the use and abuses of mobile commerce, this will change in the next few years. With the increased use of m-commerce comes increased security. Cell phone companies are now spending more money to protect their customers and their information from online intrusions and hackers.
Payment methods
The main payment methods used to enable mobile commerce are:
- premium-rate calling numbers,
- charging to the mobile telephone user's bill or
- deducting from their calling credit.
- registration of a credit card that is linked to a SIM card.
Related technologies
References
- ^ Increasing Trends Of Mobile Marketing
- Tiwari, R. and Buse, S. (2007): The Mobile Commerce Prospects: A Strategic Analysis of Opportunities in the Banking Sector, Hamburg: Hamburg University Press.
- Increasing Trends of Mobile Marketing
- Tiwari, R., Buse, S., and Herstatt, C. (2006): From Electronic to Mobile Commerce: Opportunities through Technology Convergence for Business Services, in: Asia Pacific Tech Monitor, Vol. 23, No. 5 (Issue: Sept-Oct. 2006), pp. 38-45, New Delhi. [1]
