M Commerce…Now it really can be called a route to market

26th August 2009

How long have we been hearing about ‘m commerce?’

Mobile commerce was born in 1997 when the first two mobile phone enabled Coca Cola vending machines were installed in the Helsinki area in Finland. They used SMS text messages to send the payment to the vending machines.

But while it’s been threatening to emerge as a serious commercial channel for quite some time, the adoption of the mobile channel by businesses within most verticals including retail, travel and media has been mainly as an effective marketing device.

Just as broadband was the driver for the explosion of sales in the e-commerce channel, it’s taken the advent of smartphones such as the iPhone to create the right browsing experience that for the first time enables consumers to really enjoy the mobile online customer experience.

This is evidenced by a recent survey by Starcom Media Vest, which suggests that 53% of mobile users have only begun accessing the web in the past year. And iPhone users are prolific users of the web with 69% accessing it every day.

We also know that consumers are heavily reliant upon the web for sources of information as well as for their media consumption. According to Forrester, 42% of consumers rely on the web for info as opposed to 31% from high street retailers, 30% magazines, 19% TV and 13% rely on newspapers.

So what does this all mean for retailers? Well It’s still going to be a while before mobile generates the level of incremental sales potential it has and that’s because too few retailers have created a mobile adaptation of their website. However, it clearly shows that mobiles will be used to access the web whilst on the go and that means when consumers are planning a purchase as well as when they are actually on the high street. As an example; if you don’t have stock of a particular product in your store, they’ll access the web through their mobile there and then to see where else they can buy the product.

But let’s also not forget that mobile will also be a driver of social commerce. Word of mouth is a thing of the past. Now you need to concern yourself with ‘word of web.’ And just as consumers are shopping on the move, they’re also accessing social networks and blogs.

If a customer experienced an issue with your business a number of years ago, this might have led to a few dozen people being influenced negatively about your brand, nowadays by the time it’s posted on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Linked In on other social networks or on a blog, within a matter of hours, tens of thousands of potential customers can be influenced.

Mobile does lend itself well to ticketing, as these 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.

Like me I’m sure many of you have even paid for parking in London or other towns and cities through your mobile.

Mobile is also being leveraged to distribute vouchers, coupons and loyalty cards. These are represented by a virtual token that is sent to the mobile phone. The customer then presents a mobile phone with one of these tokens at the point of sale allowing them to receive the same benefits as another customer who has a loyalty card or other paper coupon/voucher. Coupons can also be sent to a customer utilising location-based services when they are in a certain physical proximity e.g. passing the store.

Mobile delivery of tickets and vouchers has some very tangible benefits;

• Economies of scale
• Quicker and easier delivery
• Effective target marketing
• Privacy-friendly data mining on consumer behaviour
• Environmentally-friendly and resources-saving efficiency
• The ability to create ‘multi channel customers’

The more forward thinking companies are already developing their own mobile apps; LastMinute.com is launching an iPhone app that overlays the users location with local bar and restaurant info. And the fashion retailer Oasis has recently launched an iPhone-shopping app. And Lloyds TSB’s current above the line campaign is driving ‘mobile banking’ on the go.

The next stage of development will be the implementation of NFC (near field communication) enabled devices that will turn the mobile into a serious payment tool and it may even replace the likes of the Oyster card.

Although there are other payment services emerging from the likes of paybmobile (pay by mobile) that will enable consumers to top up their phones to pay for goods online without having to use a credit card.

So mobile will be a driver of sales for all channels, just as the web is now. And therefore it should be on your roadmap now and given the right level of investment and commitment.

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