2020 has been marked as the year when eCommerce captured more market-share from its brick-and-mortar counterparts. While the trend was not entirely secular, it does not seem to be going away. That said, several businesses have seen the data – more people are now buying online than ever before. Transaction processing has streamlined, it has become easier to deliver across the globe, and online discovery helps brands scale.
The real question is – how do you create differentiated value for your business? If your competitor and the rest of the industry are looking at the same data as you are and building a strategy, where do you have the edge?
The answer to that question lies in understanding mCommerce.
The Growing Trend of mCommerce: Why Should You Care About this Market?
The mCommerce channels have seen a gradual adoption rate. We should begin this journey by establishing mCommerce:
“E-commerce was the journey of online discovery, ordering, transaction processing of products & services. Mcommerce is the mobile-first experience for personalized discovery, seamless ordering, and safer transaction process.”
Three primary forms of going online populate the mCommerce channels:
- Mobile Website: You run a website designed and optimized for smartphones.
- Mobile App: You run an app for Android, IOS, or both that delivers the mCommerce experience.
- Native Website on a Mobile Browser: You provide the entire experience on a native app accessed in the browser. It is easy to access but may not offer deep analytics and AI-enabled suggestions.
The question arises – why should you focus on mCommerce in the first place? And the answer is easier than you might have imagined – mCommerce is leading the growth spectrum in the offline-to-online transition:
- mCommerce Contribution to Online Sales is Growing.
This year (2021), mCommerce sales are projected to contribute to over 50% of eCommerce sales. While this spike in the adoption rates may normalize, it also means that a significant portion of the consumers transitioning from offline retail to online retail will go to mCommerce platforms. We recommend you to explore OrderCircle order management software, which provides a secure and convenient mobile app feature.
- The Blue-Sky Opportunity.
As per data published by Dynamic Yield, only 12% of consumers find their mCommerce experience convenient. This means that as more consumers enter this segment, there will be room for your business to easily differentiate itself by providing a more convenient experience.
- Strong Intent.
Most digital marketers put a considerable premium on mobile traffic on their ads. The simple reason to back this logic is that mobile traffic usually represents greater intent. This would come from consumers who have an urgent need to buy a product, so much so that they did not bother to go to their workstation or their home PC to place the order.
- Richer Availability of Data.
Most of the mCommerce channels have the convenience of knowing about the consumers’ location. At the same time, smartphones generally have multiple social media log-ins. This, paired with affinity audience targeting, can optimize your lead acquisition campaigns very quickly.
- mCommerce is Already a Part of the Consumer Journey.
It would be false to assume that mCommerce has come as a sudden trend. Most consumers have already looked for movie tickets, local events, navigation, and payment transfer on their phones. Social media platforms like Instagram are now adding purchase options within their ecosystem, driving the trend further towards increased and seamless adoption.
It would not be that difficult to understand how the mCommerce trend is taking over the eCommerce adoption rates.
How Can You Dominate Your mCommerce Vertical?
The answer to this question will depend on where you are in your mCommerce sophistication journey.
1. Zero mCommerce Presence: Ecommerce-Only Businesses
If you are an eCommerce-only business, you have to first begin with laying the groundwork for understanding how you can initiate the mCommerce transition/addition:
- Test the Hypothesis: Look for all the branded-keyword searches from mobile devices. This will show the latent demand already present for your mCommerce expansion.
- Check the Bounce Rate on Your Mobile Website: If your website is not mobile-friendly, it would take a lot of time and might not display information optimally by adjusting to the screen ratio. This can be a good starting point to begin your mCommerce transition route.
- Check Demographics-Based User Trends: You can analyze the existing user-trends you already possess and nudge users to buy more on your mCommerce platform. This will help you build a richer database of understanding user behaviour and collecting data that can be used in your campaigns.
2. Some mCommerce Presence: In-Transit to mCommerce
If you are a business that has started attaining some traffic from the mCommerce platform you possess, here are some tactical opportunities for you to provide a seamless experience:
- Optimize the Mobile Platform: At this stage, the focus is not on just meeting the minimum standards. Chatbots, adaptive UX, app notifications, and so on – make sure you have an extended grip on each element of the user experience.
- Integrate Social Media: From social media buttons on your mCommerce platform to selling on social media – you should pay attention to every touchpoint in the user’s social media journey and see how you can integrate it with your product portfolio.
- QR Codes for Reverse Logistics: The SKUs will help you keep your products organized. The QR Codes can help you and your consumers keep track of the product throughout its lifecycle. If consumers want to return the product, they should scan the QR code and get to the order history for easy returns.
3. Advanced mCommerce Presence: Omni-Channel Experience
At this stage, you might be selling online on mCommerce and eCommerce platforms and have a retail presence. The goal is not to have a presence concentrated around the channel but to have an optimal channel mix. To achieve this, here are some steps you can take:
- In-Store Beacons: As soon as your consumers pass through your stores or pickup-center, they should get notifications on in-store offers.
- Subscription Plans: The focus is on retaining consumers much more than acquiring new customers. Subscription plans on your mCommerce platform can be a great way to build engagement and get revenues early.
- Personalized Experience: The entire game shifts to personalization – ML-based product recommendations, customized offers, and adaptive user experience based on order history, browsing history, and other user behavior elements. You might even reach a point where your platform can help you push products of other non-competing brands.
OrderCircle: Your Platform for mCommerce Growth
Scaling your mCommerce plans can seem tricky. But the common theme for all successful mCommerce platforms is an imperative focus on data & analytics, seamless processes, and customer-centricity. OrderCircle can help you achieve all the three with its:
- Inventory Management: Keep a check on all your stocks using a unified and updated dashboard.
- Customer Management: Manage relationships with several B2B Customers with notifications and behaviour tracking.
- Invoice Management: Integrated invoicing & billing functionality for warehouse, logistics, and delivery.
- Analytics: Get a granular understanding of customer trends on your platform and SKU performance.
- B2B Portal: Get a comprehensive B2B portal with a robust backend alongside QuickBooks, Shopify, Shipstation, Xero, Stripe, and PayPal integrations.
To know more about how you can accelerate your mCommerce growth, get in touch with the OrderCircle team.
