For retailers today, not having a mobile strategy can prove to be detrimental to their sales volumes. Increasingly, shoppers are using web-friendly smartphones to contrast and evaluate prices, to inform themselves of product reviews, look for bargains and then make purchases.
Mobile commerce, also known as mCommerce, is the ability to transact business using a mobile device, such as smartphone or a personal digital assistant (PDA) or any other emerging mobile equipment such as a dashtop mobile device.
Mobile strategy has grown phenomenally in 2010and it is expected that in the future, this marketing tool is going to grow tremendously in such a way that it is expected to pay an important role in what is considered as mundane everyday shopping.
The phones give access to people to look into their social connections for shopping reviews, sharing photos of interesting products going for bargains. They are also usually people who are members of online communities where shoppers come together to exchange views on products.
Shoppers now are more informed because of mobile commerce making them more aggressive and assertive in demanding and getting exactly what they have in mind. For traders also, mobile commerce helps by indicating the class of potential customers which is very valuable in terms of targeted sales.
While developing mobile commerce features, an integrated picture of the diversity of product and their availability should be made present to the customers. The web store availability of these products should mirror the actual inventory at the actual shop.