Mobile Commerce (also known as M-Commerce, owing to the ever-present nature of its services) is the ability to conduct commerce, using a mobile device e.g. a mobile phone, a PDA, while on the move.
Mobile commerce is currently mainly used for the sale of mobile phone ring-tones and games, although as 3G services roll out it is increasingly used to enable payment for location-based services such as maps, as well as video and audio content, including full-length music tracks. Other services include the sending of information such as football Scores via SMS.
Currently 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, either directly or via reverse-charged SMS.
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Mobile commerce was coined in the late 1990s during the dot-com boom. The idea that highly profitable mobile commerce applications would be possible though the broadband Mobile telephony provided by 2.5G and 3G cell phone services was one of the main reasons for hundreds of billions of dollars in licensing fees paid by European Telecommunications companies for licenses in 2000 and 2001.
Other examples of mobile commerce applications are information-on-demand systems like news services or stock tickers, banking and stock brokerage applications by SMS, WAP or iMode.
Features of
Promising unlimited information, entertainment, and commerce, mobile commerce gives users the ability to access the Internet from any location at any time, the capability to pinpoint an individual mobile terminal user's location, the functionality to access information at the point of need, and a need-based data/information update capability. Mobile commerce has features not available to traditional e-commerce, some of which we discuss next:
- Ubiquity: Through mobile devices, business entities are able to reach customers anywhere at anytime. On the other hand, users can also get any information they are interested in through Internet-enabled mobile devices. In this sense, mobile commerce makes a service or an application available wherever and whenever such a need arises.
- Personalization. Since owners of mobile devices often require different sets of applications and services, mobile commerce applications can be personalized to represent information or provide services in ways appropriate to the specific user.
- Flexibility. Because mobile devices are inherently portable, mobile users may be engaged in activities, such as meeting people or traveling, while conducting transactions or receiving information through their Internet-enabled mobile devices.
- Dissemination. Some wireless infrastructures support simultaneous delivery of data to all mobile users within a specific geographical region. This functionality offers an efficient means to disseminate information to a large consumer population.
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 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. Coupons may be sent to a customer utilizing location based services when he is in a certain physical proximity.
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 and Local weather
· Local offers
· 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.
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 retailer’s 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. 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.
- Billing a customer's credit card through a secure user interface.
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