The evolution of mobile commerce

With more mobile devices in the world than there are humans, creating an excellent mobile commerce experience for consumers could not be more crucial for your online business.

As more and more consumers shop online using their mobile devices, the platform is fast becoming the main channel through which consumers from all over the world shop online.

According to some estimates, mobile e-commerce or “m-commerce” will soon account for nearly 50% of all US e-commerce sales and is growing even more rapidly in emerging markets.

Case study: Mobile commerce in Africa

In Africa, the mobile platform is especially significant for small businesses. Mobile marketing drives sales for less money with great returns. And apart from mobile technology’s ubiquity in Africa, what’s more impressive is the rate at which it has achieved mass penetration in wealthy countries and high-growth markets, such as South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya. Through the mobile platform, small businesses are able to reach consumers by making use of inexpensive but sophisticated channels such as video to showcase their brands.

Phones are driving e-commerce as more people are gaining access to the internet – in Nigeria alone, the value of online payments using mobile apps has increased more than tenfold over the last three years, from just over $30 million USD in January 2017 to more than $340 million USD in January 2020. Besides increased access to internet, Africans in rural areas may also be finding it more affordable to to purchase mobile devices compared to desktop computers.

Why you need a good mobile commerce strategy

While marketers are recognising mobile and implementing it as part of their digital strategy, it still may not be getting the full attention it deserves. Mobile commerce development has been spoken about for years, but now there’s no disputing the fact that the mobile platform has become a natural way that people shop online.

And while it may seem like common knowledge that every e-commerce business needs to have a mobile-friendly site, many online merchants are still not optimized for mobile-first browsing or the processing of mobile payments.

Optimising your e-commerce website for mobile can transform your online business. Shops with mobile-friendly browsing and checkout have the potential to reach a wider array of customers in emerging markets. At the same time, websites optimized for mobile commerce benefit from the opportunity to reach customers across more devices. Service providers like PayU make it easy to make your payment gateway system more mobile-friendly and secure.

As marketers begin to devise well-thought-out strategies that engage consumers in emerging markets, offering a seamless mobile commerce experience will continue to be an important piece of the puzzle.