eCommerce vs. Mobile Commerce in 2016 & Beyond

Traditional eCommerce in a browser environment is no longer the default point of sale on the internet. With better hardware integration, apps deliver a smoother shopping experience and are opening new and exciting opportunities to all types of business’.

Your typical shopping cart experience is about to change as content commerce takes shape. With the launch of Apple Pay, the experience is improving vastly for businesses and their customers. The 30% fee Apple takes for 'In App Purchases' is vastly different to the 0.15% they take for Apple Pay transactions.

This does not mean that web based eCommerce shops or Drupal commerce is no longer needed. Commerce apps are now an additional requirement for any online business. More and more online shopping sites are directing you to the App equivalent on arrival. This is because mobile devices are often integrated with several other API’s, most notably for payments, thus making mobile commerce as easy as shopping from a desktop.

So what are the main benefits of commerce via an app?

• Direct control over device hardware
  • Camera
  • GPS geographic positioning
  • More gestures
  • Bluetooth
  • Vast array of sensors
• Real time updating
• Functional offline
• Speed
• Push Notifications
• Background operations
• Better security
• Better power management
• Better processor utilisation

This increased functionality adds a significant twist to what was possible in enabling eCommerce to become Mobile Commerce, or M-commerce as it has been coined. The idea that eCommerce lives in the browser has evolved to it living in your pocket on the go, delivering electronic commerce capabilities directly into the consumer's hand, anywhere, via wireless technology.

The increased capabilities of mobile technologies has resulted in a sharp increase in mobile commerce usage. 2015 continued the shift towards mobile as the dominant platform for shoppers across a wide range of industries. In Europe, the UK is the leading M-commerce market with just over 39% of total EU mobile spend originating in Britain, followed closely by Germany and France.

Alongside buying, 90% of mobile users also conducted shopping-related activities from the same handset with which they buy, suggesting that mobile shoppers not only buy on the go, but also stick with their mobile when shopping at home, as opposed to switching back to desktop. These activities include comparing prices, looking at reviews, browsing retailer sites and researching offers and discounts.

2016 is forecast to be an even bigger year for mobile consumers, with M-commerce set to represent approximately 38% in the US and 32% in the EU of all online transactions. This translates into $142 billion and €82 billion of sales respectively.

One company leveraging the improved functionality of apps in Indonesia has helped an entire industry evolve overnight, using Uber as an inspiration. Motorcycle taxis are commonplace in overpopulated cities, but In Indonesia they are found on every street corner and mobile technologies have helped startups take advantage of this existing market, making it fit for the digital age. Known as Ojek across Indonesia, the company is named Go-Jek and is being used by tourists and locals alike.

Go-Jek offers a broad range of features and services, including:

• Get anything delivered and purchased including your favorite food in under 60 minutes
• Transport individuals across congested cities
• Shop for all your daily needs from your local favourite stores
• Track your items and speak to your driver

With this level of service in a city where traffic forces people to only travel at night because it is less congested, the game has changed. So perhaps you have a game changing idea and you’re asking yourself; how much does it cost to make an app to achieve your goal? Planning is the expensive part, but with the right plan in place, development becomes a breeze.

Part of our app development and planning process is helping you leverage your idea to produce the functionality that delivers the optimal desired outcome. Included is extensive analysis on how your product would actually fit into the existing market. We then build a detailed specification and only then can we determine how much it will cost to build your app. A rough estimate based on a broad stocks is also possible, but much less accurate.

We have plenty of ideas all the time and we know that new ideas can create much bigger challenges than just building an app, and that's why our team work hard to develop to your business needs beyond the product itself. If you know your industry and you are passionate about it, we can bring the passion for building apps and help you achieve your goals.