M-COMMERCE:
The Rise of Mobile E-Commerce
Mid-Term Paper
Written by:
Andres Torres
Mobile e-commerce: shopping on your mobile device
E-commerce is becoming a crucial source of revenue for the big retailers out there. In the past two decades we have seen exponential increases in sales correlated directly with the use of the World Wide Web. With the growth of technology, companies have been able to cut the costs of prices by eliminating overhead costs of employees, stores and so on. This has allowed for the creation of significant pricing cuts of products offered through the web. Big-Box retailers and brick and mortar businesses have greatly benefitted from electronic commerce. With the splashing growth of smartphones and now tablets, it is no surprise that consumers are looking to do their online shopping from the comfort of their devices. Unlike a computer, we can carry our smartphones and tablets literally everywhere we go. The development of many simple and user-friendly apps for multiple categories has spoiled the average consumer to a more efficient lifestyle. Thus, it is no surprise that mobile e-commerce is the new trend in business. Investopedia defines mobile commerce as “the use of wireless handheld devices such as cellular phones and tablets to conduct commercial transactions online.” The trend is so ‘hot’ that mobile commerce now has its own nickname: m-commerce. In reality, how important is m-commerce to the economy as a whole? More specifically; how important is m-commerce to the traditional retail market?
The iOS and Android Revolution, as I like to call it, has caused changes around the world (mostly in developed countries) to a very meaningful portion of our population. M-commerce was done through SMS systems prior to this revolution. Due to security issues and other limitations, it was never very popular. These two operating systems that dominate the smartphone and tablet industry allowed for deep market...