The rise of m-commerce

In the first of four extracts from his Brightword-published book, The Small Business Guide to Apps, author David Howell (in the video, above) looks at the facts and figures behind the rise in mobile commerce and concludes that m-commerce is going to be a major force for small businesses over the coming years.

The App market has almost singlehandedly created a new mobile commercial space that could offer your business opportunities that far outstrip even those on the internet. M-commerce looks set to be the next big thing in the digital retail space as the sales of smartphones continue to rise. ComScore Data Mine also state: "Apple has overtaken Symbian over the past year to become the top smartphone platform in the UK with 27.1 per cent market share, followed by Google's Android with 26.7 per cent market share and Symbian with 22.5 per cent. Android has rapidly grown its user base, adding nearly 4.7 million new users over the past year, equalling a 634 per cent rise. In May 2011, Android was only 0.4 percentage points short of being level with the leading smartphone platform Apple." What is clear is that m-commerce is going to be a major force in your business over the coming years. Developing apps for your company may be a short-term focus due to the high demand from consumers at the moment, but over the longer term, m-commerce in general - with Apps being a component of your business' strategy - will become increasingly vital to your business' longevity. Incentivated, an independent technology company with ten years' experience operating exclusively in the mobile marketing services sector, succinctly gathered the evidence to support your business' development of m-commerce:

• Of 45 million adults over 18 in the UK, almost 23 million (51%) have used m-commerce (IAB October, 2010).

• The average spend when billed direct to the mobile bill is £3.90. Excluding apps, when paying by credit card this rises to £14.50.

• Only 20 per cent of FTSE 100 Companies have a mobile-optimised website.

• Fewer than half of FTSE 100 companies have formally checked their website on a mobile device to understand how their customers experience their brand.

• A mobile commerce survey by IAB, IMRG and AIME found that 41 per cent of retailers expect to have a transactional app or mobile site within the next year, jumping to 65 per cent within two years.

• M&S had one million visitors per day to its transactional mobile Iinternet site during December 2010.

• eBay's mobile revenue was over US$2bn (£1.27bn) in 2010, a 300 per cent increase on 2009 (nma.co.uk 7 January 2011).

• Amazon.com reported sales of US$1.5bn in 2010.

• Mobile traffic has risen almost 50 per cent, according to Jonathan Brown, John Lewis's head of online selling.

Next week: Where's the wonga?

Buy the book

You can buy Dave's Small Business Guide to Apps as an eBook for the special offer price of just £4.25.