With frequent updates and advancements in mobile technology, making and receiving phone calls is usually not at the top of the list of reasons consumers take into consideration when deciding whether to purchase a smartphone. According to an article published on BuildFire.com, “Over the last six months, 79% of mobile users made an online purchase using their mobile devices.” With the functionality of a computer and a store in your pocket, smartphones have made buying, selling, communicating, and playing games fast and convenient with its all-in-one services.
(Also Read: A Comprehensive Guide on Mobile Commerce (Mcommerce))
Top Mobile Commerce Trends in 2021
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Buying products through smartphone apps
More people rely on digital apps than online sites when choosing what to purchase or figuring out what a service has to offer. When a company, no matter if it is big or small, provides an app on their main platforms of service/outreach, they can gain more visitors and buyers online.
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Buying via tablets and mobile devices
Sales have increased through consumers making purchases from mobile devices and tablets than from online websites, even if they are mobile friendly. The reason is because since people are utilizing apps more to buy products, tablet and mobile devices allow users to access and interact with those apps more easily than a traditional desktop.
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Click and Buy
With apps, consumers can have their financial information saved within the system when they create an account on the platform. This means that every time that a person wants to purchase something they do not have to type and fill-in who they are, where they live, how they are going to pay for the products, etc. They can just click and buy.
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Outreach Market
Take advantage of social media features like tags and interactive interfaces so that consumers can purchase products right from a tap or click of a post. Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest allow users to purchase products without having to visit the main website through another tab.
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Talk and Shop
With A.I. assistant programs like Alexa and Siri, consumers can control utilities inside of the house, select music, and even purchase products from just a mere vocal request. Companies that make their platforms compatible with voice assistant programs create an even more accessible way to search and purchase products and services.
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Automated Mobile Chats
For 24-hour consumer assistance, companies have been utilizing automated mobile chats to communicate, help, and find solutions to customer inquiries on websites for a few years now. With the increase of purchasing through apps, automated mobile chats have also started to change to being on mobile applications for a swifter and easier service.
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Computer simulated and digitally enhanced reality
Smartphone applications have been technologically compatible with digitally enhanced reality features for a while now. When consumers want to interact with a product before buying such as make-up, the feature can show them what they would look like with it on their face. Computer simulations can also be used to fully interact with products digitally.
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Streamlined smartphone buyers
There are a variety of ways that buyers can purchase items. From social media pages, to online sites, to smartphone apps, to even the inside of a brick and mortar store. Through these streamlines, potential buyers are interacting and learning about the product that they are thinking about purchasing. Make sure that all of these streamlines are connected and consistent to the brand.
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Smartphone security
Online theft and digital attacks from hackers could leave a company’s clientele in danger of having their financial information compromised. By making and using apps for conducting business, it reduces the opportunity for hackers and scammers to access private data thanks to the safety features within an app’s infrastructure.
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The digital way to pay
Not only can buyers purchase products through digital services connected to their personal bank accounts, now consumers can actually hold their money digitally as well. Through digital wallet apps like Android and Apple Pay, buyers can purchase items without physical cash or without the interference of banks. It can also be used for contactless payment options in physical stores.
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AR
Digitally enhanced reality or augmented reality is currently altering how consumers buy online and at brick and mortar facilities. This innovative feature has allowed businesses to showcase their commodities in a life-like manner. Potential buyers can interact with any product without physically being in contact with it.
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Swift upload and download rates
By having an interface that can load up, even with multiple pages in the background, within seconds, businesses can enhance their experience with the brand online. No matter the size of a business, whether it is an up-and-coming or an established brand, they must emphasize a speedy and convenient experience for customers in the digital realm.
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Self-driving vehicles
With automated automobiles, businesses can transport and deliver products in a record amount of time to as many customers as possible, no matter where they live. This is advantageous to online-only retailers because soon they will not even have to contact item delivery services like FEDEX or the Post Office to handle their deliveries.
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Encrypted digital payments
Crypto money allows users to pay for items and services through encrypted currencies that can prevent cyberattacks, keep financial information unknown to strangers, lessen exchange prices, and cultivate quicker monetary exchanges online.
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Square Barcodes
With Quick Response codes, businesses can advertise deals, campaigns, and information about the company to consumers by placing the square barcodes on posters, coupons, and even on their products. By using mobile phones to scan the codes, consumers can interact with a brand within seconds.
Final Thoughts
With the future of the way online businesses operate being influenced by the trends mentioned above, users can connect with brands, purchase products, and have multiple ways to pay for services at lightning speed. From in-store, to desktops, to tablets and mobile devices, they way businesses serve consumers and how consumers buy products has evolved just as much as technology itself. As gadgets get more sleeker, the faster the monetary exchange process becomes.
People used to have to stop by the bank and withdraw money from their accounts in order to be able to buy something. Now consumers have mobile banking apps, digital wallets, and even encrypted digital income to purchase products within seconds. It is hard to imagine what will be next in the trend of e-commerce technology.
Instead of a click of a button, will users be able to buy products in the blink of an eye, literally? With newer technologies like Google Glass, even though it is not yet on the market for mass use, it can give one an idea of how hands-free technology might eventually be the future of online buying.
Instead of with a blink of an eye, will companies be able to advertise to consumers based on their thoughts? We have all had moments where we were searching for a product to potentially solve a problem that we have, then moments later an advertisement for the same product shows up on the side of our screens. If that process becomes cerebral through a mere chip implanted in our brains…it sounds crazy. But, at one point in the past, the thought of buying items online seemed infeasible.
