M-commerce and mobile apps are drivers of billions of dollars of revenue every year. ThinkMobiles notes that “M-commerce revenue has been rising at 30-40% rate annually since 2014…The biggest retail app, Amazon, increased the number of customers from 43 million in 2015 to 67 million in 2016.” While Amazon hasn’t been a small to medium-size business for a long time, it’s still an impressive growth figure that’s indicative to the importance of mobile commerce across businesses.
Both B2B and B2C SMEs have the potential to tap into some of these numbers with the right m-commerce strategy and approach. A good mobile commerce strategy can help grow customer engagement and offer other notable benefits to SMEs.
Overall, the benefits of m-commerce for small business enterprises include cost savings and innovation that leads to better business growth. The Journal of International Business Research and Marketing notes that m-commerce can be particularly beneficial in creating business success in developing countries, saying, “Online business saves the costs incurred on brick and mortar stores such as rent, salaries, insurance, decorations and other things needed for setting up a physical store. Data from eMarketer shows that more than 80% of all online shoppers use mobile shopping as well and this number is estimated to grow to 95% in the year 2019. Mobiles have become a major E-Commerce platform, and platform for advertising, movies, TV shows and e-books. It brings innovation as in the case of Alipay, Uber, Airbnb and numerous other apps that are used every single day by millions of users around the globe. It makes enterprise efficient, effective, and competitive thus drives growth.”
M-commerce and small business enterprise benefits
Here are some of the ways that mobile commerce continues to drive the growth of small business enterprise organizations and why it should be a priority of SMEs.
1. Faster transactions
Mobile apps make it easier and faster to load data and search results on mobile devices. This means that customers can browse products and menus faster, leading to faster transactions. Being able to make purchases directly through a mobile app has led to more positive customer experience, repeat purchases, and increased sales.
2. Enhanced customer experience
The customer experience matters. It’s not enough to have a good product or superior service. Businesses with an app that’s easy to navigate, fast, interactive, and convenient will see higher conversion rates and increased revenue. Also, many apps offer exclusive benefits like points or discounts to users, which increases engagement. The most compelling reason to use a mobile app to increase your customer satisfaction? Most customers interact with apps daily and have an expectation that businesses they interact with will have one, often not considering a business with those that don’t. Basically, a good mobile app can earn more customers and better customer loyalty.
3. More direct customer connection
Apps have push notification capabilities that can send messages directly to a customer’s device. These notifications allow your business to offer specials, discounts, sales, product launches or make other announcements instantly. While some users will turn off this functionality, it can grow your brand exposure for those that don’t.
4. Personalized content and offerings
Much like Amazon, mobile apps can offer specific content based on user behavior, shopping patterns, search, location, and more. Amazon uses its proprietary algorithm to make product recommendations to customers based on what they’ve purchased and based on other customers who have purchased or searched the same thing. This kind of personalized outreach can lead to better customer loyalty and increased sales for your small business enterprise.
5. Better analytics
App downloads and interactions give your business a lot of customer data for your business to hone in on and use to create even better customer experiences. Having a better insight into shopping patterns, behaviors, trends, and other data can help your business when it comes to forecasting, product development, and more.
6. Reduced cost
If you’ve already captured a user by getting them to download an app, you’ve saved yourself marketing dollars. If your business is mobile app only, you save significantly over having to host a physical location. You can also likely cut down on salary cost by employing fewer people than you would need to staff a location. Money saved can potentially be reinvested to help you grow your SME.
Are you using m-commerce to its fullest potential to help grow your SME? Technology continues to drive business, fuel innovation, and create better customer and employee experiences. Using mobile commerce and mobile apps to grow your customer reach and engagement is a necessary move in modern business. Finding the right mobile development platform can help you reap all the benefits of mobile app technology for your small business enterprise and allow you to be both successful and competitive in your industry.
