Trends in Mobile Commerce Applications

The mobile commerce or m-commerce market has grown exponentially over the last few years, especially during 2020 and 2021. Covid-19 pandemic caused global lockdowns, restricting physical business operations, but at the same time, surged users towards adopting m-commerce. The mobile app development industry also witnessed a massive increase in demand due to the high shift in consumer behavior from physical stores to m-commerce. Smartphone usage over the last decade has increased at a steady rate, will billions of people now use mobile phones. Emergencies in Fintech and online payment gateways further developed and sustained growth in the m-commerce sector, allowing users to transact online safely and securely.  

Companies such as VisionX offer entrepreneurs and business owners an innovative way to adapt m-commerce using sophisticated mobile app development services, which can significantly enhance business output capacity. The wider use of smart gadgets and their potential capacity to sustain and generate revenues for businesses has gained a lot of attention, redirecting focus on data analytics and trends in the sector. In this post, we will discuss and highlight some of the key trends in mobile commerce applications during 2020 and 2021.  

Proximity Marketing 

Geo-tagging and geolocation services have enabled marketers and business owners to target potential consumers in a unique and innovative way. Unlike conventional mobile marketing such as push notifications that are sent to the entire customer database, proximity marketing offers a greater lead generation potential. With proximity marketing, businesses send push notifications and advertise their sales promotions, products, and other special offers to people within a certain geofence. This means that only people that are within the limits of the geofence will receive marketing notifications from surrounding shops, outlets, etc. Proximity marketing allows m-commerce to target customers in a specific area, generating higher returns on advertisement spending.  

Current m-commerce marketing that relies on push notifications using mobile applications can generate large volumes of traffic and user data, but the conversion rates are lower. Since there is little or no control over the download and use of mobile applications, massive user traffic creates inefficient data for business owners. However, with proximity marketing, it becomes easier to target people in the vicinity using Bluetooth technology, making it easier to pull customers to the store or shop for conversions.   

Image Recognition Technology 

Online product searches and comparison is a norm in m-commerce. However, with the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), mobile applications are now capable of searching a product across the store or the internet to find the best price and features based on an image. Image recognition technology makes it easier for users to click and upload the image of the product the need and the application can search the store for all matches. This helps consumers make better buying decisions and lowers the time needed to research products.  

For entrepreneurs, this feature can significantly enhance the buying experience of their customers, which makes it easier to retain clients. It also helps businesses learn more about their customers and their product choice/preferences. This information can help businesses personalize their advertising and marketing efforts to increase conversion and upselling rates. 

Smart Personalization 

Personalization and customized marketing is known for generating better results and leading to higher conversion rates. With m-commerce, companies are able to look deeper into the buying and browsing habits of their users, which further helps in personalizing their buying experience. Businesses are able to personalize specific messages and promote products/services that are sought by the customers to improve their overall experience. This helps businesses retain their clients and increase their satisfaction levels, while the customer is able to shop better and simpler.  

Social commerce 

Generating multiple revenue streams and platforms is essential for businesses these days to keep up with the rising competition. Therefore, organizations need to leverage the various possibilities of m-commerce and mobile applications, especially social networking applications. A major portion of customers seek and search for products and product reviews on social networking platforms. Moreover, businesses also represent themselves on social media to make their products and services accessible. During the last couple of years, the concept of selling directly via social media platforms has emerged and proven to be successful. Social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook offer brands the ability to create a customizable storefront that allows customers to search and research products and purchase them via the same platform.   

Crypto Payments 

Another trend in m-commerce is accepting cryptocurrency for payments. Cryptocurrency has gained popularity and with its blockchain technology, it is much safer than conventional online payments. Therefore, people dealing and paying via cryptocurrency are at a lower risk of online scams and frauds. By 2024, the cryptocurrency market is likely to escalate to a $1.4 billion market and is expected to replace traditional payment gateways. Therefore, mobile app development companies need to consider crypto payment integration for future markets.  

Voice Shopping 

Voice commands were conventionally used to ask for weather updates, call people, send messages, or playing music. However, people are now able to shop using voice commands. The voice shopping market is expected to grow to $40 billion by 2022. Voice shopping allows users to search a product across the internet using voice commands. Customers can search products, place orders, and even track shipments using voice commands. The feature also supports contacting customer support, reordering supplies, and sending product reviews. 

Conclusion 

It is evident that m-commerce plays an active role in online shopping and is growing at an exponential rate. The use of smarter and newer technology makes shopping simpler and easy, offering buyers and sellers multiple benefits. The recent trends in m-commerce suggest that mobile app development will adapt to the changing norms. Companies that integrate m-commerce to their business model are able to sell more and retain their customers by personalizing the shopping experience. Moreover, as AI and ML evolve, they will play a vital role in m-commerce, as it has the potential to make online shopping convenient and reliable.   

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