M-commerce definition: Mobile commerce is a subset of e-commerce that involves buying and selling goods and services through mobile apps on smartphones and tablets.
Glossary What is m-commerce?
The definition of m-commerce
Short for mobile commerce, m-commerce refers to any commercial transactions that take place via apps or mobile sites. Broadly speaking, m-commerce is a subset of e-commerce. The mobile commerce app vertical continues to grow rapidly, with the percentage and share of digital purchases that are taking place on mobile increasing each year. As making purchases on mobile gets more convenient and as more people globally gain access to smartphones and tablets, the capacity for mobile commerce opportunities continues to soar.
The definition of m-commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, offering a convenient and flexible shopping experience. It includes mobile payments, in-app purchases, and other transactions conducted via mobile technology.
Types of m-commerce
Broken into three main categories (mobile shopping, mobile payments, and mobile banking), the highest growth areas for m-commerce are:
- In-app purchasing (such as buying clothing items via a retail app)
- Mobile banking
- Virtual marketplace apps like Amazon
- Digital payment services like Apple Wallet, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay
- Mobile ticketing
There is significant crossover with fintech, as mobile commerce doesn’t strictly refer to the buying of products–it also encapsulates the smartphone behaviors that lead to making a mobile purchase and the technology that enables it.
M-commerce vs. e-commerce: What’s the difference?
Electronic commerce includes all commercial transactions that take place digitally, while mobile commerce strictly refers to mobile devices, including tablets. M-commerce deals with digital transactions that take place on smartphones. Although m-commerce is a subcategory of e-commerce, the latter typically refers to transactions that take place on desktop computers.
So, if you browse a clothing website on a desktop and make a purchase, that’s an e-commerce transaction. If you access a clothing brand or retailer via an app or mobile site, that’s a mobile commerce transaction. What m-commerce enables is the ability for users to access online shopping platforms, browse, and make purchases as conveniently and seamlessly as possible, using a mobile device.
Benefits of m-commerce as a subset of e-commerce
M-commerce apps offer several unique benefits that enhance the traditional e-commerce experience, including:
- Streamlined checkout process with mobile wallet integration.
- Boosts traditional retail sales.
- Establishes an additional marketing channel.
- Improves accessibility via the use of mobile voice assistants.
- Enable users to visualize products in their environment before buying by leveraging mobile AR technology.
- Allows push notifications for real-time alerts.
- More targeted geolocation personalization.
- Capitalization of the significant mobile screen time of modern consumers.
Key m-commerce areas
Browsing and buying: Similar to an e-commerce flow on a desktop, this form of m-commerce involves the user browsing apps, clicking around mobile websites, and making purchases. This typically occurs via dedicated apps, but can also take place as a ‘social commerce’ purchase, with social media platforms including TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat offering purchasing options in-app.
Convenience purchases: Many mobile purchases aren’t retail-related, and m-commerce is not restricted to ‘shopping’ per se. These purchases include ordering food or grocery deliveries, and booking taxis or ride-sharing.
Mobile app payments and wallet payments: There are various ways to actually make an m-commerce purchase, and digital wallets are growing in use. Instead of inputting credit card details into each individual app, a user’s digital wallet, in which credit cards or other payment methods are already loaded, can be selected (as a popup/overlay) and a purchase can be made with a single click or by using a thumbprint or face ID.
Digital content (purchasing and renting): Subscription-based apps are extremely popular on mobile, most commonly for music and video apps (think Netflix and Spotify). Users pay a subscription fee and can then access an entire library of content from their mobile app.
Adjust and m-commerce apps
Adjust empowers mobile app marketers in the m-commerce space to unlock detailed analytics and gain a competitive edge. By analyzing both device-level insights and aggregated data, marketers can achieve a comprehensive understanding of user behavior and campaign performance throughout the customer journey from initial engagement to final purchase. This next-generation approach enables precise targeting and personalization, which enhances user experiences and drives conversions.
To learn how to take your m-commerce app to the next level, request a demo of Adjust.
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