mCommerce

If you have an ecommerce website and are considering extending your website business through a mobile site design, it is prudent to consider engaging a professional mobile web designer.

A mobile web designer should understand the limitations associated with mobile phones on the market.

Other challenges are how to get your new mobile site listed in the mobile website directories, select appropriate and to effectively link your website to your .mobi website to your existing website.

When launching a .mobi website it is important to note that the html or code employed to build a normal webpage is different compared to the code which is necessary to build a site which is visible to mobile phone users.

Web page design for mobile phones and other hand held devices is different than the web design
used for a typical website.

If you are intending to extend your website to a mobile site it is fundamental to understand the differences between the various mobile phones which have access to the internet. Distinguish between web enabled cell phones and smart phones such as the iPhone and Google Droid which operate as mini computers. Smart phones access the internet in a similar way that a desktop computer accesses the internet. By way of contrast web enabled phones are only able to access mobile websites, namely websites ending in the .mobi extension.

Web enabled phones only display text, not pictures, whereas smart phones can not only access your regular website and see everything on it, and scroll endlessly. Good mobile web design needs to consider the smart phone user experience in this regard. Smaller and fewer graphics are considered more appropriate for mobile websites with less text. Text content should be concise as mobile phone users won't have the time to read vast tracts of text.

The ideal way to provide an ideal customer experience for a smart phone user is to provide a .mobi website, being specifically tailored to the needs of mobile phone users. Such a website, properly designed, might still incorporate graphics for phones able to visualise them, but still be constructed in a way that is best adapted to mobile phone browsers.

Mobile phone site navigation should be clear, to make it easy for mobile phone users to locate what they are searching for. It is recommended that pages on a mobile site be limited to a maximum of eight pages, which should contain contact information including phone numbers and driving directions.

It is a good idea to include RSS feeds for mobile phone users to subscribe to, as this will make it easier for them to keep up to date about any significant events or promotions you are running.

Good mobile web design might mean ensuring that banner and text ads fit well inside the screen of a mobile phone user, in addition to text and links that are selected for mobile phone browsers.

Mobile website design is critical as the focus of search shifts increasingly from desktop communications to mobile phones.

With the increase in mobile phone use, mobile ecommerce or mcommerce is definitely on the rise. There has been a huge increase in the number of mobile app stores with both mobile video usage and mobile ad markets witnessing rapid growth. The mobile ad market is expected to exceed $13 billion in the Asia Pacific region, in front of North America and Europe.

At present however mobile ecommerce or m-commerce is struggling to take, with users refraining from making purchases via their mobile phone.

One of the reasons for this which emerges from surveys is that shoppers and retailers alike are concerned over privacy and security issues, meaning retailers have been slow to introduce their mobile commerce plans.

Another complication is the number of platforms available on mobile phones and the lack of standardisation. Mobile retailers need to tread cautiously in the mobile platforms they choose to support.

There is every indication however m-commerce could be successful providing there were sufficient mobile apps and shopping opportunities available. Mobile payments firms are already reporting that mobile phone users are prepared to purchase small ticket items using their mobile phones.

Last year Pricegrabber.com conducted a survey which revealed early adopters of m-commerce were prepared to purchase higher priced items such as clothing and consumer electronics. The ultimate success of m-commerce will depend on the number of m-commerce applications developed and the number of mobile commerce platforms.

It is only a matter of time before ecommerce merchants make their products more readily available through mobile phones. At present the main payment mechanism available is credit or debit cards.

The mobile browsing experience is presently vastly inferior to that offered on desktop computers. The full potential for m-commerce is apparent in Japan where users can use their phone to scan ads and posters to purchase something and have it delivered to them automatically.

There are barriers that mobile website merchants can dismantle to improve the saleability of their products and services through m-commerce. M-commerce merchants need to assist mobile users to find their mobile websites. It is important to remember that the link from your website to your mobile website is not only memorable but also easy to type into a mobile phone.

Other useful strategies are to add the word mobile to your website domain name eg www.website.com/mobile and to use a .mobi extension with your brand name such as www.website.mobi.

A big problem with mobile internet connections is that they can be unstable in low signal areas which is not as important if they are engaged in passively consuming information. However if disconnected in the midst of a transaction mobile phone users are likely to be left uncertain as to whether their transaction was completed.

Whilst there is little that mobile commerce merchants can do about poor network connectivity and coverage, there are practical steps that they can take in order to ensure that mobile phone users are encouraged to participate in purchasing items using their mobile phones. One measure would be to ensure that all details entered in each step of a transaction are saved so that items placed in a shopping basket or shipping details are salvaged in the event of a disconnection.

Other measures include capturing email addresses or mobile phone details at the commencement of a transaction so that the prospective customer can be sent instructions to enable them to continue with a transaction that has been interrupted. This does not occur for instance on the Amazon website so that a shopping cart is not re-instated.

Data entry of credit card numbers and addresses isn't as easy for mobile phone users on mobile phones as it is on full keyboards. Therefore it is wise to take steps to minimise data entry wherever possible. This can be achieved by permitted customers to log in using the same username and password which they use on the main website to retrieve the shipping and billing information which is stored in their account with you. Another strategy is to encourage customers to create an account to expedite future transactions. Payment integration with third party payment providers which require only the use of a username and password is a further step to increase the participation of mobile phone users in purchasing goods and/or services from your mobile website.

Pre-registration processes are likely to frustrate mobile phone users and dissuade them from engaging in m-commerce.

The security of online transactions has been cited as a major deterrent to consumers considering transacting via their mobile phone. Desktop web browsers provide consumers information about the security of websites providing re-assurance and protection to consumers concerned about providing their credit card information to fraudulent websites.

There are a few ways you can allay consumer fears about security of m-commerce transactions. Firstly you might display a message on your homepage stating that your website is secure. As stated above, by ensuring that mobile phone users don't have to enter credit card information through their mobile phones, and can rely on the log in information to utilise their stored information you are providing re-assurance.

Providing a satisfactory mobile user experience is extremely important, and this extends to providing information to the mobile phone user to track and monitor the progress of any orders they make, such as providing confirmation of ticket or other purchases.

By addressing a few design and functionality issues, you can affect the willingness of mobile phone users to engage in and embrace m-commerce.