This is a guest post by ntjones who writes at eMobile Scan .
The internet places a world of information at the customer’s fingertips, who is then able to find the exactly what he is looking for at the lowest possible price. As a well-informed customer, he has all the information about the product, its pros and cons, and which store has them in stock.
M-commerce or mobile commerce is currently in vogue since it helps the customer make informed decisions. Not only does he have sufficient information about the product, and therefore not needing a salesman to explain it all to him, he also knows the stock level of the store he is planning to buy it from, which will save him a wasted trip. Mobile shopping has opened avenues for the customers that were not available before. Exactly how successful mobile shopping is, can be gauged from the amazing statistics revealed recently about Paypal mobile app. Paypal recently released its mobile App, and it was downloaded 1 million times within 21 days of its release. This indicates that this has become the preferred method of payment for online shopping.
The customer is not the only one to benefit from the advantages offered by mobile shopping, it offers far reaching benefits for the retailer as well. It helps them push sales and drive more traffic to their stores. Google is also introducing new concepts to make the most of the opportunities offered, including the latest service called Google local inventory search. It is one step ahead of product search and now helps to find local stores that hold stock of the product being searched for. Presently low key and having limited stores on its panel but Google still sees the potential for huge growth and additional revenue streams.
Mobile shopping possibilities have been picked up by Google and some other large businesses, but a vast majority of businesses in retail are not yet inclined to pursue, or reap the promising returns that will result. This new sales channel can help businesses grow much faster and open a new sales channel. However, Target, one of the biggest retail chains in the world, has come out with an App that is quite similar to Google Inventory Search and will help a customer find the closest store that is holding stocks of the products he wants. It can point the store closest to his place of work or his residence to help him save commuting time. Such apps are bound to bring better earnings for retailers.
Mobile shopping becomes simpler with the use of the latest phones and smart phones are the ones offering all these facilities. With all the innovative features and functions offered by smart phones, they will outstrip the sales of laptops and desktop PC’s. Smart phones provide all the facilities of a computer while on the move and in a size that is so easy to carry. Each time a smart phone user wishes to buy something, it takes him just a few seconds to find out where it is available at the lowest price, its benefits and possible disadvantages, and all its functions. He is able to use it inside a store while looking at a product and even find out if the store next door is selling it cheaper. With so many new innovations the retail sector will have to adopt a new strategy to keep their customers returning to them, mobile shopping is one way to do that.
