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M-COMMERCE:
The Rise of Mobile E-Commerce
Mid-Term Paper
Written by:
Andres Torres
Mobile e-commerce: shopping on your mobile device
E-commerce is becoming a crucial source of revenue for the big retailers out there. In the
past two decades we have seen exponential increases in sales correlated directly with the
use of the World Wide Web. With the growth of technology, companies have been able to
cut the costs of prices by eliminating overhead costs of employees, stores and so on. This
has allowed for the creation of significant pricing cuts of products offered through the web.
Big-Box retailers and brick and mortar businesses have greatly benefitted from electronic
commerce. With the splashing growth of smartphones and now tablets, it is no surprise that
consumers are looking to do their online shopping from the comfort of their devices.
Unlike a computer, we can carry our smartphones and tablets literally everywhere we go.
The development of many simple and user-friendly apps for multiple categories has
spoiled the average consumer to a more efficient lifestyle. Thus, it is no surprise that
mobile e-commerce is the new trend in business. Investopedia defines mobile commerce as
“the use of wireless handheld devices such as cellular phones and tablets to conduct
commercial transactions online." The trend is so ‘hot’ that mobile commerce now has its
own nickname: m-commerce. In reality, how important is m-commerce to the economy as
a whole? More specifically; how important is m-commerce to the traditional retail market?
The iOS and Android Revolution, as I like to call it, has caused changes around the world
(mostly in developed countries) to a very meaningful portion of our population.
M-commerce was done through SMS systems prior to this revolution. Due to security
issues and other limitations, it was never very popular. These two operating systems that
dominate the smartphone and tablet industry allowed for deep market penetration. Don’t
believe me? Here are the stats: In the beginning of 2013, 54% of the adult population in
the United States owned a smartphone versus a 63% towards the end of last year. A larger
growth was seen in the ownership of tablets; from 25% to 35%. What is more impacting is
the non-stop growth of tablets around the world. Projections estimate that in the next five
years tablets will surpass PC’s by amount sold and owned.
Black Friday of last year, retailers had a wakeup call on the opportunities m-commerce has
to bring. At least 20% of sales done through the internet were performed through either a
