M-commerce and S-commerce
The Future Foundation’s Heather Corker reveals key insights about mobile and social shopping, which are both gaining momentum…
The potential of m-commerce means that mobile consumers will become ever-more shop savvy, with an increased ability to maximise outcomes in their favour and make more informed product decisions. Indeed, mobile access to the internet will lead to in-store price comparison and perhaps make the concept of price endlessly malleable – as the consumer has leverage to prove that a product is cheaper elsewhere.
Meanwhile, social shopping will gain in momentum as social networking sites, such as Facebook, allow users to shop directly from their site. More, the ability to post products and get instant feedback from friends will add a new element to the trend known as the Personalisation of Authority, the sense that the consumer has become the dominant figure in the processing of commercial claims and images.
The rise of m-commerce
The spread of the mobile internet, along with an increase in consumer ownership of smartphones and tablet devices, has enabled a new method with which consumers can engage the internet for shopping online.
Purchasing products or services via mobile phones virtually doubled between 2010 and 2011 with now one in five smartphone users doing so:
Unsurprisingly, interest in mobile purchasing is gaining most traction among younger consumers . They are the group most likely to carry out the weekly shop on-the-go, using their mobile phones or tablets; they also express the most interest in using mobile payment across a variety of sectors. However, it is this segment of consumers who are also most sensitive to privacy concerns in relation to shopping online, a feeling felt all the more intensely when shopping is moved to the mobile platform.
Product distribution : increasingly platform neutral
In November 2011, John Lewis and Waitrose trialled a virtual wall shopping concept, with customers able to purchase the “top 30 favourite things” sold by the brands by scanning associated QR codes with their mobile phones.
Once an item had been scanned, smartphone users were directed to the online shop at John Lewis where they could complete their transaction.
As the 10s progress, companies who offer their products across multiple platforms will merely be pursuing standard practice: consumers will expect such features from all the brands they favour. But security concerns hang in the air; consumers will want to know their data is protected, especially if they are ever victims of theft or hacking. Thus, perhaps even more than with e-commerce, m-commerce suppliers might well need to deliver advanced customer service via extra clarity and transparency.
As concerns about security recede and the features and functionality of the mobile option take centre stage, many more m-commerce sites will emerge and mobile shopping will become a progressively more mainstream practice – further enabling the consumer to live more of their life on-the-go.
The Social Shopper and Seller
E-commerce has already entered the world of social networks, allowing shoppers to connect with their friends, family, acquaintances while perusing and purchasing online. In the coming years, we can expect sites such as Facebook to play an ever more important role in the way we select – and review – the products we buy online.
Not only does Facebook allow its users to connect with others on the site to buy and sell personal items, a number of retailers now sell their goods directly through the social networking site. This adds a new element to the trend personalisation of authority as it allows consumers to get instant feedback from friends on their purchases, as well as share and post their purchases to the site. The consumer is very much in control.
Online retail moves into the social space
In autumn 2011, e-commerce site Etsy launched its Gift Ideas for Facebook Friends service. With access to the user’s Facebook profile, the site proposes a number of gift suggestions for a chosen friend, based on content shared by that individual.
In 2011, clothing retailer Asos launched a fully functional shop inside Facebook, allowing its customers to browse its entire range, ‘like’ or ‘share’ garments and complete transactions without leaving the social networking site. And, if in search of clothing advice, users can share ‘look books’ with their friends.
The combination of e-commerce and social networking facilitates greater interaction between brands and consumers, allowing retailers a potentially explosive degree of contact and dialogue with their customers and the opportunity to receive personal information from them – and their networks – in exchange for a valued service. With this, the concept of the 21st century social influencer, an individual with perceived authority over their networks, could become ever-more prominent and important for marketing and communications.
For more, please contact:
Richard Nicholls – 020 3008 6103 / [email protected]
Heather Corker – 020 3008 6099 / [email protected]