MOBILE COMMERCE

"Mobile Commerce is any transaction, involving the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods and services, which is initiated and/or completed by using mobile access to computer-mediated networks with the help of an electronic device."(Tiwari,2007).

Aggressive expansion by the mobile phone network operators has not only changed the dynamics of the mobile phone retail market but has also altered the landscape of UK retail.(Mintel,2009) With the development of 3G technology and the high speed wifi，M-commerce has been wildly used by retailers these days. According to the European Information Technology Observatory (EITO), only less than 9 million of revenues were generated by Mobile Internet and Mobile Content services together in the whole m-commerce in 2001,But after 2 years, the turnover in Great Britain was reported to be 212 million and in France 127 million (EITO, 2004). The revenue of the new and booming business jumped to $18.3 billion in 2009 and was predicted that  mobile commerce would grow into a $119 billion global industry by 2015, according to analyst Mark Beccue of ABI Research.

It is a booming market and lots of retailers are now focusing on the huge cake.

 “After losing ground to Amazon.com  for years in online retailing, eBay has emerged as a leader in a new market: mobile commerce.“(MacMillan, 2010) Meanwhile the worldwide mobile leader, which handled an estimated $800 million of merchandise in 2009, is Taobao, a unit of Chinese Web giant Alibaba Group. (MacMillan, 2010).It is really a shock that it was neither Amazon or eBay.

Consumers now increasingly shop with their BlackBerrys, iPhones, and Google's Android through apps. Condé Nast's Vogue global fashion bible has revealed it is set to launch an Apple iPad app(Mintel,2010) Alexandra Shulman, editor of British Vogue, said: "The challenge we set ourselves was to produce something that fulfilled the Vogue values - first class contributors, unparalleled creative and production, fashion and beauty authority - while taking advantage of this new medium to bring the best of the worlds fashion, beauty and style to life at the touch of a fingertip." Within the new platform, retailers could get more close with their customers, pull and push information as well as built a long and solid relationship with consumers.

M-Commerce provide various product, information and entertainments through mobile phone. In October 2010,app issue featured rich media spots from Burberry, Chanel, Fendi, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Parfums Christian Dior, Ralph Lauren and Tiffany. People could directly buy fashion through these apps and there is an even extreme example that the most expensive example this year is a used Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder that went for $139,000. Can’t you believe that?

Another phenomenon shows that people like me can’t live without mobile. No mobile means no social contact, no information and no normal life. Mobile is only a tool of calling people, the meaning of which are far beyond. Upon this, retailers have more opportunities to do e-commerce. Marcus(2010) discussed five mobile commerce trends to keep an eye on for the remainder of 2010,

1.Bargain Hunting

Apps like Redlaser helps users to find out the low online and local price form hundreds of thousands of retailers. It is good for comparison shopping, reading product reviews and making note of a specific product. Redlaser also allow users to scan product bar codes and discover it’s various prices at different retailers(Marcus,2010).

2. Mobile Ticketing

The mobile ticket app makes buying tickets to any concert, sporting event or theater event fast and easy. For fashion retailers, any event tickets or special sale tickets could be sent in this form.

3.Banking

According to data released by comScore, 13.2 million people accessed their bank accounts from their phones during the month of April alone, which is a 70% increase from a year ago. About 5 million are using mobile banking apps in the last year. (Marcus,2010)

4. Tangible Goods

A survey by the Mobile Marketing Association shows that 17% of mobile commerce was used for purchasing applications and ringtones, while another 6% of people used their phones for discounts and coupons, and another 6% used their phones to buy tangible goods  (Marcus,2010)

So for fashion retailers, the 6% could be enlarge in not far future. People begins to have the habit of buying fashion on phone. Fashion retailers like Zara have post the mobile store on app, though the payment system has not been added in. But shopping on mobile would not be a myth。

5. Marketing

H&M just launched the apps. It is obviously a way to advertise the wares of the H&M brand. On the Home screen there are six billboard looking options to flip through: Ladies & Men, Divided, Back to School, In Stores Now, Style Guide, and H&M Fashion Video. people can find out the new released fashion on H&M while they are in the tube or waiting for a bus. It is a really a good way to kill time as well as save time.

However, M-coupons could also be used for marketing and I think it is the most convenient way to keep coupons and use them.