Mobile and Electronic Commerce: Effects on Consumer Behaviour
One of the emerging trends in the business of today is mobility, whereby, both the producers and consumers opt for the quick, cheap and easy transactions, (Watson, Berthon, Pitt, & Zinkhan, 2008). Because of this, several mobile commercial strategies have emerged, which have been made possible by the constant emergence and advancement of mobile and computer telecommunication gadgets. Then, what really is meant by the term electronic commerce? It encompasses the carrying out of business online through the use of applications that rely on the internet, such as e-mail, shopping cards, UDDI, EDI, FTP, and involves the use of handled gadgets such as laptops, cellular phones, tables to carry out business online. It is therefore inevitable to accept the fact that there has come a lot of positive advancements with the coming into play of this kind of commerce in the commercial sector. With respect to this, the following industries are going to be looked into: entertainment, financial, travel, retail and the auto industries. Just before getting into the various industries, there is need to look into the various features of the electronic commerce that have enabled it satisfy the consumer needs,
According to Tiwari, Buse, and Herstatt, (2006) the proximity enables timely service delivery, a feature that is quite attractive for the goods and services that are time-sensitive. For instance, online health services that enable patients access information on the diagnosis and measures to be taken, and the purchase of the perishable goods such as vegetables are some of the scenarios that are favoured by this new development in goods and service management. They go ahead to mention the ‘anywhere nature’ of the business that enhances transaction regardless of the consumer and the seller’s geographical location as at the time of transaction. For instance, a computer technician may give a customer tutorials via phone call on how to fix a mishap in their device. They conclude by mentioning the localization brought about by the positioning technologies such as the Geographic Positioning System (GPS), which has allowed the delivery of goods and services by the suppliers or companies to the exact location of the consumers thus helping save them the strain of giving direction to their current locations.
In the entertainment industry, the consumers are able to download games, music, images and video games directly from the internet upon paying for them regardless of the location. Entertainment services are also made possible via the mobile booking of show tickets as well as those for drama and sports. This falls under ‘the anywhere’ nature and ‘ubiquity’ of such businesses (Tiwari, Buse, & Herstatt, 2006). They further mention, the banking sector that has benefited through the use of m-banking where clients can deposit as well as withdraw via mobile without having to go to the bank thus reducing time wastage. The customers are able to confirm and get their statements through mobile phones without having to get over the counter.
According to Basu and Muylle (2007), the automobile industry has also gained quite much from these services for its sales. A real case scenario is as brought out in the story of a young female wishing to purchase a new car. She selects two websites, Buildyourowncar.com and Ford.com from a list of options. There is no need to mention the ease of the processes that follow.
In a nutshell, consumers are nowadays able to book tickets online, make purchases, access banking services, acquire information services such as news, earn degrees as well as get medical services online. The electronic and mobile commerce have, thus, immensely contributed to efficiency, fast, and easy delivery of goods and services to the consumers. This, therefore, is a promising development that is likely to bring a lot of revolutionary change in all facets of the economy.
References
Basu, A., & Muylle, S. (2007). How to Plan E-Business Initiative in Established Companies. MIT Sloan Management Review, 49(1). Retrieved from
http://www.business.ulst.ac.uk/intlbusiness/courses/bmg814m1/BasuEBusiness.pdf
Tiwari, R., Buse, S., & Herstatt, C. (2006). “From electronic to mobile commerce: opportunites through technology convergence for business services”. Asia Pacific Tech Monitor (New Delhi (India) 23 (5): 38-45.
Retrieved from:http://www.global-innovation.net/publications/PDF/APTM2006.pdf
Watson, R. T., Berthon, P., Pitt, L. F., & Zinkhan, G. M. (2008). Electronic Commerce: The Strategic Perspective. Available from: http://florida.theorangegrove.org/og/file/29589c3c-8bcd-72c1-b2f237789232eb3c/1/Electronic_Commerce.pdf
