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Long gone are the days when people go from store to store with the hope of randomly getting in-stock products that they want, since with the invention of the Internet, everything is available and happens online.
Online shopping is proving itself to be the now thanks to its unmatched convenience, but with the rise of online shopping are the complexities that go with it.
I mean, what’s with all those terms that are being thrown around?
What is eCommerce? Mobile Commerce (AKA mCommerce OR m-Commerce)!?
How are they different?
There are a lot of questions that need answers for, which is why today in SimiCart weekly article, we’ll be clearing up some of them for you.
1. Definitions and How They are Alike
| mCommerce | eCommerce | |
| History | From the 1990s | From the 1970s |
| Definition | mCommerce, or Mobile Commerce, refers to the process of buying and selling products and services with the use of internet/cellular data via wireless handheld devices. | eCommerce, or Electronic Commerce, refers to the activities of buying and selling products and services with the use of electronic systems such as the internet. |
| Similarity | Simply put, both of these definitions refer to online transactions. |
Pretty easy to grasp, isn’t it? It’s because of the benefits the eCommerce industry brings to its customers, in general, that we can find ourselves having an effortless online purchasing experience.
When was the last time you bought something from the Internet? Was it last week? Last month? Well, statistically, 96% of Americans have made an online purchase in their life, 80% in the past month alone. Those are big numbers indicating that online purchasing has since become an essential experience of our everyday life.
2. The Differences
So how do they really differentiate from each other? There’s a lot more to dig into:
| mCommerce | eCommerce | |
| Devices used | Handheld devices such as smartphones and tablets | Computers, laptops, … |
| Connection-dependency | Mandatory (*) | Mandatory (*) |
| Reachability | With push notifications in place, mobile commerce can reach a wider range of users even when they’re on the go. | Limited |
| Mobility | High: Users can make transactions everywhere as long as they are connected to the Internet. | Low: Users can make transactions on their computers and laptops with limited mobility |
| Ease of Use | User Experience on mobile devices is optimized for as little taps-on-screen per transaction as possible | Harder to navigate in the desktop websites of eCommerce stores. |
| Platform | Web stores and native apps | Web stores |
| Payment Gateway | Caller’s rate, mobile banking or user’s credit card | Credit Cards |
| Location-tracking capability | Yes | No |
| Security | Rely on the web security combined with built-in mobile security features | Rely mainly on the web security |
(*): Stores that are built with Progressive Web Apps are able to cache offline content, which in turns make them partly independent of connection.
Still a bit unclear? Maybe an infographic can sort things out for you:
Share this Infographic On Your Site3. Why mCommerce is The Future
This might come as a bit biased, but here at SimiCart, we believe mCommerce is the future of shopping.
Brick and mortar stores might have served the general needs well but, as we all know, changing time requires changing solutions, and mCommerce has proven itself to be this decade’s king of transactions.
With an impressive year-on-year growth of 33.9%, mCommerce is expected to be the main channel of shopping in the future. To speak it in dollar’s terms, you can say that two out of every three dollars spent on online purchases are done through a mobile device.
4. Take Advantage of The Changing Trend
Now that we’ve had a firmer grasp of the matter, the next question is what should we do with this information. If you’ve already had a Magento website and currently in need of expanding your mobile presence, our professional opinion is that you should take advantage of the changing trend and go for a mobile shopping app, as it is the best way to create an ideal mobile shopping experience.
In SimiCart, we believe in providing merchants with innovative, tailored eCommerce solutions at a competitive price. And with our ten years of building native mobile apps for Magento, you can be assured that your Magento mobile app will be equipped with everything you need to stay competitive in today’s market.
