Mobile eCommerce is a subset of eCommerce that pertains to any form of monetary transaction completed on a mobile phone or tablet.

Also called mobile commerce or m-commerce, mobile eCommerce is a trend that’s come to stay in the world of online shopping. As a business owner, it’s crucial to keep it near the forefront of your business model. With this technological advancement, people can effectively engage in buying and selling of goods and services from any location and anytime with a tablet or mobile phone, making it critical to optimize your online store for m-commerce to boost sales growth and scale effectively.

Mobile eCommerce Growth

Mobile eCommerce statistics show that its growth is both sustainable and significant.

As at 2017, statistics reveal that sales via mobile devices accounted for approximately 34 percent of the total eCommerce sales for the year. This percentage has continued to grow and is ultimately expected to reach approximately 54 percent by 2021, attesting not only the rapid growth of mobile commerce, but the importance of optimizing your online store for it as soon as possible.

According to eMarketer, the global eCommerce sales is projected to reach approximately $4 trillion by 2020, making it an especially lucrative business opportunity for mobile-savvy entrepreneurs.

Why is Mobile eCommerce Important?

Considering the significant growth of mobile eCommerce in recent years, optimizing your online store for sales via smartphone and tablet devices in critical. From U.S. to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Europe and Asia, mobile eCommerce growth has continued to boom as mobile traffic eclipses desktop traffic and is projected to grow in the future.

When you optimize your business with mobile device users in mind, it can significantly improve your return on investment (ROI), as it leads to higher conversion rates. By utilizing both digital and brick-and-mortar sales, your business can also take advantages of the omni-channel experience that mobile eCommerce trends offer.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Mobile eCommerce

Just like other trends and eCommerce practices, there are certain advantages and disadvantages associated with making sure your customers can easily carry out transactions using their mobile devices. This, however, shouldn’t deter you from making the most of mobile eCommerce given its many benefits for online entrepreneurs.

Advantages of mobile eCommerce

  • Improved customer experience
  • Varied payment options
  • Phenomenal sales growth potential
  • Improved traffic
  • Higher conversion rates

Disadvantages of mobile eCommerce

  • The need for constant optimization
  • Variation in payment options may inhibit sales
  • Highly-competitive pricing
  • Need to comply with various tax laws and regulations

How to Optimize for Mobile eCommerce

It’s true that there are lots of benefits that come with being able to offer your products and services to users of mobile devices. However, you can only make the most of these benefits if you understand how to optimize for mobile eCommerce. Here are some key best practices to keep in mind:

  • Redesign your site for a superior mobile shopping experience
  • Create a personalized app for improved user experience
  • Optimize images on website for mobile
  • Reduce sizes of images to limit page loading time
  • Offer faster and one-page checkouts
  • Minimize checkout forms

All these strategies should be prioritized if your aim is to boost sales from mobile eCommerce. Digital entrepreneurs that stay ahead of the curve can take advantage of the growth of mobile commerce, giving them a key edge over their competitors.

Conclusion

Entrepreneurs who make a point to focus on mobile eCommerce optimization can reap the benefits of this growing trend in online shopping. As it continues to grow year over year, you can help your online business survive the in the highly-competitive world of eCommerce by adapting to the rapid growth of mobile shopping and shifting consumer habits. If you’re looking to boost sales growth and stay ahead of the curve, then it’s time to optimize for m-commerce now and stay ahead of the competition.