Issues in Implementing M-Commerce

The mobile Internet is ideal for particular applications and has useful characteristics that offer a range of services and content. As the connection charge and the handset are still costly, this caters for a niche market of mobile users who are young and affluent and mobile business users. For example, Tesco's mobile service is targeted toward business executives. It offers convenience for those who use trains or public transport to get home. They can place orders on their way home. When they get off the train, they just go to the nearby Tesco store to pick up the order; this saves a lot of shopping time. In the United Kingdom, the HSBC bank notifies customers about their current balance by SMS messaging. It is a free service and is welcomed by many mobile users. Utility services such as British Gas use mobiles extensively. The off-site engineers access back-office systems to order parts, download schematics for fixing appliances, and so on, through handheld devices. So when implementing m-commerce, businesses should consider the following issues:

1. Understand the position of the business in the industry.

2. Evaluate the overall usefulness and convenience to the customers—both internal, e.g., off-site employees, and external.

3. Develop applications with a fun and hassle-free user interface.

4. Offer fast and secure ordering facilities.

5. Allow users to recover from an aborted session.

The advent of m-commerce is fast approaching. In business, the constant word is "change." Winning customers in today's highly competitive, demanding world is the key to survival. The mobile world is changing the logic of business, businesses have to implement effective strategies to capture and retain increasingly demanding and sophisticated customers. Furthermore, it is timely for the business community to prepare for the approaching economic boom, which always follows an economic downturn. Business needs to think critically about how to integrate the mobile Web to the wired Web, which requires careful strategic thought, as not all applications are appropriate. Those that make the correct decisions will control the future.