Can customers view your business website on a smartphone? Should your business have an app? We walk you through the basics of going mobile.
Forecasters have been proclaiming the age of m-commerce for a decade now. Yet small enterprises keep doing business the old-fashioned way: online and via email. So I can hear you saying, “Mobile biz? Again? Really?”
As we all know, technological advances typically outpace consumer adoption and social transformation. Remember when wireless broadband was being hailed as a game changer? It was about the time you were thrilled to find dialup service in hotel rooms.
So heads up. M-commerce is close to critical mass:
- As of June 2011, there were 323 million U.S. wireless subscriptions, reports CTIA, the industry association. With the U.S. population at about 312 million, that’s a formidable 103 percent market penetration.
- As of October 2011, almost half of American cell phone users had smartphones (44 percent), according to Nielsen. For users ages 25-34, that jumps to 62 percent.
- Two of every five smartphone owners (38 percent) used the device to make a purchase in 2011, reports comScore.
- 62 percent of Americans who use a mobile phone are open to making a purchase with the device, says a May 2011 MasterCard survey.
- Shopping via mobile devices will grow to $119 billion worldwide by 2015, predicts ABI Research.
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