Mobile commerce is worth US$230 billion, with Asia representing almost half of the market, and has been forecast to reach US$700 Bn in 2017. 700 Bn$ is huge in any way you look at it – It is what Apple was in the news for in Feb 2015 as the first 700 bn$ company, It is 11 times of Warren Buffet’s fortune (pegged at 62 Bn$), It can give 200 billion people their morning coffee or pay 13 million tuition bills to Harvard .

So, no prizes for guessing that mCommerce is an interesting, exciting and fast evolving space. As I try to understand and use diverse mCommerce platforms, solutions and services – I distinctly observe that there are 3 C’s which are catalyzing the growth of mCommerce

C1 – Content

The popular words “Content is king” hold absolutely true for mCommerce. Simply because the first step in mCommerce is product / service discovery. For effectiveness in search, the overview, details and description that any user views on his / her mobile device is most critical. This information could be in any format like visuals, videos, text, podcasts, advertisements (mobile / print / online), etc.; but what is common is that they are all powered by content.

The next step which is critical for mCommerce is the comments / reviews / ratings which a particular product / service garner from the users. Here again, a user can leave a positive or negative comment, but it boils down to the words used – which is again really content.

C2 – Community

The next C which is critical for mCommerce is community. With the rapid adoption of technology there are online groups for everything – from dog lovers, to photography fans, to mummy groups, to health and fitness groups, to the old boys clubs, to school / college alumni groups, to study groups,  etc.

And within the confines of these groups – there is a possibility of intelligent debate, discussions, conversations and feedback. And these interactions often tend to influence our thoughts, views, opinions and perspectives – especially around buying decisions. Hence, it is for good reason that the most popular global technology platforms have invested in the power of community – Be it FaceBook groups, or WhatsApp groups or WeChat groups – The aim is to bring together a group of people to connect, converse and collaborate on one / many things. And within this group framework - it is really easy to gather honest inputs, get real-life feedback, solicit advice or request references for any buying / payment requirementd.

C3 – Campaigns

Every new service or solution has a cycle of adoption. There will always be early adopters who embrace the solution from the day of launch and the laggards who will not even try the solution until it becomes mandatory or they are under some compulsions. And hence, the key for any mCommerce solution to become adopted by masses will depend on the power of consumer outreach campaigns – in which you entice users to buy on your platform.

It is hence imperative that big marketing and advertising dollars are being spent on promotions (online and offline) and irresistible offers / discounts / freebies are continuously provided to users. The thing about a good deal is that most of us find it hard to resist after a point, irrespective of whether we need it or not.  And in an attempt to be part of the campaign, you end up using mCommerce!

As I conclude, I leave you with the essence of this post in one equation:

mCommerce = Complex function (Content + Community + Campaigns)

 Agree – Yes / No? What C did I miss? Leave a comment to let me know…