Businesses are changing rapidly. From integrating technology to expanding their offerings. Today, most businesses are turning to selling online to maximise their reach. This sort of selling is called e-commerce or in some cases m-commerce.
By leveraging these new concepts, you can elevate your business and ensure that scaling is not a problem. Before you can start using these new concepts, you need to know the difference between the two.
In this article, we explore the difference between m-commerce and e-commerce.
What is M-commerce?
M-commerce is the abbreviation of mobile commerce. It is defined as the buying and selling of goods and services through handheld devices such as smartphones and tablets. M-commerce allows your customers to access your online shopping platform without having to use a computer or laptop.
Examples of m-commerce include mobile banking apps, Google Pay, and shopping apps such as Bash and Superbalist.
Some of the benefits include:
- More insights into customer shopping behaviour and location.
- Personalised content and marketing with push notifications and targeted e-mails.
- Enhanced customer experience with mobile devices.
- Various payment options.
- Provides businesses with an extra channel for marketing.
What Is E-commerce?
E-commerce stands for electronic commerce. It is a business model that allows you to sell online and allows your customers to buy online. Currently, there are six types of e-commerce business models including:
- Business to consumer (B2C)
- Business to Business (B2B)
- Business to government (B2G)
- Business to business to consumer (B2B2C)
- Consumer to consumer (C2C)
- Consumer to business (C2B)
Although these two concepts have two different names, the business models are quite similar.
Let’s compare some of the key differences between m-commerce and e-commerce.
Some of the benefits include:
- Provides a faster buying experience for customers.
- Allows businesses to list their products online.
- Reduces costs by reducing the need for a physical storefront.
- Makes advertising and marketing affordable.
- Flexibility for users and businesses.
- Allows for quick response to any customer or market demands.
Differences Between E-commerce and M-commerce
Mobility
In terms of the flexibility of both these concepts, m-commerce is more mobile. E-commerce usually needs the help of a desktop or laptop; this means that customers have to look for a place (somewhere on the website) to do their transactions.
In m-commerce, everything is done on mobile devices which are easy to use at any time and any place. With m-commerce, your customers can perform full transactions with a few taps on the screen. This is also made better with the use of online payment gateways and mobile banking apps.
Customer Tracking
It is easier to track and identify the location of your customers using m-commerce. Because they are using their mobile devices, the GPS technology (and Wi-Fi etc) makes it easy to identify customers’ location and give them location-specific content. For example, when an app like Zulzi provides you with suggestions under “popular in your area”.
E-commerce has limited tracking capabilities because it doesn’t use portable devices. This means that you are less likely to know the true location of your users.
Customer Security
Security is important when shopping online. Users enter their personal banking details online and expect them to be protected by the software their business is using for payment purposes. When it comes to security, m-commerce is better.
Typically, there are extensive security measures on mobile devices such as two-factor authentication, multi-level authentication and biometric authentication (face ID or Fingerprints).
E-commerce is also quite secure but does not have the same extensive security measures as m-commerce. E-commerce typically has two-factor authentication and multi-level authentication.
Which Is Better Between E-commerce and M-commerce?
As we can see, the differences between e-commerce and m-commerce are not that big. They both have the kind of benefits that would only enhance a business’ operations. If your business is still growing but you want to be able to allow your customers to buy online, m-commerce might be the more affordable option.
For those whose businesses are growing, and you want to reach international audiences then e-commerce is more suitable. It will be able to better support long distance purchases and ensure that your local customers are not left unserved.
Now that you know the differences between the two, you can start applying the one that fits your business model best. It’s festive season so having an online shopping method will only benefit your business and bring in more sales.
For more information on online shopping, check out our guide to e-commerce in South Africa.
