Mobile Commerce - Have Phone, Will Shop

A few years ago, e-commerce was the big news. Today, it's
m-commerce. A growing number of people are using mobile devices, such as smart phones and computer tablets, to search for businesses, research products, share recommendations via social media, and make purchases. Is your business ready for
m-commerce?

Mobile Websites

Have you looked at your business's website on a smart phone or tablet? Regular websites are often not readable on small screens. The first step in attracting mobile customers is to optimize your website -- or create a new one -- for mobile devices. There are several different ways to make your website "mobile" friendly. Some of the simplest changes involve reducing the width, simplifying the layout, and removing images that take a long time to load.

Mobile Marketing

Mobile devices allow people to reach out when they're on the go. Once you have a mobile presence, you can reach back. One way is to offer special mobile-only sales. Another is to use quick response (QR) codes -- those fancy looking bar codes. QR codes can be read by smart phones and camera phones. Once scanned, information embedded in the QR code "sends out" a response, such as a text message with a coupon or a URL that takes the customer to a web page with specific information.

As m-commerce evolves, so will your opportunities to communicate with -- and sell to -- your customers. If your target market is moving to mobile, you won't want to be too far behind.