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E-Commerce and E-Business
14.1 Integrating Mobile E-Commerce
Mobile e-commerce is continuing to grow at a rapid rate. Companies are constantly creating more
mobile optimized Web sites that allow the customers to accomplish e-commerce transactions over
mobile, instead of browsing the Internet.
Shoppers can purchase any product on Web sites like Amazon.com through the
mobile optimized site.
Customers accessing the site through their mobile phone should be automatically redirected to the
mobile-optimized version of the site. Designers of the site should ensure that the URL of the mobile site
is easy to remember.
Mobile Web sites are made accessible by:
1. Appending the word ‘mobile’ to the main domain.
2. Using dot mobi domain with the brand name.
Mobile Internet connections can sometimes be unstable.
Mobile connections get dropped when the mobile phone moves into a low signal
area or runs out of battery.
Mobile Internet Connections instability will not pose a problem if someone is just browsing the data.
Reading the news updates will not be affected by instability of mobile Internet
connections.
While there is not much one can do to enhance mobile network coverage, the effects of dropped
connections can be mitigated by doing the following:
1. Saving all details at every step of the transaction.
Details of items in a shopping basket or shipping data already entered.
2. Making sure that a transaction can be resumed from the point where it was paused, without
having to start again.
3. Capturing visitor’s e-mail addresses or mobile phone numbers at the start of the transaction and
sending them instructions to help continue an uninterrupted transaction.
4. Making sure that all the transactions that are available on the mobile site are completed in a few
short steps.
Though high-end smartphones are increasingly incorporating on-screen keyboard, it is not always easy
to type data like addresses and credit card numbers on a mobile phone.
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