Mobile, the future ecommerce.

The mobile phones we have today are an order of magnitude better in terms of capability compared to previous models. From the size and portability of the current handsets, to the power that these new devices have to run other software, the mobile phone of today is a pocket computer of previously unimaginable power. This article will look at the future of mobile phones and how this will impact in one of the most dynamics sectors in the world, ecommerce.


Ecommerce, although thought of as a new sector, has itself matured over the years. The days of thinking of the home consumer sitting in front of a desktop machine as the typical customer seem to have their days numbered. Although ecommerce websites used to have to tailor for mobile phones with specific sites designed for mobile users, the current raft of phones can often render full web pages. This not only helps the website owner, not only potentially limiting the further investment needed in a mobile-only site, but also gives the site operator the usual suite of tools to design and operate their site to all users. The site the mobile internet user see's doesn't have to be ‘dumbed down'. This not only helps the retailer, but also the consumer can be ensured of a rich shopping experience.


There are elements of site design that can be tweaked if the intended user is from a mobile internet platform. Use of third party technologies to add animation, video, or music need careful attention and implementation. Some mobile phones that support full website browsing don't actually support such features. It is possible for a website to be created that uses such techniques heavily, in such a case there may be many mobile users who won't see the site as the owners intended.


The future of the mobile internet user looks like a rosy one indeed. The continued development of mobile phone technology means that more and more powerful handsets will be available, meaning that full featured web browsing should hopefully become the norm. For retailers this should also be a cause for celebration, the website owners sick of developing ‘watered down' versions of their main site purely for mobile users, the potential for monetary and time savings look impressive.


For this mobile market it is essential that you have good payment gateways to cope with the traffic generated. Finding a quality payment service provider will take much of the difficulty out of generating online mobile sales.


The rolling advancement of technology means that nothing in this digital world stays still for long, ecommerce will soon be something that consumers can do from almost any location, with that comes new challenges for web designers and retailers alike.