This is a guest post by Michael Sandoval, he is the online commerce director for Better Cater (please link to my site:  http://www.bettercater.com). He is a consultant on online marketing, social media, and ecommerce for the food and beverage industry.  

E-commerce has, over the past few years, become a highly prominent part of the current market, handling innumerable millions of purchases a year over the ever-expanding internet. However, with the rise of smartphones and the mobile scene, another form of commerce is rising  just as quickly - mobile commerce, which is not only taking the concepts of commerce (i.e. offering your products and carrying out purchases, etc) and moving them into the mobile scene (such as through an App for iPhones or Android phones), but mobilizing some of the parts of the process onto these phones, such as ticketing and banking.

Smartphones are becoming very popular very quickly - this is obvious in today's society. Therefore, your business, if it hopes to keep up, needs to invest in this new form of commerce. Here is more detail on the importance of this conversion:

• The number of consumers: Many consumers as of late are switching to smartphones, most of which come with required internet access plans. Across many demographics, the percentage of those who own a smartphone has been drastically rising over the past few years, indicating the future strength of this new form of commerce.

• The convenience of one device: The consumer is using their phone for all sorts of things - getting onto Facebook, playing games (Angry Birds, anyone?), checking the weather,  watching videos, getting their news, and so on.  This has opened up a great new avenue for potential business to expand into - precisely by perhaps offering your products through the devices, such as with an App that accesses your online catalog of products and takes care of purchases.

• Marketing integration: Does your business use Facebook? How about Twitter? Both of these networks are frequented by smartphone users, and means that you can easily advertise your products to customers through these networks and just as easily have a customer check out and perhaps buy your products in a matter of a few moments from their smartphone.

• Potential for loyalty: With a new avenue of purchasing, you can offer new methods of enticement - perhaps discounts on certain items for those browsing through a smartphone / your app? Or, maybe exclusive "heads-up" information on specials?

With these factors in place, there is no reason not to jump into mobile commerce. Your electronic front is already a good start - adding yourself into this scene is even better. Keep in mind that you can also offer customer services through an app (if you find a company willing to develop one for you) - order tracking, alerts, reviews, etc. The investment doesn't have to be large - most smartphone browsers can utilize a standard website, but then consider investing in a mobile-friendly version, just to entice customers to show up!

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