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Mobile commerce

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120-556: The term mobile commerce was originally coined in 1997 by Kevin Duffey at the launch of the Global Mobile Commerce Forum, to mean "the delivery of electronic commerce capabilities directly into the consumer’s hand, anywhere, via wireless technology." Many choose to think of Mobile Commerce as meaning "a retail outlet in your customer’s pocket." Mobile commerce is worth US$ 800 billion, with Asia representing almost half of

240-477: A double-digit pace through 2014. By 2016, eMarketer expected retail e-commerce sales in Brazil to reach $ 17.3 billion. Logistics in e-commerce mainly concerns fulfillment. Online markets and retailers have to find the best possible way to fill orders and deliver products. Small companies usually control their own logistic operation because they do not have the ability to hire an outside company. Most large companies hire

360-430: A fulfillment service that takes care of a company's logistic needs. The optimization of logistics processes that contains long-term investment in an efficient storage infrastructure system and adoption of inventory management strategies is crucial to prioritize customer satisfaction throughout the entire process, from order placement to final delivery. E-commerce markets are growing at noticeable rates. The online market

480-421: A great preference for close integration with social media . Research shows that culture makes a significant difference in people's motivation to engage in shopping, where Western consumers - for example - have significantly different motivations to Chinese consumers. The popularity of apps has given rise to the latest iteration of mobile commerce: app commerce. This refers to retail transactions that take place on

600-401: A high return for the mobile vendor as they require the consumer to make multiple transactions over a long period of time. Using a mobile browser—a World Wide Web browser on a mobile device—customers can shop online without having to be at their personal computer. Many mobile marketing apps with geo-location capability are now delivering user-specific marketing messages to the right person at

720-628: A local store. She can and within a few clicks, place an order for her supplies without having to plan ahead for it. No more need to reach for her purse and hunt for credit cards, no need to log into her laptop and try to recall the web address of the store she visited last week, and surely no need to find a babysitter to cover for her while she runs to the local store. Research demonstrates that consumers of mobile and wireline markets represent two distinct groups who are driven by different values and behaviors, and who exhibit dissimilar psychographic and demographic profiles. What aspects truly distinguish between

840-407: A long time, companies had been troubled by the gap between the benefits which supply chain technology has and the solutions to deliver those benefits. However, the emergence of e-commerce has provided a more practical and effective way of delivering the benefits of the new supply chain technologies. E-commerce has the capability to integrate all inter-company and intra-company functions, meaning that

960-582: A mobile device. This customized data is more useful than a generic traffic-report broadcast but was impractical before the invention of modern mobile devices due to the bandwidth requirements. Banks and other financial institutions use mobile commerce to allow their customers to access account information and make transactions, such as purchasing stocks, and remitting money. This service is often referred to as mobile banking , or m-banking. Stock market services offered via mobile devices have also become more popular and are known as Mobile Brokerage. They allow

1080-422: A mobile phone with one of these tokens at the point of sale receives the same benefits as if they had the traditional token. Stores may send coupons to customers using location-based services to determine when the customer is nearby. Using a connected device and the networking effect can also allow for gamification within the shopping experience. Currently, mobile content purchase and delivery mainly consist of

1200-411: A more competitive market. Examples of barriers to entry include patents , land rights , and certain zoning laws . These barriers allow firms to maintain a large portion of market share due to new entrants being unable to obtain the necessary requirements or pay the initial costs of entry. An oligopoly is a case where barriers are present, but more than one firm is able to maintain the majority of

1320-553: A more efficient and effective way to collaborate with each other within the supply chain. E-commerce helps create new job opportunities due to information related services, software app and digital products. It also causes job losses. The areas with the greatest predicted job-loss are retail, postal, and travel agencies. The development of e-commerce will create jobs that require highly skilled workers to manage large amounts of information, customer demands, and production processes. In contrast, people with poor technical skills cannot enjoy

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1440-811: A more sophisticated level of impact on supply chains: Firstly, the performance gap will be eliminated since companies can identify gaps between different levels of supply chains by electronic means of solutions; Secondly, as a result of e-commerce emergence, new capabilities such implementing ERP systems, like SAP ERP , Xero , or Megaventory, have helped companies to manage operations with customers and suppliers. Yet these new capabilities are still not fully exploited. Thirdly, technology companies would keep investing on new e-commerce software solutions as they are expecting investment return. Fourthly, e-commerce would help to solve many aspects of issues that companies may feel difficult to cope with, such as political barriers or cross-country changes. Finally, e-commerce provides companies

1560-541: A native mobile app. App commerce is said to perform better than both desktop and mobile web when it comes to browsing duration and interactions. Average order value is reportedly greater with retail apps than traditional ecommerce, and conversion rates on apps are twice that of mobile websites. Mobile applications serve as a means to ensure positive user experience, seamless interaction, and increased revenues for e-commerce. According to DesignRush report, mobile applications are expected to generate $ 189 billion by 2020. Moreover,

1680-770: A new class of regulated firms known as payment institutions (PIs), who are subject to prudential requirements. Article 87 of the PSD requires the European Commission to report on the implementation and impact of the PSD by 1 November 2012. In India , the Information Technology Act 2000 governs the basic applicability of e-commerce . In China , the Telecommunications Regulations of the People's Republic of China (promulgated on 25 September 2000), stipulated

1800-415: A number of mobile capabilities such as location-based services , barcode scanning , and push notifications to improve the customer experience of shopping in physical stores. By creating what is referred to as a 'bricks & clicks' environment, physical retailers can allow customers to access the common benefits of shopping online (such as product reviews, information, and coupons) while still shopping in

1920-426: A preferable way to promote consumer goods than static photos, and some brands like Sony are already paving the way for augmented reality commerce. Wayfair now lets you inspect a 3D version of its furniture in a home setting before buying. Among emerging economies, China's e-commerce presence continues to expand every year. With 668 million Internet users as of 2014, China's online shopping sales reached $ 253 billion in

2040-447: A presence offline and online by linking physical and online offerings. E-commerce allows customers to overcome geographical barriers and allows them to purchase products anytime and from anywhere. Online and traditional markets have different strategies for conducting business. Traditional retailers offer fewer assortment of products because of shelf space where, online retailers often hold no inventory but send customer orders directly to

2160-475: A profit maximizing solution. Another significant factor for profit maximization is market fractionation . A company may sell goods in several regions or in several countries. Profit is maximized by treating each location as a separate market. Rather than matching supply and demand for the entire company the matching is done within each market. Each market has different competitions, different supply constraints (like shipping) and different social factors. When

2280-459: A reverse. Similar to the GCC countries, there has been increased purchase of goods and services in online channels rather than offline channels. Activist investors are trying hard to consolidate and slash their overall cost and the governments in western countries continue to impose more regulation on CPG manufacturers (Geisler, 36). In these senses, CPG investors are being forced to adapt to e-commerce as it

2400-695: A study by Forrester shows that mobile devices will be leveraged to facilitate over $ 1 trillion in sales in 2018. Electronic commerce E-commerce ( electronic commerce ) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet . E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce , electronic funds transfer , supply chain management , Internet marketing , online transaction processing , electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems , and automated data collection systems. E-commerce

2520-501: A traditional online shopper from home and a mobile on-the-go shopper? Research shows that how individuals relate to four situational dimensions- place, time, social context and control determine to what extent they are ubiquitous or situated as consumers. These factors are important in triggering m-commerce from e-commerce. As a result, successful mobile commerce requires the development of marketing campaigns targeted to these particular dimensions and according to user segments. Mobile media

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2640-498: A wider range of products and save customers' time. Consumers also gain power through online shopping. They are able to research products and compare prices among retailers. Thanks to the practice of user-generated ratings and reviews from companies like Bazaarvoice , Trustpilot , and Yelp , customers can also see what other people think of a product, and decide before buying if they want to spend money on it. Also, online shopping often provides sales promotion or discounts code, thus it

2760-406: Is a portal to report complaints about online and related transactions with foreign companies. There is also Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation . APEC was established in 1989 with the vision of achieving stability, security and prosperity for the region through free and open trade and investment. APEC has an Electronic Commerce Steering Group as well as working on common privacy regulations throughout

2880-503: Is a primary problem for e-commerce in developed and developing countries. E-commerce security is protecting businesses' websites and customers from unauthorized access, use, alteration, or destruction. The type of threats include: malicious codes, unwanted programs ( ad ware , spyware ), phishing , hacking , and cyber vandalism . E-commerce websites use different tools to avert security threats. These tools include firewalls , encryption software , digital certificates, and passwords. For

3000-522: Is a rapidly changing field. New technologies, such as WiMax , act to accelerate innovation in mobile commerce. Early pioneers in mobile advertising include Vodafone , Orange , and SK Telecom . An empirical study shows that over 70% of mobile commerce users are under the age of 25, as of 2019. Mobile devices are heavily used in South Korea to conduct mobile commerce. Mobile companies in South Korea believed that mobile technology would become synonymous with

3120-475: Is a special type of ATM. Most ATMs are meant to be stationary, and they're often found attached to the side of financial institutions, in stores, and in malls. A mobile ATM, on the other hand, is meant to be moved from location to location. This type of ATM is often found at special events for which ATM service is only needed temporarily. For example, they may be found at carnivals, fairs, and parades. They may also be used at seminars and workshops where no regular ATM

3240-405: Is also an essential field for e-Commerce businesses.  It has responded to the trend of globalization. It shows that numerous firms have opened up new businesses, expanded new markets, and overcome trade barriers; more and more enterprises have started exploring the cross-border cooperation field. In addition, compared with traditional cross-border trade, the information on cross-border e-commerce

3360-399: Is an example for negative externality. Consumer surplus is an economic indicator which measures consumer benefits. The price that consumers pay for a product is not greater than the price they desire to pay, and in this case there will be consumer surplus. For the supply side of economics, the general school of thought is that profit is meant to ensure shareholder yield . While it is

3480-416: Is an important piece of information used during mobile commerce or m-commerce transactions. Knowing the location of the user allows for location-based services such as: A wide variety of information services can be delivered to mobile phone users in much the same way as it is delivered to PCs. These services include: Customized traffic information, based on a user's actual travel patterns, can be sent to

3600-416: Is business based on types of goods sold (involves everything from ordering "digital" content for immediate online consumption, to ordering conventional goods and services, to "meta" services to facilitate other types of electronic commerce). The second category is based on the nature of the participant ( B2B , B2C , C2B and C2C ). On the institutional level, big corporations and financial institutions use

3720-540: Is defined as the difference in total revenue and total cost, a firm achieves its maximum profit by operating at the point where the difference between the two is at its greatest. The goal of maximizing profit is also what leads firms to enter markets where economic profit exists, with the main focus being to maximize production without significantly increasing its marginal cost per good. In markets which do not show interdependence , this point can either be found by looking at these two curves directly, or by finding and selecting

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3840-442: Is effective as well as a means for them to thrive. The future trends in the GCC countries will be similar to that of the western countries. Despite the forces that push business to adapt e-commerce as a means to sell goods and products, the manner in which customers make purchases is similar in countries from these two regions. For instance, there has been an increased usage of smartphones which comes in conjunction with an increase in

3960-700: Is equal to its total costs, then its economic profit is equal to zero and the company is in a state of normal profit. Normal profit occurs when resources are being used in the most efficient way at the highest and best use. Normal profit and economic profit are economic considerations while accounting profit refers to the profit a company reports on its financial statements each period. Economic profits arise in markets which are non-competitive and have significant barriers to entry , i.e. monopolies and oligopolies . The inefficiencies and lack of competition in these markets foster an environment where firms can set prices or quantities instead of being price-takers , which

4080-401: Is equal to the total costs incurred in its operation, thus allowing it to remain operational in a competitive industry. It is the minimum profit level that a company can achieve to justify its continued operation in the market where there is competition. In order to determine if a company has achieved normal profit, they first have to calculate their economic profit. If the company's total revenue

4200-441: Is expected to grow by 56% in 2015–2020. In 2017, retail e-commerce sales worldwide amounted to 2.3 trillion US dollars and e-retail revenues are projected to grow to 4.891 trillion US dollars in 2021. Traditional markets are only expected 2% growth during the same time. Brick and mortar retailers are struggling because of online retailer's ability to offer lower prices and higher efficiency. Many larger retailers are able to maintain

4320-593: Is from recycled content. The recycling rate in Europe is 80 percent and Asia is 93 percent. Amazon, the largest user of boxes , has a strategy to cut back on packing material and has reduced packaging material used by 19 percent by weight since 2016. Amazon is requiring retailers to manufacture their product packaging in a way that does not require additional shipping packaging. Amazon also has an 85-person team researching ways to reduce and improve their packaging and shipping materials. Profitability In economics, profit

4440-399: Is held to be contestable . Normally, a firm that introduces a differentiated product can initially secure temporary market power for a short while (See Monopoly Profit § Persistence ). At this stage, the initial price the consumer must pay for the product is high, and the demand for, as well as the availability of the product in the market , will be limited. In the long run however, when

4560-419: Is less than its price. This allows the firm to set a price which is higher than that which would be found in a similar but more competitive industry, allowing the firms to maintain an economic profit in both the short and long run. The existence of economic profits depends on the prevalence of barriers to entry , which stop other firms from entering into the industry and sapping away profits like they would in

4680-412: Is more concealed. In the era of globalization, cross-border e-commerce for inter-firm companies means the activities, interactions, or social relations of two or more e-commerce enterprises. However, the success of cross-border e-commerce promotes the development of small and medium-sized firms, and it has finally become a new transaction mode. It has helped the companies solve financial problems and realize

4800-517: Is more price effective for customers. Moreover, e-commerce provides products' detailed information; even the in-store staff cannot offer such detailed explanation. Customers can also review and track the order history online. E-commerce technologies cut transaction costs by allowing both manufactures and consumers to skip through the intermediaries. This is achieved through by extending the search area best price deals and by group purchase. The success of e-commerce in urban and regional levels depend on how

4920-662: Is nearby. Mobile ATMs are usually self-contained units that don't need a building or enclosure. Usually, a mobile ATM can be placed in just about any location and can transmit transaction information wirelessly, so there's no need to have a phone line handy. Mobile ATMs may, however, require access to an electrical source, though there are some capable of running on alternative sources of power. Often, these units are constructed of weather-resistant materials, so they can be used in practically any type of weather conditions. Additionally, these machines typically have internal heating and air conditioning units that help keep them functional despite

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5040-526: Is no limit of time and space, there are more opportunities to reach out to customers around the world, and to cut down unnecessary intermediate links, thereby reducing the cost price, and can benefit from one on one large customer data analysis, to achieve a high degree of personal customization strategic plan, in order to fully enhance the core competitiveness of the products in the company. Modern 3D graphics technologies, such as Facebook 3D Posts , are considered by some social media marketers and advertisers as

5160-440: Is no longer available. When this occurs, economic agents outside the industry find no advantage to entering the market, as there is no economic profit to be gained. Then, the supply of the product stops increasing, and the price charged for the product stabilizes, settling into an equilibrium . The same is likewise true of the long run equilibria of monopolistically competitive industries, and more generally any market which

5280-521: Is one where direct debits are not standard practice, so the facility eases the burden of queuing for the postpaid half of Vodafone's subscriber base in Hungary. Tickets can be sent to mobile phones using a variety of technologies. Users are then able to use their tickets immediately, by presenting their mobile phone at the ticket check as a digital boarding pass. Most numbers of users are now moving towards this technology. The best example would be IRCTC where

5400-590: Is supported by electronic business . The existence value of e-commerce is to allow consumers to shop online and pay online through the Internet, saving the time and space of customers and enterprises, greatly improving transaction efficiency, especially for busy office workers, and also saving a lot of valuable time. E-commerce businesses may also employ some or all of the following: There are five essential categories of E-commerce: Contemporary electronic commerce can be classified into two categories. The first category

5520-408: Is the difference between revenue that an economic entity has received from its outputs and total costs of its inputs, also known as surplus value . It is equal to total revenue minus total cost, including both explicit and implicit costs. It is different from accounting profit , which only relates to the explicit costs that appear on a firm's financial statements . An accountant measures

5640-442: Is the instant nature of customer decision-making that mobile apps and websites enable. The consumer can receive a marketing message or discount coupon and, within a few seconds, make a decision to buy and go on to complete the sale - without disrupting their current real-world activity. For example, a busy mom tending to her household chores with a baby in her arm could receive a marketing message on her mobile about baby products from

5760-530: Is the largest sector of the electronics industry and is in turn driven by the technological advances of the semiconductor industry . The term was coined and first employed by Robert Jacobson, Principal Consultant to the California State Assembly's Utilities & Commerce Committee, in the title and text of California's Electronic Commerce Act, carried by the late Committee Chairwoman Gwen Moore (D-L.A.) and enacted in 1984. E-commerce typically uses

5880-475: Is ultimately billed by mobile carriers rather than the app stores themselves. Ericsson's IPX mobile commerce system is used by 120 mobile carriers to offer payment options such as try-before-you-buy, rentals and subscriptions. In the context of mobile commerce, mobile marketing refers to marketing sent to mobile devices. Companies have reported that they see better responses from mobile marketing campaigns than from traditional campaigns. The primary reason for this

6000-412: Is what occurs in a perfectly competitive market. In a perfectly competitive market when long-run economic equilibrium is reached, economic profit would become non-existent, because there is no incentive for firms either to enter or to leave the industry . Companies do not make any economic profits in a perfectly competitive market once it has reached a long run equilibrium. If an economic profit

6120-746: Is widely available and accessible. In addition, improvements in the capabilities of modern mobile devices make it prudent to place more of the resource burden on the mobile device. Unlike online banking using bank websites, mobile banking allows a smaller number of operations based on short messages or applications installed on mobile devices. At present, it is estimated that by 2022, the number of customers adopting mobile banking will increase to 2 billion, and banks are investing more and more in improving mobile applications to improve security and customer satisfaction. More recently, brick and mortar business owners, and big-box retailers in particular, have made an effort to take advantage of mobile commerce by utilizing

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6240-639: The Controlled Substances Act to address online pharmacies . Conflict of laws in cyberspace is a major hurdle for harmonization of legal framework for e-commerce around the world. In order to give a uniformity to e-commerce law around the world, many countries adopted the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce (1996). Internationally there is the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN), which

6360-535: The Helsinki area in Finland . The machines accepted payment via SMS text messages. This work evolved into several new mobile applications such as the first mobile phone-based banking service launched in 1997 by Merita Bank of Finland , also using SMS. Finnair mobile check-in was also a major milestone, first introduced in 2001. The m-Commerce(tm) server developed in late 1997 by Kevin Duffey and Andrew Tobin at Logica won

6480-638: The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) as the government department regulating all telecommunications related activities, including electronic commerce. On the same day, the Administrative Measures on Internet Information Services were released, the first administrative regulations to address profit-generating activities conducted through the Internet, and lay the foundation for future regulations governing e-commerce in China. On 28 August 2004,

6600-571: The Philippines , and NTT DoCoMo 's i-Mode Internet service in Japan . i-Mode offered a revenue-sharing plan where NTT DoCoMo kept 9 per cent of the fee users paid for content, and returned 91 percent to the content owner. Mobile-commerce-related services spread rapidly in early 2000. Norway launched mobile parking payments. Austria offered train ticketing via mobile devices. Japan offered mobile purchases of airline tickets. In April 2002, building on

6720-436: The web for at least a part of a transaction's life cycle although it may also use other technologies such as e-mail . Typical e-commerce transactions include the purchase of products (such as books from Amazon ) or services (such as music downloads in the form of digital distribution such as the iTunes Store ). There are three areas of e-commerce: online retailing , electronic markets , and online auctions . E-commerce

6840-644: The 1998 Financial Times award for "most innovative mobile product," in a solution implemented with De La Rue, Motorola and Logica. The Financial Times commended the solution for "turning mobile commerce into a reality." The trademark for m-Commerce was filed on 7 April 2008. In 1998, the first sales of digital content as downloads to mobile phones were made possible when the first commercial downloadable ringtones were launched in Finland by Radiolinja (now part of Elisa Oyj ). Two major national commercial platforms for mobile commerce were launched in 1999: Smart Money in

6960-533: The APEC region. In Australia , trade is covered under Australian Treasury Guidelines for electronic commerce and the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission regulates and offers advice on how to deal with businesses online, and offers specific advice on what happens if things go wrong. The European Union undertook an extensive enquiry into e-commerce in 2015–16 which observed significant growth in

7080-486: The B2B marketplace in China with a market share of 44.82%, followed by several other companies including Made-in-China.com at 3.21%, and GlobalSources.com at 2.98%, with the total transaction value of China's B2B market exceeding 4.5 billion yuan. China is also the largest e-commerce market in the world by value of sales, with an estimated US$ 899 billion in 2016. It accounted for 42.4% of worldwide retail e-commerce in that year,

7200-572: The Competition Commissioner of the European Commission ordered an in-depth investigation of the m-Commerce joint venture between Vodafone, O2, Orange and T-Mobile. A recent survey states that 2012, 41% of smartphone customers have purchased retail products with their mobile devices. In Kenya money transfer is mainly done through the use of mobile phones. This was an initiative of a multimillion-shillings company in Kenya named Safaricom. Currently,

7320-543: The FTC Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive practices, the FTC has brought a number of cases to enforce the promises in corporate privacy statements, including promises about the security of consumers' personal information. As a result, any corporate privacy policy related to e-commerce activity may be subject to enforcement by the FTC. The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008, which came into law in 2008, amends

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7440-510: The Forum within a year, many forming mobile commerce teams of their own, e.g. MasterCard and Motorola. Of these one hundred companies, the first two were Logica and Cellnet (which later became O2). Member organisations such as Nokia , Apple, Alcatel , and Vodafone began a series of trials and collaborations. Mobile commerce services were first delivered in 1997, when the first two mobile-phone-enabled Coca-Cola vending machines were installed in

7560-983: The United Kingdom , the Financial Services Authority (FSA) was formerly the regulating authority for most aspects of the EU's Payment Services Directive (PSD), until its replacement in 2013 by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority . The UK implemented the PSD through the Payment Services Regulations 2009 (PSRs), which came into effect on 1 November 2009. The PSR affects firms providing payment services and their customers. These firms include banks, non-bank credit card issuers and non-bank merchant acquirers, e-money issuers, etc. The PSRs created

7680-480: The United States, United Kingdom or France but is growing at a much faster rate, adding around six million new entrants every month. In India, cash on delivery is the most preferred payment method, accumulating 75% of the e-retail activities. The India retail market is expected to rise from 2.5% in 2016 to 5% in 2020. In 2013, Brazil's e-commerce was growing quickly with retail e-commerce sales expected to grow at

7800-464: The accompanying killer applications," said Burchett. Perennial early adopters, such as the youth market, which are the least price sensitive, as well as more open to premium mobile content and applications, must also be a key target for device vendors. Since the launch of the iPhone in 2007, mobile commerce has moved away from SMS systems and into actual applications. SMS has significant security vulnerabilities and congestion problems, even though it

7920-534: The best of the points where the gradients of the two curves (marginal revenue and marginal cost respectively) are equal. In the real world, it is not so easy to know exactly firm's marginal revenue and the marginal cost of last goods sold. For example, it is difficult for firms to know the price elasticity of demand for their good – which determines the MR. In interdependent markets, It means firm's profit also depends on how other firms react, game theory must be used to derive

8040-507: The city of Hangzhou established a pilot program artificial intelligence-based Internet Court to adjudicate disputes related to e-commerce and internet-related intellectual property claims. In 2010, the United Kingdom had the highest per capita e-commerce spending in the world. As of 2013, the Czech Republic was the European country where e-commerce delivers the biggest contribution to

8160-567: The companies involved are Safaricom and Airtel. Mobile money transfer services in Kenya are now provided by the two companies under the names M-PESA and Airtel Money respectively. A similar system called MobilePay has been operated by Danske Bank in Denmark since 2013. It gained considerable popularity with about 1.6 million users by mid-2015. Another similar system called Vipps was introduced in Norway in 2015. Mobile automated teller machine (ATM)

8280-425: The costs of production, receiving an income that is significantly more than its implicit and explicit costs. The existence of uncompetitive markets puts consumers at risk of paying substantially higher prices for lower quality products. When monopolies and oligopolies hold large portions of the market share, less emphasis is placed on consumer demand than there would be in a perfectly competitive market, especially if

8400-482: The country level will enhance their measures and strategies to ensure sustainability and consumer protection (Krings, et al.). These increased measures will raise the environmental and social standards in the countries, factors that will determine the success of the e-commerce market in these countries. For example, an adoption of tough sanctions will make it difficult for companies to enter the e-commerce market while lenient sanctions will allow ease of companies. As such,

8520-643: The development of e-commerce, along with some developments which raised concerns, such as increased use of selective distribution systems, which allow manufacturers to control routes to market, and "increased use of contractual restrictions to better control product distribution". The European Commission felt that some emerging practices might be justified if they could improve the quality of product distribution, but "others may unduly prevent consumers from benefiting from greater product choice and lower prices in e-commerce and therefore warrant Commission action" in order to promote compliance with EU competition rules . In

8640-609: The eleventh session of the tenth NPC Standing Committee adopted an Electronic Signature Law, which regulates data message, electronic signature authentication and legal liability issues. It is considered the first law in China's e-commerce legislation. It was a milestone in the course of improving China's electronic commerce legislation, and also marks the entering of China's rapid development stage for electronic commerce legislation. E-commerce has become an important tool for small and large businesses worldwide, not only to sell to customers, but also to engage them. Cross-border e-Commerce

8760-570: The enterprises' total revenue. Almost a quarter (24%) of the country's total turnover is generated via the online channel. The rate of growth of the number of internet users in the Arab countries has been rapid – 13.1% in 2015. A significant portion of the e-commerce market in the Middle East comprises people in the 30–34 year age group. Egypt has the largest number of internet users in the region, followed by Saudi Arabia and Morocco; these constitute 3/4th of

8880-407: The firm's accounting profit as the firm's total revenue minus only the firm's explicit costs. An economist includes all costs, both explicit and implicit costs, when analyzing a firm. Therefore, economic profit is smaller than accounting profit. Normal profit is often viewed in conjunction with economic profit. Normal profits in business refer to a situation where a company generates revenue that

9000-474: The first half of 2015, accounting for 10% of total Chinese consumer retail sales in that period. The Chinese retailers have been able to help consumers feel more comfortable shopping online. e-commerce transactions between China and other countries increased 32% to 2.3 trillion yuan ($ 375.8 billion) in 2012 and accounted for 9.6% of China's total international trade. In 2013, Alibaba had an e-commerce market share of 80% in China. In 2014, Alibaba still dominated

9120-428: The focus that should be given to the apps. In recent research, Parker and Wang demonstrated that within fashion m-Commerce apps, the degree that the app helps the user shop (increasing convenience) was the most prominent function. Such use examples might be through design cues that help the user find their products with minimal search. Additionally, shopping for others was a motivator for engaging in m-commerce apps with

9240-458: The future trends between GCC countries and the Western countries will be independent of these sanctions (Krings, et al.). These countries need to make rational conclusions in coming up with effective sanctions. India has an Internet user base of about 460 million as of December 2017. Despite being the third largest user base in the world, the penetration of the Internet is low compared to markets like

9360-603: The good provided has an inelastic demand. Government intervention in the form of restrictions and subsidies can also create uncompetitive markets. Governments can also intervene in uncompetitive markets in an attempt to raise the number of firms in the industry, but these firms cannot support the needs of consumers as if they were born out of a profit generated on a competitive market basis. Competition laws were created to prevent powerful firms from using their economic power to artificially create barriers to entry in an attempt to protect their economic profits. This includes

9480-510: The greatest smartphone penetration of 73.8 per cent and has 91.9 per cent of its population has access to the internet. On the other hand, smartphone penetration in Europe has been reported to be at 64.7 per cent (The Statistics Portal). Regardless, the disparity in percentage between these regions is expected to level out in future because e-commerce technology is expected to grow to allow for more users. The e-commerce business within these two regions will result in competition. Government bodies at

9600-626: The incomes or rural people and entrepreneurship in rural China, Taobao villages have become a component of rural revitalization strategies. In 2015, the State Council promoted the Internet Plus initiative, a five-year plan to integrate traditional manufacturing and service industries with big data, cloud computing, and Internet of things technology. The State Council provided support for Internet Plus through policy support in area including cross-border e-commerce and rural e-commerce. In 2019,

9720-423: The incumbent firms within the industry face losing their existing customers to the new entrants, they are also forced to reduce their prices. Therefore, increased competition reduces price and cost to the minimum of the long run average costs. At this point, price equals both the marginal cost and the average total cost for each good production. Once this has occurred a perfect competition exists and economic profit

9840-453: The internet to exchange financial data to facilitate domestic and international business. Data integrity and security are pressing issues for electronic commerce. Aside from traditional e-commerce, the terms m-Commerce ( mobile commerce ) as well (around 2013) t-Commerce have also been used. In the United States, California's Electronic Commerce Act (1984), enacted by the Legislature,

9960-425: The local firms and consumers have adopted to e-commerce. However, e-commerce lacks human interaction for customers, especially who prefer face-to-face connection. Customers are also concerned with the security of online transactions and tend to remain loyal to well-known retailers. In recent years, clothing retailers such as Tommy Hilfiger have started adding Virtual Fit platforms to their e-commerce sites to reduce

10080-511: The manufacturer. The pricing strategies are also different for traditional and online retailers. Traditional retailers base their prices on store traffic and the cost to keep inventory. Online retailers base prices on the speed of delivery. There are two ways for marketers to conduct business through e-commerce: fully online or online along with a brick and mortar store. Online marketers can offer lower prices, greater product selection, and high efficiency rates. Many customers prefer online markets if

10200-427: The market again, making the long run equilibrium much more like that of a competitive industry, with no economic profit for firms and more reasonable prices for consumers. On the other hand, if a government feels it is impractical to have a competitive market—such as in the case of a natural monopoly —it will allow a monopolistic market to occur. The government will regulate the existing uncompetitive market and control

10320-461: The market by 2017. For traditional businesses, one research stated that information technology and cross-border e-commerce is a good opportunity for the rapid development and growth of enterprises. Many companies have invested an enormous volume of investment in mobile applications. The DeLone and McLean Model stated that three perspectives contribute to a successful e-business: information system quality, service quality and users' satisfaction. There

10440-512: The market share. In an oligopoly, firms are able to collude and limit production, thereby restricting supply and maintaining a constant economic profit. An extreme case of an uncompetitive market is a monopoly, where only one firm has the ability to supply a good which has no close substitutes . In this case, the monopolist can set its price at any level it desires, maintaining a substantial economic profit. In both scenarios, firms are able to maintain an economic profit by setting prices well above

10560-408: The market-set price. Economic profit is much more prevalent in uncompetitive markets such as in a perfect monopoly or oligopoly situation, where few substitutes exit. In these scenarios, individual firms have some element of market power . Although monopolists are constrained by consumer demand , they are not price takers, but instead either price or quantity setters. Due to the output effect and

10680-795: The market. The Global Mobile Commerce Forum, which came to include over 100 organisations, had its fully minuted launch in London on 10 November 1997. Kevin Duffey was elected as the Executive Chairman at the first meeting in November 1997. The meeting was opened by Dr Mike Short, former chairman of the GSM Association, with the very first forecasts for mobile commerce from Kevin Duffey (Group Telecoms Director of Logica ) and Tom Alexander (later CEO of Virgin Mobile and then of Orange). Over 100 companies joined

10800-435: The monopoly's application for a higher price. Though a regulated firm will not have an economic profit as large as it would in an unregulated situation, it can still make profits well above a competitive firm in a truly competitive market. It is a standard economic assumption (although not necessarily a perfect one in the real world) that, other things being equal, a firm will attempt to maximize its profits. Given that profit

10920-872: The more recent California Privacy Rights Act (2020), enacted through a popular election proposition and to control specifically how electronic commerce may be conducted in California. In the US in its entirety, electronic commerce activities are regulated more broadly by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). These activities include the use of commercial e-mails, online advertising and consumer privacy . The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 establishes national standards for direct marketing over e-mail. The Federal Trade Commission Act regulates all forms of advertising, including online advertising, and states that advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive. Using its authority under Section 5 of

11040-469: The most of any country. Research shows that Chinese consumer motivations are different enough from Western audiences to require unique e-commerce app designs instead of simply porting Western apps into the Chinese market. The expansion of e-commerce in China has resulted in the development of Taobao villages , clusters of e-commerce businesses operating in rural areas. Because Taobao villages have increased

11160-407: The overall internet audience from the regions. Yuldashev writes that consumers are scaling up to more modern technology that allows for mobile marketing. However, the percentage of smartphone and internet users who make online purchases is expected to vary in the first few years. It will be independent on the willingness of the people to adopt this new trend (The Statistics Portal). For example, UAE has

11280-501: The physical store. This is seen as a bridge between the gap created by e-commerce and in-store shopping, and is being utilized by physical retailers as a way to compete with the lower prices typically seen through online retailers. By mid summer 2013, "omnichannel" retailers (those with significant e-commerce and in-store sales) were seeing between 25% and 30% of traffic to their online properties originating from mobile devices. Some other pure play/online-only retail sites (especially those in

11400-612: The potential for medical applications on mobile devices. PDAs and cellular phones have become so popular that many businesses are beginning to use mobile commerce as a more efficient way to communicate with their customers. In order to exploit the potential mobile commerce market, mobile phone manufacturers such as Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, and Qualcomm are working with carriers such as AT&T Wireless and Sprint to develop WAP -enabled smartphones. Smartphones offer fax, e-mail, and phone capabilities. " Profitability for device vendors and carriers hinges on high-end mobile devices and

11520-399: The price effect, marginal revenue for uncompetitive markets is very different from marginal revenue for competitive firms. In the output effect, more output is sold, quantity sold is higher. In the price effect, this reduces the prices firms charge for every unit they sell, and cut in price reduces revenue on the units it was already selling. Therefore, in uncompetitive market, marginal revenue

11640-436: The price of goods in each market area is set by each market then overall profit is maximized. The social profit from a firm's activities is the accounting profit plus or minus any externalities or consumer surpluses that occur in its activity. An externality including positive externality and negative externality is an effect that production/consumption of a specific good exerts on people who are not involved. Pollution

11760-408: The price the firms charge for their product. For example, the old AT&T (regulated) monopoly, which existed before the courts ordered its breakup , had to get government approval to raise its prices. The government examined the monopoly's costs, and determined whether or not the monopoly should be able raise its price. If the government felt that the cost did not justify a higher price, it rejected

11880-416: The product disappears, and the initial monopoly turns into a competitive industry. In the case of contestable markets, the cycle is often ended with the departure of the former "hit and run" entrants to the market, returning the industry to its previous state, just with a lower price and no economic profit for the incumbent firms. Economic profit can, however, occur in competitive and contestable markets in

12000-499: The products can be delivered quickly at relatively low price. However, online retailers cannot offer the physical experience that traditional retailers can. It can be difficult to judge the quality of a product without the physical experience, which may cause customers to experience product or seller uncertainty. Another issue regarding the online market is concerns about the security of online transactions. Many customers remain loyal to well-known retailers because of this issue. Security

12120-405: The profitability of the product is well established, and because there are few barriers to entry , the number of firms that produce this product will increase. Eventually, the supply of the product will become relatively large, and the price of the product will reduce to the level of the average cost of production. When this finally occurs, all economic profit associated with producing and selling

12240-518: The reasonable allocation of resources field. SMEs ( small and medium enterprises) can also precisely match the demand and supply in the market, having the industrial chain majorization and creating more revenues for companies. In 2012, e-commerce sales topped $ 1 trillion for the first time in history. Mobile devices are playing an increasing role in the mix of e-commerce, this is also commonly called mobile commerce, or m-commerce. In 2014, one estimate saw purchases made on mobile devices making up 25% of

12360-578: The region's share. Yet, internet penetration is low: 35% in Egypt and 65% in Saudi Arabia. The Gulf Cooperation Council countries have a rapidly growing market and are characterized by a population that becomes wealthier (Yuldashev). As such, retailers have launched Arabic-language websites as a means to target this population. Secondly, there are predictions of increased mobile purchases and an expanding internet audience (Yuldashev). The growth and development of

12480-407: The right time. Catalog merchants can accept orders from customers electronically, via the customer's mobile device. In some cases, the merchant may even deliver the catalog electronically, rather than mailing a paper catalog to the customer. Consumers making mobile purchases can also receive value-add upselling services and offers. Some merchants provide mobile web sites that are customized for

12600-658: The risk of customers buying the wrong sized clothes, although these vary greatly in their fit for purpose. When the customer regret the purchase of a product, it involves returning goods and refunding process. This process is inconvenient as customers need to pack and post the goods. If the products are expensive, large or fragile, it refers to safety issues. In 2018, E-commerce generated 1.3 million short tons (1.2 megatonnes) of container cardboard in North America, an increase from 1.1 million (1.00)) in 2017. Only 35 percent of North American cardboard manufacturing capacity

12720-412: The sale of ring-tones, wallpapers, apps, and games for mobile phones. The convergence of mobile phones, portable audio players, and video players into a single device is increasing the purchase and delivery of full-length music tracks and videos. The download speeds available with 4G networks make it possible to buy a movie on a mobile device in a couple of seconds. The location of the mobile phone user

12840-500: The short run, since short run economic profits attract new competitors and prices fall. Economic loss forces firms out of the industry and prices rise till marginal revenue equals marginal cost, then reach long run equilibrium. As a result of firms jostling for market position. Once risk is accounted for, long-lasting economic profit in a competitive market is thus viewed as the result of constant cost-cutting and performance improvement ahead of industry competitors, allowing costs to be below

12960-444: The smaller screen and limited user interface of a mobile device. Payments can be made directly inside an application running on a popular smartphone operating system, such as Google Android. Analyst firm Gartner expects in-application purchases to drive 41 percent of app store (also referred to as mobile software distribution platforms) revenue in 2016. In-app purchases can be used to buy virtual goods , new and other mobile content and

13080-449: The subscriber to react to market developments in a timely fashion and irrespective of their physical location. Over the past three years mobile reverse auction solutions have grown in popularity. Unlike traditional auctions, the reverse auction (or low-bid auction) bills the consumer's phone each time they place a bid. Many mobiles SMS commerce solutions rely on a one-time purchase or one-time subscription; however, reverse auctions offer

13200-458: The temperature of the environment.ion of mobile money services for the unbanked, operators are now looking for efficient ways to roll out and manage distribution networks that can support cash-in and cash-out. Unlike traditional ATMs, sicap Mobile ATMs have been specially engineered to connect to mobile money platforms and provide bank-grade ATM quality. In Hungary, Vodafone allows cash or bank card payments for monthly phone bills. The Hungarian market

13320-492: The three flows (physical flow, financial flow and information flow) of the supply chain could be also affected by e-commerce. The affections on physical flows improved the way of product and inventory movement level for companies. For the information flows, e-commerce optimized the capacity of information processing than companies used to have, and for the financial flows, e-commerce allows companies to have more efficient payment and settlement solutions. In addition, e-commerce has

13440-417: The ticket comes as an SMS to users. New technology such as RFID can now be used to directly provide a single association digital ticket via the mobile device hardware associated with relevant software. Mobile ticketing technology can also be used for the distribution of vouchers, coupons, and loyalty cards. These items are represented by a virtual token that is sent to the mobile phone. A customer presenting

13560-561: The travel category) as well as flash sales sites and deal sites were seeing between 40% and 50% of traffic (and sometimes significantly more) originate from mobile devices. The Google Wallet Mobile App launched in September 2011 and the m-Commerce joint venture formed in June 2011 between Vodafone, O2, Orange and T-Mobile are recent developments of note. Reflecting the importance of m-Commerce, in April 2012

13680-521: The two aspects make the GCC countries become larger players in the electronic commerce market with time progress. Specifically, research shows that the e-commerce market is expected to grow to over $ 20 billion by 2020 among these GCC countries (Yuldashev). The e-commerce market has also gained much popularity among western countries, and in particular Europe and the U.S. These countries have been highly characterized by consumer-packaged goods (CPG) (Geisler, 34). However, trends show that there are future signs of

13800-684: The use of predatory pricing toward smaller competitors. For example, in the United States, Microsoft Corporation was initially convicted of breaking Anti-Trust Law and engaging in anti-competitive behaviour in order to form one such barrier in United States v. Microsoft . After a successful appeal on technical grounds, Microsoft agreed to a settlement with the Department of Justice in which they were faced with stringent oversight procedures and explicit requirements designed to prevent this predatory behaviour. With lower barriers, new firms can enter into

13920-530: The wages welfare. On the other hand, because e-commerce requires sufficient stocks that could be delivered to customers in time, the warehouse becomes an important element. Warehouse needs more staff to manage, supervise and organize, thus the condition of warehouse environment will be concerned by employees. E-commerce brings convenience for customers as they do not have to leave home and only need to browse websites online, especially for buying products which are not sold in nearby shops. It could help customers buy

14040-558: The work of the Global Mobile Commerce Forum (GMCF), the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) appointed Joachim Hoffmann of Motorola to develop official standards for mobile commerce. In appointing Mr Hoffman, ETSI quoted industry analysts as predicting "that m-commerce is poised for such an exponential growth over the next few years that could reach US$ 200 billion by 2004". As of 2008, UCL Computer Science and Peter J. Bentley demonstrated

14160-546: The youth lifestyle, based on their experience with previous generations of South Koreans. "Profitability for device vendors and carriers hinges on high-end mobile devices and the accompanying killer applications," said Daniel Longfield. Consumers can use many forms of payment in mobile commerce, including: Interaction design and UX design has been at the core of the m-commerce experience from its conception, producing apps and mobile web pages that create highly usable interactions for users. However, much debate has occurred as to

14280-449: Was available, there would be an incentive for new firms to enter the industry, aided by a lack of barriers to entry , until it no longer existed. When new firms enter the market, the overall supply increases. Furthermore, these intruders are forced to offer their product at a lower price to entice consumers to buy the additional supply they have created and to compete with the incumbent firms (see Monopoly profit § Persistence ). As

14400-428: Was formed in 1991 from an informal network of government customer fair trade organisations. The purpose was stated as being to find ways of co-operating on tackling consumer problems connected with cross-border transactions in both goods and services, and to help ensure exchanges of information among the participants for mutual benefit and understanding. From this came Econsumer.gov, an ICPEN initiative since April 2001. It

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