Top mobile commerce trends to watch in 2022

It is said that adults in the US will spend nearly 4 hours, 30 minutes per day in 2022 on activities on their phones and tablets. It’s not possible to assess whether this forecast will become entirely true, but the truth is we don’t need to know it. We don’t need this information when everybody knows that the use of mobile devices is growing insanely fast. It’s also no secret that this goes with the increase of mobile shopping actions. 

That’s what retailers noticed and want to take advantage of. So more and more stores offer online shopping through mobile to make it even more accessible and convenient for their customers. 

What is mobile commerce

It all started with e-commerce, which, by definition, is basically making purchases online. It isn’t very new, taking into consideration the fact that most of the customers already use it. When it comes to mobile commerce, let’s say it’s just the same thing, yet executed through mobile devices, which weren’t very popular when e-commerce started to grow. It includes mobile shopping, mobile banking and mobile payments.

If you’d like to know more about mobile commerce itself, jump to What is m-commerce?, explaining the concept in detail. 

Mcommerce and ecommerce trends

So mobile commerce derived from e-commerce when customers began to use smartphones, tablets and other handheld devices to do their shopping. “Well, that’s the most convenient way ever to do online shopping”, nobody ever said. Because it’s never enough when it comes to users’ convenience. That’s how all the new trends started and that’s why they are being developed all the time. Let’s see what mobile commerce trends online shoppers like the most and which are expected to grow in the next year. 

Mobile shopping through apps

According to Statista, 72,9% of e-commerce shoppers make their purchases through mobile. This doesn’t mean that creating a mobile app dedicated to e-commerce is necessary. Not all of the shops decide now to build an app for their customers. Sometimes, adjusting the website to mobile standards is enough to satisfy users. So what are the differences between a website reached on mobile and a mobile app itself? 

A comparison of web and mobile apps for shopping 

• Mobile apps are more convenient in terms of access — the app can be downloaded from mobile app stores so it can be accessed by the user just like any other app.
• Websites accessed through mobile are much easier to implement — from the technical point of view, it’s much easier to adjust the website to mobile conditions. It’s a good solution for the start of your business. 
• Mobile apps encourage more customers — mobile apps convert more users as we all got used to apps for everything and prefer to use this way.
• In-app payments give more possibilities than websites — they include e.g. Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Voice commerce on mobile devices

Voice commerce is one of the most common ecommerce trends that showed up in recent years. It’s a technology based on artificial intelligence which helps you do shopping just with your voice and a smart device like a mobile phone or smart speaker. 

Voice search, and what came next, voice activated shopping has become very popular due to the simplicity and speed of this solution. It’s among the smarter mobile shopping tools, using artificial intelligence to hear and understand a human's voice, and to execute commands. 

How voice search works 

No matter if it’s Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant or Amazon’s Alexa, just pick a command to recall the assistant and start buying. Smart speakers, a phone or other device will recognise your voice and command, search the product and order it for you. To browse different products you’ll still need to look at the screen and scroll manually, but if you want to order a particular product from one of the online stores, or just want to re-order, voice search and voice commerce is perfect. You can do it in a few seconds without even touching the device. You can use commands like “re-order [product] from [website]/[app name]”, “search for [product] on [website]/in [app]” or “what’s the price of [product]?”.

Livestream shopping for better customer experience

Live commerce uses one of the most popular communication channels nowadays and enables shopping through live streaming. It’s a part of visual commerce. This is a perfect channel for people with high reach and their fans, followers and audiences, so why not use it by the e-commerce industry? Online stores offer their customers the possibility to see the products on a live stream and reserve it with a message on the chat. It enables direct communication with the seller which is a great advantage for customer satisfaction. 

Stores, on the other side, can create a really personalized shopping experience if they invite influencers or celebrities to show their products. The audience comes to see the stream not only to consider buying a product but also to see this person. 

Live commerce mobile apps

While the retail industry expands, merchants noticed an opportunity to create a new solution for their customers by offering customers the use of live commerce directly from the app.

In a dedicated mobile app, customers can register giving all the necessary information about them, and then buy easily without the need to enter the data again. The payments are also more convenient thanks to Apple Pay, Google Pay and quick bank transfers.

Live streaming brings people together so that in-app shopping becomes something more than just online purchases. This time it’s not only about the simplicity but more about contribution and being with other people. This real-time shopping method provides a seamless shopping experience to online shoppers.

An example of such a solution is Corner App. It’s an app combining live streaming and online shopping, and engaging influencers to reach the greatest possible number of users. Read more about this project to find out how Corner took advantage of the top ecommerce trends to create their brand!

Augmented Reality in online sales channels

There is another way to boost online sales with the use of new technologies and solutions. Online retailers more and more often use augmented reality (AR) in store apps or on the website. Among other e-commerce trends, this kind of visual commerce still isn’t very commonly used. Online shops start using it to attract customers who want to see the product in real size before buying. It’s a great opportunity for all ecommerce businesses to show their products in virtual reality. Digital commerce was never this close to physical experience. 

For example, IKEA offers their customers the possibility to see the furniture and accessories in real time at their house. But AR can be applied in a variety of industries. In addition to furniture placement, this can also involve trying on clothes, accessories such as glasses or rings, and cosmetics such as lipstick colour on the lips. 

Social commerce — selling through social media

Using social media channels is probably the best way to reach a large number of customers. Now, in addition to advertising and encouraging users with the content, you can sell directly through social media. There are many ways - offering sales through stories and posts, using the marketplace of a given platform, linking, but also live streams offered by dedicated social media services. 

Social commerce has become very popular especially among small independent businesses. Small entrepreneurs often start their business through social commerce without generating additional costs, e.g. for creating an ecommerce platform. 

But if you already offer online shopping with your platform or mobile app, selling with social media is definitely worth considering for your customers convenience and to attract new ones. 

Conclusion

Does the mobile commerce growth mean that people will stop doing shopping in physical stores? Online shopping has become extremely popular and liked but in-store shopping will probably be still common in the next few years. But if you want to start selling or already have a physical store, you should definitely consider using one or multiple channels to grow your business. Remember that selling online is our future and smart devices that are commonly used will be even more popular in the next few years. So keep up with the trends used in ecommerce sales to satisfy your customers and grow your business.