Considerations to Be Met When Designing the Mobile Commerce Page - Essay Example

Mobile Commerce Name Course Instructor Date Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Executive Summary 3 There are currently more than three billion mobile phone users in the world, while a thousand are being added in to the service per minute. With figures of over 700 million of these mobile phone users using their mobile phones to browse the internet, representing thirty percent of the total mobile phone owners population, mobile web browsing may be well on its way to becoming the next internet platform that is most dominant. With most companies having noticed this growing trend, they have equipped themselves with a mobile website to ensure that they maximize on the potential profits that is presented by this mobile opportunity. As much as most people might want to assume that the mobile website is a passing fad, it is actually more of a necessity and might even prove to be the new standard in internet technology. This report is going to look in to the considerations that should be put in place when developing a mobile website that is specifically designed for music downloads. 3 Mobile Commerce 4 Considerations to be met when designing the mobile commerce page 7 Content vs. screen size 7 Security 8 Advertising space 9 Attracting web clients to the mobile page 9 Attracting new clients to the mobile page 9 Privacy concerns 10 File compatibility 10 Finally, it is important to note that not all file formats are compatible with all types of mobile devices. This is mostly important considering that the Music4life website will be mostly providing file downloads, and most phones and mobile devices do not have the capability of unzipping zipped files. Thus, compatible file formats will have to be uploaded in this website to avoid frustrating the consumers (Fall 2008). 10 Bibliography 11 Executive Summary There are currently more than three billion mobile phone users in the world, while a thousand are being added in to the service per minute. With figures of over 700 million of these mobile phone users using their mobile phones to browse the internet, representing thirty percent of the total mobile phone owners population, mobile web browsing may be well on its way to becoming the next internet platform that is most dominant. With most companies having noticed this growing trend, they have equipped themselves with a mobile website to ensure that they maximize on the potential profits that is presented by this mobile opportunity. As much as most people might want to assume that the mobile website is a passing fad, it is actually more of a necessity and might even prove to be the new standard in internet technology. This report is going to look in to the considerations that should be put in place when developing a mobile website that is specifically designed for music downloads. Mobile Commerce Mobile commerce has been on the rise in the world today and it is also known by several different titles such as M-Commerce or even mCommerce, and it involves the use of mobile devices to conduct commercial activities. Such mobile devices could include; a mobile phone, a Smartphone, a personal digital assistant, or other mobile equipment that might emerge from the ever changing innovative world of technology (Tiwari & Buse 2007). Thus Mobile commerce involves the transactions that may involve transferring of rights of ownership or even the rights that are involved in the use of goods and services, which are completed by the aid of a mobile device, via networks that are mediated by the use of computers (Tiwari & Buse 2007). There are a number of products and services that are available for use within the Mobile commerce platform. Some of these products and services include; mobile ticketing, where tickets may be sent to mobile devices by using various technologies, where the users are then able to use their tickets immediately upon presentation of the mobile device to the appropriate authority at the venue. Loyalty cards, vouchers and coupons can also be distributed by the use of mobile commerce, and are represented by a virtual coupon on the mobile device (Tiwari & Buse 2007). The emergence of mobile commerce has also seen an emergence of location based service, where the location of the mobile device user is an important piece of information as it aids in the provision of certain services such as the tracking of certain people and even their monitoring, the weather conditions of a certain area can be transmitted to these mobile devices and the availability of certain discount offers within the locality of the mobile device user (Tiwari & Buse 2007). Information services that vary can also be delivered to the owners of these mobile devices, in the same manner that personal computer users receive information. The informational services that can be provided include stock quotes, financial recordings, news, sports scores and traffic reporting. Traffic information that has been customized on account of the travel patterns of the mobile device user can be sent to the customers who have subscribed to these services on their mobile devices. Mobile commerce has also enable financial institutions, more so banks to be able to allow their customers the ability to access their account information and conduct transactions which includes, remitting of money and the purchase of stocks. This financial service that is offered is commonly known as M-Banking or mobile banking. M- Commerce has also allowed for the advent of mobile brokerage where an individual is capable of reacting to the stock markets irrespective of their location. Mobile commerce has also enable consumers to browse on their mobile devices, even when they are unable to access their personal computers. This enables them to conduct their online shopping with the utmost disregard of their physical location. Catalogue merchants are capable of receiving orders from their customers by electronic means which is done by the aid of the mobile device. The catalog can also be delivered electronically as opposed to mailing the catalog via post in paper format (Tiwari & Buse 2007). Another product that is available on this type of E-commerce is the purchase and delivery of content and this is what will be discussed in this paper, more specifically, music downloads (Tiwari & Buse 2007). Other mobile content that can be purchased and delivered include wallpapers, ring tones and games that are compatible with these mobile devices. Since the convergence of audio players that are portable, video players and mobile phones in to one single device, there has been an increase in the purchase and delivery of audio tracks and videos that are full length. Also with the emergence of the 4G network, the download speeds have been seen to make a major improvement, making downloads faster. Currently millions of WAP users are busy browsing the internet but unfortunately, the number of consumer websites that are capable of loading in the proper manner on these mobile devices are very few. This is due to the fact that there are a number of considerations that are supposed to be met in the designing of a mobile commerce page and this report is going to look at some of the most important considerations with regards to the music downloads information provider. It is first and foremost important to recognize that the website design that exists between computer browsers and the one that is available in the mobile phones are not compatible. For the already existing music download website which its URL is http://www.music4life.com, to be able to work on mobile handsets, it is important to follow the accessibility design guidelines which have been set by the W3C for the building of mobile websites. Considerations to be met when designing the mobile commerce page Content vs. screen size This consideration is mostly important when considering menus and navigation buttons, content fragmentation, layout and font sizes. In mobile phones, WAP is the technology that is used for browsing and due to the limitations that are present in these browsers with regards to the downloads that are allowable and the size of the screen, the current design of the existing music download website will have to be stripped down to allow its compatibility with the mobile devices. Thus, this bring about the first consideration that has to be put in place when designing a mobile commerce page for providing the service of music downloads to the mobile device owners who are potential consumers. One of the easiest ways of building a mobile website is by the modification of the already existing mobile downloads website so that it can be compatible for the mobile devices. This most definitely will come at a cost as there will be compromises in the layout, construction and design of the new mobile website in comparison to the already existing website. The Music4life website contains tables which provide information on the top downloads and the music charts, and thus, the presence of these tables, provides a problem as they would not look right, or even fit in these mobile devices. This has to be eliminated and replaced by an alternative which could be lists instead. The newly developed mobile website could also use CSS, which will ensure that the web page is fully compatible with the mobile devices. One of the biggest problems that can be encountered ion the design of a mobile web page is the variation that exists in the browsers. Different browsers have different difference in terms of capability and ease of use. These mobile devices also vary greatly in terms of their size and ability. This can prove to be a major problem especially if you want this webpage to run on all mobile devices, considering that these mobile devices will be having different screen sizes. Modern smartphones that run Google Android have browsers that are fully functional and this is in sharp contrast to other simpler phones which have even simpler browsers. It is thus important to consider putting all the important information that most of the users will need most at the top of the page. This is important because it can be sometimes difficult to browse through all the contents of a mobile page, considering that there are variations in the screen sizes, and thus the content might not fit in all the mobile devices that are available to the users. It can also be tedious to read through all the contents of a mobile site and thus it is important to make the mobile site more convenient to the consumers. Security For the provision of the service of music downloads, most of the companies that offer this service have to pay a particular amount of money to the music production houses and eventually the artists themselves. Thus it is important for the website, since it is legal, to sell the copyrighted music to the consumers as well. This will require the consumers to pay money, and since money in its physical form can not be transferred via a mobile device, the application of mobile banking will come in to place. The consumers can pay by the use of various electronic channels such as Paypal or by the use of credit cards, after which they will be provided with user identification names and passwords to enable them log in to their panel and use the service as members. When the subscribers pay a subscription fee, they will provide details that will enable the personal identification of each and every member. Advertising space The information provider Music4life raises further revenue by selling advertising space on its site. The advertising space is mostly taken up by similar businesses for instance, a disc jockey may advertise on this website a concert that he or she intends to hold. Most of the users of the website being music fanatics will be able to see the advert and thus react according to their preference (Jim, 2008). Attracting web clients to the mobile page In order to attract clients to the newly developed web page, it is important to place advertisements on the already existing webpage and also send personalized messages to the already existing consumers of the availability of the mobile service. Once the existing clients catch wind of the ability to enjoy their favorite service on their mobile devices, revenues are bound to shoot up. Attracting new clients to the mobile page Attracting new clients to the newly created webpage might not be easy, but with the appropriate marketing strategy, this can be made a major success. This can be done by the use of the media, both print and the audio - visual. Promoting local talent by the company can also create awareness about the company and its services, and also aid in shooting up of the sales of the upcoming artists’ albums and singles. Privacy concerns There is the problem of privacy concerns considering that this website will be collecting some vital information such as the actual names of the subscribers and their credit card numbers (Rory, 2008). This vital information can be dangerous if it happens to fall in the wrong hands and thus it is important that when developing the mobile website to incorporate security seals that will ensure that non-authorized users to not get access to the consumers’ profiles, which might damage the reputation of the company. File compatibility Finally, it is important to note that not all file formats are compatible with all types of mobile devices. This is mostly important considering that the Music4life website will be mostly providing file downloads, and most phones and mobile devices do not have the capability of unzipping zipped files. Thus, compatible file formats will have to be uploaded in this website to avoid frustrating the consumers (Fall 2008). Bibliography Greene, Rory (2008). "Concessions one button away". Kentucky Kernel. http://www.thefango.com/hot-news.html. Jordan, Jim (2008). "New arena service testing delivery to your seat". Herald Leader. http://www.thefango.com/hot-news.html. Owens, John and Anna Bantug-Herrera (2006): Catching the Technology Wave: Mobile Phone Banking and Text-A-Payment in the Philippines Tiwari, R.; Buse, S. (2007). The Mobile Commerce Prospects: A strategic analysis of opportunities in the banking sector (PDF). Hamburg: Hamburg University Press. p. 33. Tiwari, Rajnish; Buse, Stephan; Herstatt, Cornelius (Sept-Oct 2006). "From electronic to mobile commerce: opportunites through technology convergence for business services" (PDF). Asia Pacific Tech Monitor (New Delhi (India) 23 (5): 38–45. http://www.global-innovation.net/publications/PDF/APTM2006.pdf. Retrieved October 12, 2010. Troutman, Marci; Timpson, Steve (Fall 2008). "Effective Optimization of Web Sites for Mobile Access: the transition from eCommerce to mCommerce". Journal of Interactive Advertising 9 (1): 65–70. ISSN 1525-2019. http://jiad.org/article111. Retrieved October 12, 2010. Read More