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An Outlook of Mobile Commerce
Driven by a widespread understanding of the Internet's capabilities, the power of electronic commerce, and advances in wireless technologies and devices, mobile commerce (m-commerce) is rapidly approaching the business forefront.
Mobile commerce is defined in the academic literature in the areas of management information systems, management, finance, accounting, as well as marketing. Each area has its own distinctive point of view as to what constitutes mobile commerce. Some definitions overlap, others are unique to the nature of the business unit, and many are ad hoc. For instance, Management Information Systems looks at mobile commerce from the perspective of the technologies involved, finance and accounting look to develop the financial advantages of mobile commerce, and marketing views things from the standpoint of customer promotion, transactions and service. Given these different perspectives, it is important to identify a general definition of mobile commerce that can be used by the entire organization as a whole, while still being applicable from each departmental standpoint.
When defining mobile commerce in a marketing context, it is important to focus both from the perspectives of the firm and the customer in order to understand the value and benefit that each will gain from engaging in mobile commerce transactions. Mobile commerce should be described in terms of its distinguishable elements from other marketing channels used by the consumer, and its inimitable abilities to uniquely foster customer growth for the firm. Mobile commerce is unique in that, unlike other marketing channels, it is location and time independent.
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