Wireless Web: What's the Impact on Your E-Business?Written by Madanmohan Rao
All phones are created equal, but some are more equal than others. From Canada and California to Japan and Korea, Internet-enabled mobile phones are rapidly ushering in next generation of online commerce: "m-commerce" or Mobile-commerce. "The wireless world is a parallel universe almost as large as Net -- and two are beginning a fascinating convergence,. are according to Swapnil Shah, Director of international operations at Inktomi. Three sets of devices are Emerging as wireless Internet platforms: cell phones, PDAs (personal digital assistants like Palm Pilot) other dedicated devices (such as digital cameras and Walkman radios). Mobile e-commerce services -- "me-services" -- have slightly different attributes than Internet services we think of today, says Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. They must enable customers to conduct "burst transactions" -- that is, short-session, information-driven transactions that can be completed very quickly, while people are on go and in motion. Market Forecasts According to market forecasts from Jupiter, Forrester and IDC, between 50 to 70 per cent of Internet users worldwide will be accessing Net via mobile devices in year 2003; number of Internet- enabled devices then would range from 150 to 350 million units. Ads in form of text links, micro banners and audio jingles on WMI (wireless mobile Internet) networks are expected to cross $1 billion mark within two years. Reports from Ericsson suggest that sale of mobile phones worldwide will in a few years exceed PC market by four times. 50 per cent of Europeans are expected to have mobiles by year 2003. And by 2002, third-generation networks known as UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) will offer richer online experiences. Companies have been toying around idea of a wireless Internet for quite some time, but wireless revolution, as we know it today started to really pick up steam in 1997. Disparate standards movements and "microbrowser" Companies like Phone.com collectively mobilized implementations, who, along with Nokia, Motorola and Ericsson, formed WAP (Wireless Access Protocol, sometimes jokingly referred to as "Why Another Protocol?") Forum to develop an independent standard for wireless Internet, based on WML (Wireless Markup Language). Around same time, NTT DoComo in Japan released a similar technology based on compact HTML called i-Mode. The last several years has seen a rapid proliferation of wireless content, mostly throughout Europe and Asia, but also in U.S. and Latin America. The numbers for WAP, however, are not as thrilling, mainly due to fact that application developers need to redesign their content using WML. In pre-WAP era, SMS (Simple Messaging Service) clearly was most popular trend by enabling two-way messaging and mobile e-mail. SMS text messages now represent about 8 percent of total mobile revenues in Europe (Approximately $10 billion) and that figure is growing exponentially. But it is 2000 and 2001, which will belong to mobile Internet, according to infotech services company Infosys, whose offerings now include wireless content solutions. Europe with its focus on standards has achieved 100% ubiquity with adoption of GSM, whereas North America has traded innovation and diversity for ubiquity with a slew of cellular technologies like AMPS, TDMA, CDMA, GSM, IDEN, thus making it slower for mobile Internet services to take off. In most markets, much WMI usage is among trendy teenagers, but it will become more and more "professional" and mainstream, predicted Bertrand Bidaud, telecom research analyst at global research firm Gartner Group, in an interview for this publication. "M-Commerce will eventually overtake traditional PC-based B2C commerce," predicts Infosys wireless consultant Shashi Vempathi. The cellular phone will fast transform from a voice device to be key enabler of secure mobile commerce in 21st century, and by its mobile nature it will become instrument for conducting every day sundry transactions -- something that is difficult for PC-based B2C e-commerce to achieve, he says. Market Potential and User Behaviour Applications well suited for WMI domain include B2B services (mobile Intranet access, roaming email services), travel information (for buses and Airlines), finance (time-critical banking and stock trades), e- commerce (betting, auctions), and community (chat, e-postcards, cartoons), according to Johan Montelius, wireless Internet specialist at New York-based research firm Jupiter Communications. A recent study that Hewlett-Packard conducted on mobile markets found that first generation of "me- services" falls into six categories: Transactions (banking and travel reservations) information (sports Scores, real-time news), Database search (yellow pages and translation services), Entertainment (customer ringers, games), Personal services (calendars, address books), Communications (Group SMS, mail). M-commerce is great for time-sensitive and location-sensitive sales. M-commerce can easily spur impulse buying for items like music -- consumers can buy an album almost as soon as they hear it on radio or see video on MTV. News and information services have been among first to jump in to exploit possibilities of WMI, and dozens of news feeds are now accessible via mobiles. Phone.com has already rolled out book and music ordering via WAP for Amazon in U.S. and U.K. In corporate environment, banking and airline sectors are early adopters. But for a long time to come, "killer app" of WMI will still be Old-fashioned messaging and related services, says Gartner's Bidaud. "B2B will come later. It appears at a more mature stage, as in wired world. First will be B2C and then corporate application (Intranet)," he observes. WMI in Action In Japan, one of most profitable WMI sites is Bandai, which "uploads" new cartoons everyday on phone. Tone rings download is also very popular. A large proportion of stock trading in South Korea has shifted to Net and mobile phones. U.S.-based Inktomi is offering "shopping dial tone" solutions via WAP directory and catalog services for cell phone users, so that online commerce is accessible irrespective of platform used. Inktomi is working with hundreds of merchants to offer sales of millions of products via WAP; merchants use a branded interface, while Inktomi will handle billing, data center, and shopping basket operations. Yahoo's sites in many countries offer instant access to mail, finance, news, WAP directories, and
| | Is There Life After eBay?Written by M A Dorman
Almost all sellers recognize that eBay is where traffic is. And in auctioning, where traffic is, money is also. So why bother with any place but eBay? Because eBay is also place of highest fees and not always best place for your items. Not all of your products may be best suited for listing on eBay. The ROI is just not attractive for items with a small margin. Then too, eBay limits your ability to attract potential buyers to your web site so that you can up-sell or cross-sell. Their restrictions and myriad rules narrow your opportunities and may even cause you to be unwittingly suspended from that site! If not eBay, then where? There are many other avenues or venues for auctioning, selling, generating leads, gaining exposure, and converting inventory to cash. Let's talk about other auction venues first. There are literally hundreds of auction sites, sales sites, and classified ad sites, many of which are free to list on. Some few are even free when you sell. Of course, most of upgrade features are extra and are to be paid for by you. Let's start with those other auction sites. These are generally allotted into layers or tiers based on number of items listed, number of members and/or traffic density. There are only a few second tier sites. These are considered second tier since they have size, name recognition and some appreciable traffic - thus better sell through rates. The first one that should come to mind is Yahoo Auctions. Listings are only 5 cents and there are occasional Free Listing Days (FLD). A small core of loyal members prefer it to eBay, citing lower fees and good sell through rates. Next is Amazon Auctions. Listing is still free, but final value fee (FVF) is steep, particularly for those lower cost or low margin items. Again, a small core of loyal members find it a good place for upscale books and items where FVF doesn't cut quite so deeply into profit. Below this level are third tier, general sites. These sites come and go although a handful have been around for several years without making big time. Each has a loyal group of followers or boosters. Most are free to list with a small or medium FVF.
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