Q&A on Location-Based and Mobile Commerce
Question
Task: Please take some time to view the following four videos (at least twice) on Mobile Commerce and Location-Based Commerce.
Video 1. Location Based Advertising (2 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watchv=UK5iEMsJZ4A
Video 2.M-Commerce vs E-Commerce. (4 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watchv=zVTPPDP_fo8
Video 3. Location Based Services. (4 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watchv=GXqfH4vmxyE
Video 4. Location Based Marketing. (3 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watchv=UC5vB7wLXcA
Now consider the following questions:
1. What are the advantages/disadvantages of location-based advertising communications discussed in Video 1
2. Discuss the advantages/disadvantages of M-Commerce over E-Commerce (Video 2) indicating which you think are the most important and why?
3. Discuss how the five Location-Based services mentioned in Video 3 could benefit a typical SME of your choice?
4. We are told that Location-Based Marketing is about connecting people, places and media (Video 4). What are the ethical considerations around businesses knowing every ‘place’ we visit
Answer
Answer 1
LBA (location-based advertising) or Mobile Commercehelps an entity to advertise about the products or service at the right time when the location of the people shows near to the outlets. It works like a push notification by sending the notification about a specific product and offers related to it on the electronic device of the consumer when the location of the consumer shows nearby to the shop(Chakravarty, 2018). It makes real-time communication possible and provides high engagement with the customers. LBA can be considered as mobile marketing, which is real-time and permission-based.
Advantages:
1. one of the key benefits of location-based advertisement is it allows the entity to send the push notification to a large number of people at a time. Along with that, LBA allows sending different types of notifications to different people at the same time(Blesh, 2019).
2. Another advantage of LBA is the perfect timing of the advertisement. The location data is served based on real-time, so there are high chances of people visiting the shops. The real-time based data enables the brands to increase visibility by 100% and attracts the target people at the right time(Blesh, 2019). The technology used by the retail brands to track the location of the people’s movement when passing by the stores allows the entities to send the notification on time.
3. The next advantage of LBA is attracting the target audience in the digital platform. In the era of technology, people are influenced by the things that they see on the digital platform. The excessive availability of similar products makes the memory vague that is seen earlier(Chakravarty, 2018). There are end numbers of notifications that arrive each day on the technical device of a person. The target audience of one brand is also the target audience of another brand, so it is important to influence the target audience more than the competitors. The target audience can be easy get notified about the latest deals of the brand, which increases the brand visibility for the target customers 20 times higher(Blesh, 2019).
Disadvantages:
1. the most common disadvantage of LBA is a privacy issue. The data of the people needs to keep private and should be involved for the purpose of promotional activity. Before using the data of customers, the brands must take permission from the people(Chakravarty, 2018).
2. While sending notification on the mobile phones of people, they may find it difficult to find out the store location as the screen of the mobile phone is small(Chakravarty, 2018). Navigation on a mobile phone may create difficulty for the user to find out the exact location of the store.
3. LBA only works at the time when the people or users use the location technology on their device. If the users allow the brands to access the data, then the location-based advertisement works(Chakravarty, 2018).
Answer 2
In the e-commerce platform, the business transactions happen via the internet, whereas in mobile commerce or m-commerce, the transactions happen via the mobile device. M-commerce can be considered as an extension of e-commerce(Wiredelta, 2020). The advantages and disadvantages of m-commerce with e-commerce are highlighted below:
Advantages of M-Commerce over e-commerce
1. M-commerce allows people to make a transaction anywhere by just touching a button. It allows people to access the transactions at any time or any place. Mobility of m-commerce allows the customers to get better purchasing options(Wiredelta, 2020). In the case of e-commerce, people have limited access to e-commerce in terms of time and place.
2. M-commerce allows people to get fast payment options and offers a wide range of products. In the m-commerce platform, the payment options are so easy compared to the e-commerce platform(Forbes, 2018). One-click check out apps is the best option of m-commerce platform, which allows people to experience a faster payment option.
3. Omnichannel is another advantage of using m-commerce as it allows the customers to use multiple communication channels. The omnichannel allows the business fulfill the needs of the customers at the moment when they need them(Wiredelta, 2020). An omnichannel is impossible without technological advancement, and it is brought by m-commerce.
Disadvantages of M-commerce over E-commerce 1. Advertisement frauds are more occurs in an m-commerce space. The report of Huff Post reflects that there are still 60% of marketers who lack the prevention of active fraud(Forbes, 2018).
2. Developing an m-commerce app for small businesses is costly. Developing such an m-app requires mots of resources and time, and marinating such application requires continuous monitoring, which requires both cost and resources(Forbes, 2018).
3. m-commerce allows the customers to use the application in just one touch, so there are fewer verification steps between the completions of each transaction process. Hence, the customers' data should be protected by the company(Wiredelta, 2020).
The advantage of m-commerce indicates that it is the best way to shop because it is easy and takes less time. The use of mobile commerce may rise in the future because the use of mobile is more among people compared to other electronic devices. The figure below illustrates the market share of tablet, mobile, and desktop worldwide.
Figure 1: Market share of the tablet, mobile, and desktop worldwide (2018-19)
Source: (Wiredelta, 2020)
The mobile payment in terms of online purchasing increasing by the customers is increasing day by day. The increasing rate of mobile payment indicates more usage of mobile commerce or m-commerce. The figure below indicates the growth of mobile payment in different countries in 2018-19.
Figure 2: Growth of mobile payment in severe countries (2018-19)
Source: (Wiredelta, 2020)
The two figures illustrated above indices that the popularity of m-commerce and mobile payment among people is increasing day by day, so it is an important platform for businesses.
Answer 3
The location-based services are based on technology, which uses real-time location to track the function. The technology used for developing location-based services identifies the geographical and physical location of users. There are several technologies that are used for location-based services like RFID, cellular, Wi-Fi, GPS, and QR codes. The five types of location-based services discussed in video 3 are:
1. Wayfinding that allows a person to find out the exact location of a place, it may be any hospital, any office of a specific place of a building like a library of a university. This type of service navigates people to find out a location and also updates about the recent change in the location(Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, 2019).
2. Geo notifications help the business to control the traffic and enhance the revenue by sending a notification to a person nearby. The person getting such notification can easily grab the deal by visiting nearby shops(Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, 2019). It is time-saving and cost-saving for the users.
3. Geo-fencing makes it easy for a person to find out nearby exhibits and attractions like a museum or any historical monuments(Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, 2019).
4. Asset tracking helps the companies to track the equipments that are sent for delivery. It provides more security for the organization to manage the assets efficiently. The asset tracking LBS helps an organization to monitor the reallocation of the goods and track the way from where it is passing through(Goodrich, 2020).
5. Analytics is another Location-Based Service, which allows an individual or an organization to improve the efficiency of services. The analytics-related information helps the businesses to get crucial information about the target market and helps to make the decision accordingly(Goodrich, 2020).
The location-based services are greatly used by the SMEs as it eases the working process of the business activities(Goodrich, 2020). The SMEs like Meredith & Bill Whiting can implement the idea of location-based service. The asset tracking service will help the business to track the goods while sourcing from outside or sending them to the customers. Geo notification will make the people able to find out the stores of Meredith & Bill Whiting while passing nearby the store.
Answer 4
Location-based marketing is hugely implemented by businesses, as the location of a person is crucial to select the right mode of marketing. In the digital era, the marketing of the products and services are spread almost in every location, as most of them approach through electronic devices like phones, tablets, and laptops(The LBMA, 2020). It became easier for businesses to spread marketing all over the location by promoting the business over a digital platform by sending push notifications or advertisements(The LBMA, 2020). While approaching the people in every location, the businesses must follow the ethical considerations related to the privacy and safety of people. The five most crucial ethical consideration that a business must follow while considering location-based marketing are:
1. Accountability of the activities is important by continuous monitoring of the marketing activities(Floridatechonline.com, 2020).
2. Discrimination and harassment through marketing needs to be controlled as much as possible. The content of the marketing needs to be free from discrimination and harassment(Floridatechonline.com, 2020).
3. The privacy of the people needs to be maintained, as the business has the data access of people, and they should not use it without the permission of an individual(Xclaim Mobile, 2017). 4. Sometimes, location-based marketing gains control over the digital life of people. The web-surfing activities sometimes are accessed to the businesses, which may hamper individual privacy(Xclaim Mobile, 2017). 5. Location-based marketing works as a gateway into the life of a person by tracking the location of an individual. The tracking information needs to be kept safely to maintain ethical consideration of the business.
References
Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, 2019. Location Based Services. [online] Youtube.com. Available at:
Blesh, 2019. Blesh - Location-Based Smart Advertising Platform. [online] Youtube.com. Available at:
Chakravarty, S., 2018. What Is Location-Based Advertising (LBA). [online] Geospatial World. Available at:
Floridatechonline.com, 2020. The 5 Biggest Ethical Issues Facing Businesses. [online] Floridatechonline.com. Available at:
Forbes, 2018. What Is The Difference Between E-Commerce And Mobile Commerce. [online] Forbes. Available at:
Goodrich, R., 2020. Location-Based Services: Definition And Examples. [online] Businessnewsdaily.com. Available at:
The LBMA, 2020. Location Based Marketing 2020. [online] Youtube.com. Available at:
Wiredelta, 2020. M-Commerce Vs E-Commerce. [online] Youtube.com. Available at:
Xclaim Mobile, 2017. The Controversial Ethics Of Location-Based Marketing | Xclaim Mobile. [online] Xclaim Mobile. Available at:
