Mobile-Enabled Commerce Will Yield The Next $100B Startup

Mobile-Enabled Commerce Will Yield The Next $100B Startup

(Link) Posted Jun 7, 2014 by Patricia Nakache, Phil Carter

 

Editors note:

Given that the last three U.S. super unicorns have all been consumer technology companies (Facebook, Google, and Amazon)

Here are two bolder predictons: By 2020, smartphones and tablets will account for more than 75 percent of global online commercial transactions and more than 50 percent of spend.

 

The M-Commerce Opportunity

 

The m-commerce ecosystem falls into six primary categories: Mobile Payments, Retail Enablement, Mobile Retail, Marketplaces, On-Demand Services, and App-Based Services

 

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Mobile empowering: Mobile Payments and Retail Enablement.

Mobile enhanced: Mobile Retail and Marketplaces.

Mobile enabled: On-Demand Services and App-Based Services.

 

Opportunities for entrepreneurs looking to build the next billion-dollar m-commerce company exist across all these categories, but are particularly concentrated in the relatively greenfield mobile enabled categories of On-Demand Services and App-Based Services.

 

Mobile Payments. Providing mobile payment infrastructure, mobile point of sale systems, and direct mobile payment solutions.

 

Retail Enablement. facilitating mobile-based retail transactions either by helping potential customers discover items they want to buy online or by helping them find offers offline.

 

Mobile retail. Extending web-based retail platforms to mobile or build mobile apps to sell goods to customers through smartphones and tablets.

 

Marketplaces. Facilitating transactions between buyers and sellers of goods or services either on mobile as an extension of web-based marketplaces or through a mobile app.(key = achieving liquidity)

 

On-Demand Services. Providing services to buyers in a short timeframe either through vertical integration or aggregated supply. (key = price and convenience; most scale and the best algorithms governing vehicle dispatch, delivery routes, and fulfillment)

 

App-Based Services. Providing services to customers entirely within a native mobile app. (key = accessibility, engagement, retention)

 

The rise of m-commerce represents the most important wave of retail innovation since consumer brands first began selling goods and services online 20 years ago.