The Design of the Mobile Commerce - Example

Mobile Commerce Report Name Course Name and Code Instructor’s Name Date Executive summary Mobile commerce is the capability to carry out business by use of a mobile device. It is greatly gaining adoption by many business men. This report discusses how an information provider sports results design its mobile page for its clients. The design of the mobile commerce takes into consideration such issues as content versus screen size, security, advertising space, attracting web and new clients to the mobile page, privacy concerns and competitive advantage. The report highlights and discusses how the sports results providers can design a unique mobile commerce page that will help them reach out to a lot of customers efficiently. In addition it also discusses how the information provider could remain superior over its rivals in the industry. As it concludes, the report urges that information providers follow the set principles for web design to ensure that they deliver as expected of them. Table of Contents Executive summary 2 Introduction 3 Basic principles for mobile website design 4 Content versus screen size 5 Security 6 Advertising space 7 Attracting web clients to the mobile page 7 Attracting new clients to the mobile page 8 Privacy concerns 9 Competitive advantage 10 Conclusion 11 References 13 Introduction Mobile commerce is a term used to refer to the ability to carry out commerce or business by use of a mobile device for instance a smart phone, mobile phone, personal assistant digital assistant (PDA) or any other emerging mobile device. Furthermore it can be defined as any transaction that entails the change of rights or ownership of products as well as services that are introduced and finalized using mobile access to the networks that are computer mediated but with the help of an electronic device (Troutman, and Steve, 2008). Sports results provide the relevant information to the supporters of particular sports ranging from rugby, football, netball, volleyball, basketball, hockey, and athletics among others across the globe. The information will include the scores of any particular sport that had been held as well as the specific player who had contributed to the score. In addition the information will also include the various teams taking part in any sport; their rating will also be highlighted starting with the team that has the majority of points as compared to the other teams. This report seeks to design a mobile commerce for the sports results by addressing content versus screen size, security, advertising space, attracting web and new clients to the mobile page, privacy concerns and competitive advantage. Basic principles for mobile website design It is apparent that the web site design used for computers does not apply in mobile phones. For a site to work well on a mobile phone it needs to follow some accessibility design guidelines. The WAP technology is used in mobile phones. Due to the limitations of this technology as a result of the allowable download as well as the screen size, it is of importance that one designs a mobile web site in accordance with current designs which are guided by a number of principles (Ryan, 2009 and Chapman, 2010). These principles include; Use of a CSS for the site layout to make sure there is maximum compatibility Ensuring that the mobile design is convenient to the clients by ensuring that you put all the relevant information you want your users to access on top of the page since it is very tedious and time consuming to read through the whole site looking for some information. Ensuring you don’t use tables for the main layout since it does not look good on mobile devices Making sure that everything fits on a mobile page which has a maximum size of 20 kilobytes Ensuring that your mobile phone is equipped with back buttons and links for it to be effective Different mobile devices vary in their screen sizes and one has to consider this since it could be a major problem if you want the mobile web to be compatible on all of them. Images to be displayed on the mobile wed should be in gif or jpeg format. You should ensure that your customers are getting services worth their money since they subscribe to access the mobile page (Chapman, 2010) Content versus screen size It is evident that what information is to be included in a phone page when designing a mobile page is very important and it is dependent on the screen size (Ryan, 2009). The content to be used in our case will be informative and that it is written to be found. Mobile devices come in various sizes as well as shapes. In addition they greatly vary in the data as well as browser abilities across the board (Ryan, 2009). Phones with big screens can contain large contents while those with small screens can only support little content (Etheredge, 2010). In our case large content will be supported since the blackberry phone has a big screen. The content will include all the sport results. Navigation is very important in any web design (Friedman, 2008). The navigation menu should be consistent to provide guidance and orientation through the site to the users. Navigation menu is usually designed using large blocks and icons that are easily visible depending on the content of the site as well as the overall layout. In our case large icons will be used to guide the clients through the site (Friedman, 2008). This is due to the fact that the large icons can be seen and used with ease. The content fragmentation ensures that the clients are able to locate whatever information they are looking for with a lot of ease. The sports results providers will do the content fragmentation in such a way that it will include all the issues the sports results will be covering. In this case it includes; the home page, the various sports, teams, upcoming events and scores. The font size to be used determines the attractive ability of the page. A small font size drives the customers away since no person enjoys struggling to read (Troutman, and Steve, 2008). On the other hand a big and well legible font attracts more and more visitors to the site. Our mobile commerce will use a font size that is easily legible to attract a majority of visitors to the site. Security The security of mobile commerce is a very important issue to all its operation. This is because it enables the service providers to ensure that they deliver the right information to their clients as well as get the exact information their clients will leave as comments on the mobile page (Troutman, and Steve, 2008). In addition it ensures that the service provider works closely with its clients and that they are able to get the right response from the clients’ comments. In our case security will be of great significance since the right sports results regarding the sport that has been played and the scores will be delivered to the clients. The security will also ensure that the clients only get the right information always regarding the sports. For instance, the upcoming matches, teams involved any social events as well as the specific time when the sports will take place. This will be achieved by ensuring that the subscribers pay a subscription fee. In addition the subscribers are required to provide some information that will identify them. This information should include the email address, mobile phone number and the names of the clients. It is evident that by use of such information to restrict the use of the mobile page, the information providers will be able to monitor all the activities being carried out on their mobile page (Chapman, 2010). Furthermore, they will be able to ensure that no unwanted information finds its way to the mobile page. As a result this protects the information providers’ reputation. Advertising space This is the selling of available advertising space by attracting customers to advertise with your company (Troutman and Steve, 2008)). The information providers will launch marketing campaigns to sell space on their mobile page to potential customers who are willing to advertise. In addition the service providers can employ sales men who will mainly focus on looking for clients to advertise on their mobile page. This way the sport results providers will be able to raise additional revenues that they could use to venture into other projects such as expanding their business. In addition they will include in all their events an icon to show that they have space on their mobile page and a message to invite willing customers to advertise their products as well as services with them (Jennifer, 2011). Attracting web clients to the mobile page This entails using certain techniques on the mobile page to attract other web clients. The sport results providers can use the tools such as DoubleClick on Ad planner to help them determine the websites that are on Google Ad Network they are supposed to target (Dr. Wilson, 1995 and Miles, 2010). To achieve this, they should ensure that their mobile page is clearly visible on these tools. For instance, the sport results providers could use the public listing of my blog on the Ad planner. By use of this blog, the information provider will be giving out important information about them to a number of potential clients every day. To ensure that they always attract a lot of customers, they should always update their information. In addition the sports results providers should also advertise on other web pages especially the web pages of the companies who advertise on their own mobile page with an aim of attracting the clients of these web pages to their own page. Furthermore, the sports results providers should advertise their mobile page to web search engines that index the mobile page such as yahoo or Infoseek (Miles, 2010). As a result the information provider is able to reach out to entice more web clients to their mobile page. Attracting new clients to the mobile page Attracting new clients involves bringing more visitors to subscribe to the kind of services being offered by the supposed company (Miles, 2010). This can be attained by ensuring that a number of factors are observed. Most importantly are a company’s marketing strategies. In our case, the sport results provider should ensure that their mobile page has the content written to be found and that it is very informative. It is very essential that a mobile page provides the content that the clients are looking for. In addition, the sport results providers should also ensure that they provide valuable information as well as code their mobile page to make it easy for customers to search for information with ease. This will help them to entice a huge traffic to their mobile page. Moreover, by providing the valuable information, this will not only enhance goodwill but a perfect word of mouth advertising as one client will suggest the mobile page to another as being worth to visit (Miles, 2010). In addition, the sports results providers will be able to attract more customers to their mobile page through their advertising on other web pages. This will naturally attract more clients from their target audience as well as boost their rank as compared to other competitors. The more the page increases its ways of people finding it the more new clients it is likely to get. The information providers should also advertise their mobile page on practically all their promotional materials such as t-shirts and pens. They should ensure that they include their user name on these items for interested customers to find them (Miles, 2010). Privacy concerns Privacy is one of the major problems facing the new electronic age. This is due to the fact that at the heart of this internet culture lies a very strong force that desires to know about everything about you (Anthony, 2008). The reason behind this is that this information is regarded as a very valuable asset and once it is gotten, people will be tempted to do commerce as well as trade with this information. It is therefore necessary for any company to be concerned about their privacy. Privacy necessitates that people keep and protect the domain around them which include, their thoughts and ideas, secrets of their operations as well as some information on their identity. Through this, the company is able to maintain its reputation as well as maintain itself in the market. In our case, the sports results provider should ensure that it maintains its privacy. This they can achieve by only revealing the right information to their customers (Anthony, 2008). They should also inform their customers that the information they get from their mobile page should not be used for other purposes other than the intended purpose. In addition the sports results providers should ensure that they sign an agreement with their clients to assure them that the information they give to the information provider through their comments will only be used for the intended purpose and will not be shared with other mobile page users or web users. To get into such an agreement that proves users privacy, the sports results provider should pay some fee f or the mobile page so as for them to be in a contractual agreement as well as go through an audit to possibly give prove that they are addressing the privacy concerns of their clients (Anthony, 2008). Competitive advantage Competitive advantage is a term used to the strategic advantage a company has over other companies or business in its competitive industry. Attaining competitive advantage enhances and better places a business within its operating environment (Porter, 2011). The competitive advantage is achieved when a firm sustains much more profits than its rivals in the industry. To attain it a company is required to improve the quality of its product as well as services and also offer them at a lower price than its rivals in the industry (Porter, 2011). In this case, the sport results providers will ensure that they create a superior value for their clients and make superior profits for their industry. It will achieve this by making a maximum use of its resources and abilities to create unique services. They will ensure that no information about the sports is left unknown to their clients. In addition, will ensure they source for interesting events and games to attract more customers to their mobile page. As a result they will be able to attract huge capitals and remain competitive over their rivals. Conclusion The report has started by giving a general introduction of mobile commerce as well as highlighting the principles for mobile web design. Furthermore the report has discussed the content versus screen size by giving considerations to menus and navigation, layout, content fragmentation and font sizes. In addition the report discusses how the chosen Information provider of sports results would ensure security by ensuring that the users provide information that verifies their identity. Evident from the report is the techniques that the mobile page can use to attract more new clients. The report states that it has to be informative and provide information that is to be found. In addition the report also discusses how web clients can be enticed to the mobile page. This is by advertising on other companies web sites to reach out for their clients. It is apparent from this report that the sport results providers also can advertise space and sell it to potential clients to raise revenue that will help them venture in other projects. The report says that the information provider can employ people to help them attract more clients to advertise on their space. In addition the report takes into consideration the privacy concerns of the information provider. It has discussed how the information provider can assure its clients that their information on this mobile page is secure. Consequently it also shows how it is going to ensure that their own information is safe from unwanted audience. In conclusion, all information providers should ensure they design their mobile web in accordance with the principles set for web design to ensure their web sites are attractive. References Anthony, D. M. (2008). Online Privacy and the Disclosure of Cookie Use: Effects on Consumer Trust and Anticipated Patronage, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, (23) 19–33. Chapman, C., (2010). 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