MOBILE COMMERECE

                      

                        MOBILE COMMERCE

"Mobile Commerce is any transaction, involving the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods and services, which is initiated and/or completed by using mobile access to computer-mediated networks with the help of an electronic device."

In other words

M-commerce is a term that is used to refer to the growing practice of conducting financial and promotional activities with the use of a wireless handheld device. The term m-commerce is short for mobile commerce, and recognizes that the transactions may be conducted using cell phones, personal digital assistants and other hand held devices that have operate with Internet access. While still in its infancy, the concept of m-commerce has been refined in recent years and is beginning to become more popular.

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SERVICES AVIALABLE

                                               

                                          

MOBILE TICKETING

Tickets can be sent to mobile phones using a variety of technologies. Users are then able to use their tickets immediately by presenting their phones at the venue.

Tickets can be booked and cancelled on the mobile with the help of simple application downloads or by accessing WAP portals of various Travel agents or direct service providers.

CONTENT PURCHASEAND AND DELIVERY

Currently, mobile content purchase and delivery mainly consists of the sale of ring-tones, wallpapers, and games for mobile phones

LOCATION-BASED SERVICES

Unlike a home PC, the location of the mobile phone user is an important piece of information used during mobile commerce transactions. Knowing the location of the user allows for location based services such

• local offers
• local weather
• people tracking and monitoring

INFORMATION SERVICES

A wide variety of information services can be delivered to mobile phone users in much the same way as it is delivered to PCs. These services include:

• news services
• stock data
• sports results
• financial records

MOBILE BANKING

Banks and other financial institutions are exploring the use of mobile commerce to allow their customers to not only access account information, but also make transactions, e.g. purchasing stocks, remitting money, via mobile phones and other mobile equipment. This service is often referred to as M-Banking.

MOBILE BROWSING

Mobile browsing allows customers to shop online at any time in any location.Just like a pc , you have a choice of browser . With the pc , Explorer , Firefox and Chrome fight it out .

PAYMENTS METHODS

The main payment methods used to enable mobile commerce are:

• premium-rate calling numbers,
• charging to the mobile telephone user's bill or
• deducting from their calling credit.
• registration of a credit card that is linked to a SIM card.
• Billing a customer's credit card through a secure user interface.

M-commerce is not merely  a variation on existing Internet services;it is a natural extension of e-bussiness. Mobile devices creat an opportunity to deliver new services to existing customers and to attract new ones.

References-

(1) 6^th edition of Information Technology for Management by Efraim             Turban, Dorothy Leidner

(2) wiseGEEK.com and some other internet sources.