Mobile Commerce: Promises, Challenges and Research Agenda

Background Advances in wireless technology increase the number of mobile device users and give pace to the rapid development of e-commerce conducted with these devices. The new type of e-commerce transactions, conducted through mobile devices using wireless telecommunications networks and other wired e-commerce technologies, is called mobile commerce (increasingly known as mobile e-commerce or m-commerce). Due to the special characteristics and constraints of mobile devices and the wireless network, the emerging mobile commerce operates in an environment very different from ecommerce conducted over the wired Internet. In terms of business potential, mobile commerce promises many more alluring market opportunities than traditional e-commerce because of its inherent characteristics such as ubiquity, personalization, flexibility, and dissemination. Mobile commerce will likely emerge as a major focus of the business world and telecommunication industry in the immediate future. For example, according to Guy Singh (2000), the global mobile commerce market is expected to be worth a staggering US$200 billion by 2004. The marriage of mobile devices and the Internet is, however, filled with challenges as well as opportunities. This paper presents an overview of mobile commerce development by looking at the enabling technologies, the impact of mobile commerce on business models, and the implications to mobile commerce providers. We also provide an agenda for future research in this area.