U-Commerce

jhg b2b, e-procurement

U-Commerce

When closing 2011, the buzzword of the year will probably be U-Commerce, at least amongst e-commerce practitioners. U-commerce is considered to be the evolution of traditional e-commerce and the convergence of industry, technology and communications into a dynamic economic environment.

Mobile e-commerce

New e-commerce and mobile commerce capabilities are bringing us closer together and empowering individuals as never before. These changes are heralding the emergence of “u-commerce” – universal or ubiquitous commerce, where the traditional barriers of time, geography, currency and access have ceased to exist (source: u-commerce.com).

U-commerce is the natural evolution of e-commerce and mobile commerce from “point of sale” to “point of convenience” – whether a transaction occurs in a store, at home, on the street or even on an airplane. The payment card has emerged as the natural currency of the internet and card suite solutions for e-commerce integrates with existing infrastructure.

The way that consumers access the Internet and shop online is changing. Desktop computers, laptops, mobile Internet devices, and mobile phones are converging into a larger category of Internet enabled devices. Millions of new users and new shoppers come online daily.

Ubiquity, uniqueness, universality, and unison

After the emergence of e-commerce in the late 90′s, we reached a new milestone in the evolution of how goods and services are exchanged between producer and consumer. U-commerce or universal commerce covers these newly arising opportunities and challenges that companies are facing by defining four fundamental constructs: ubiquity, uniqueness, universality, and unison.

  • Ubiquity allows users to access networks from anywhere at any time, and in turn, to be reachable at any place and any time.
  • Uniqueness allows users to be uniquely identified—not only in terms of their identity and associated preferences, but also in terms of their geographical position.
  • Universality means mobile devices are universally usable and multi-functional. Currently, for instance, U.S. cell phones are unlikely to work in Europe because of different standards and network frequencies, and vice versa.
  • Unison covers the idea of integrated data across multiple applications so that users have a consistent view on the their information-irrespective of the device used.

Sources:

  • http://www.tieto.com/industries/financial-services/transaction-banking/card-suite/u-commerce
  • http://ucommerce.com/