Mobile Commerce in India – Will it be Mobile Internet or SMS?

Did you know that India ranks 2nd after China in terms of mobile phone usage to access the Internet? Almost 60 million Indians fall under this category. This figure goes on to show that mobile commerce in India is flourishing. Although the usage rate might be high, not all handsets are 3G enabled yet so most people are connecting to the Internet via GPRS. But then again, 3G is becoming more widespread so the numbers are expected to rise greatly.



Mobile marketing has turned out to be a great revenue generator for organizations and it has a huge target audience. But a very important question that is in the minds of marketers is, "which is a better way to reach out to people – mobile web or SMS?" When it comes to India, Yahoo! was the first company that went for a tie-up with carriers and provided search and mail services via SMS shortcodes. It also offered downloads of ringtones and wallpapers. According to recent news, Yahoo! is also looking to diverge into the world of mobile Internet because there is huge scope here. Some brands have introduced IVR and WAP based campaigns and the response has been quite impressive. Perhaps that is the reason why developers are coming up with various mobile commerce services these days.



The popularity of SMS is because it produces effect, is affordable, and very quick. The Co-founder and CEO, Mobile Social Network, SMS Gupshup has quoted that 40 million users have joined and 3 million communities have been created in the last 3 years. India is still considered to be a developing market where J2ME and Symbian devices rule the roost. Mobile commerce platforms such as Android will take some time to establish themselves. The biggest problem with mobile Internet content is that the monetization has not been done in a systematic manner. When people are downloading apps, they get to see a pre and post display that allows the user to interact in a better way. Thus the advertisements placed on mobile websites get better hits.



When you consider mobile commerce in India , the number of 3G enabled handset users will shoot up in the coming years. Marketers predict that app-based advertising will dominate because it has an edge over SMS – it is much more interactive. App-based ads help to streamline the target audience in a better way. Who will win in the war between mobile interne and SMS? Only time will say!