Sep 18 2008
Mobile Ecommerce - Affiliate Opportunity or Threat?
It’s been said every year for as long as I can remember but I think perhaps mobile is actually now genuienly on the verge of being “the next big thing”. Now that I’ve picked up an iPhone and started to experience browsing the web in an equivalent way to the desktop combined with unmetered 3G usage then buying online seems much more likely.
So is this one big opportunity? In one way I’m tempted to go with it and build mobile versions of my sites or a shopping directory of mobile enable sites etc but I’m concerned about potential tracking issues.
Most mobile browsers will handle cookies so that’s ok but what about when incognito mode makes it’s way on to the mobile browser as standard?
Well various networks have different backups in place but are these mobile proof? IP based tracking would look to be a lost cause as I assume my 3G connection could end up with a different IP address everytime I connect. Flash cookies could well be hindered by the lack of a proper Flash implementation on mobiles. Is Veracitag mobile proof?
I’m probably slightly lacking the technical knowledge to know for sure but I’d love to hear from networks about how their tracking will stand up to mobile use.
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Sep 18th, 2008 at 5:39 pm | #
The way things are heading - bigger mobile screens, better browsers, and unlimited Internet usage - mobile versions of websites are getting a little redundant.
Mobile browsers are getting like PC browsers a lot more quickly than decent mobile sites are appearing.
Sep 19th, 2008 at 4:20 pm | #
As a developer it’s always been a major pain to try and create mobile friendly versions of websites. I agree with Andy that it’s great to see these devices improve to such levels that the need for these cut down designs dimishes.
Sep 30th, 2008 at 3:02 pm | #
Thank you for posting such informative article here. Mobile browsers working in some ways same as computer. But I think still there are some scripts which is working only on computer. Mobile friendly websites are growing rapidly now so it will become more clear in future.
Oct 20th, 2008 at 10:08 am | #
When mobiles were first capable of displaying web content, it was ultra simple, and as a developer thought “oh no, I’ve got to completely redesign this web page to work on a 2″ square screen with no pictures.” Now iphone has all but taken that away, and the situation is only going to improve to the point where a phone IS a computer.
Nov 10th, 2008 at 8:00 pm | #
Its a pain in the ass. making a mobile version of your site.
But, we most go with the flow of “the next big thing” or else we will be eating the dust of our competitors.
Great article though.
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