So you want to build a mobile eCommerce app or maybe you
just want one built for you? You want this in part because you have long known
that Ecommerce is booming and a brick-and-mortar approach may simply not be
enough to keep your business afloat. A Harris poll last November found that 43%
of the 2249 US adults surveyed had engaged in "showrooming," a practice where
the consumer examines merchandise in a brick-and-mortar store but then later
buys it online.
Today online shopping is the iceberg and mobile shopping is
the tip. But all indications are that the iceberg may invert with increasing
proportions of ecommerce transactions taking place with mobile devices as
desktop computing devices continue to shrink in overall market share. Another
survey by PriceGrabber of 2469 US adults in September found that in 2012, six percent
of holiday purchases made by the average consumer will be made via a mobile
device. You are likely reading this because you are already aware of these
trends and you've been tasked as an IT department to do something about it. The
IT departments of medium sized businesses are particularly challenged because
their companies are too big to use off-the-shelf solutions and too small to
afford extensive custom programming efforts.
For developers building mobile ecommerce apps for a variety
of mobile operating systems and devices and then integrating them to Oracle JD
Edwards, PeopleSoft, E-Business Suite, Microsoft Dynamics, SAP or other backend
ERP systems, a number of development issues should be considered.
First, the relevant eCommerce data structures for the mobile
commerce platform must be analyzed. Some data requires synchronization while
other data may simply require a push or pull approach per transaction. If you
are building your own eCommerce application, you will need to develop a
database architecture. Examples can be found on the web ranging from this very simple training example to this simple and free MySQL table for eCommerce to more proprietary real world table structures for applications like the Magento
eCommerce platform.
Second, you need to assess how the data you choose in your
architecture above relates to the data and processes in your ERP system, such
as in this example JD Edwards data dictionary. Data transformations are likely needed when mapping data between mobile
devices, eCommerce platforms and ERP systems.
Fortunately, all of this can be simplified by using the
Magic xpi Data Mapper
and the Magic xpa Data Repository.
From a functional standpoint it becomes important to assess
what sorts of unique mobile commerce shopping features you want to offer your
users. For example, one of the trends in mobile shopping sites is to highlight "local
deals." This requires integration with third party ecommerce databases and an
awareness through the mobile device's GPS of the users' location. Other goals
may include a recommendation engine, reviews, bar code scanning for those engaged
in "showrooming" and much more. My advice is to include one trendy feature so
that your mobile store introduction has some sizzle but don’t get bogged down
in developing too many trendy bells and whistles, because many are going to
fade from popularity as quickly as they are innovated.
In terms of the user interface, Magic xpa will make it very
easy to create native mobile apps that are tailored in their look and feel for your various mobile platforms:
iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, etc. The Magic RIA client for iOS™, Android™,
BlackBerry® and Windows Mobile® is a native operating system (OS) application
for any of these devices, implementing the Magic RIA client protocol. Using the
Magic RIA client for the different mobile devices, developers can deploy highly
interactive enterprise RIA applications on the various mobile devices.
Remember, Magic xpa Application Platform will take care of
the heavy lifting when it comes to the database, business logic and user
interface layers and allow you to create tailored native mobile apps for the iOS,
Android, BlackBerry, etc. In addition the Magic xpi Integration Platform
automates business process integration between your Magic xpa mobile apps, your
online eCommerce platform (such as Magento, Shopatron, Demandware, Oracle ATG,
IBM WebSphere Commerce, Digital River, hybris, Intershop, RedPrairie, Micros-Retail,
SAP E-Commerce, etc.) and your ERP or accounting system. These Magic platforms form an ideal combination for developing and integrating mobile commerce apps.
I've also noted a trend lately among these medium sized IT departments: they want to choose the ERP, eCommerce and mobile development platforms used, but they often don’t want to do all (or any) of the work themselves. That's why vendors like Magic Software offer professional services for mobile app development, including Mobile ecommerce apps. Feel free to contact us if you’re in the market.
