Using Mobile Payment Methods to gain Competitive Advantage in Business

Introduction

Modern businesses are constantly seeking out ways to gain competitive edge to gain appeal to their potential clients. This has prompted the adoption of various technologies to ease the process of doing business. Of the most prominent technology being adopted today, mobile payment methods stand out for delivering convenience and ensuring people still retain the element of safety while effortlessly accessing services anywhere across the globe (Peskett, 2018). However, despite their seeming appeal, there are major institutions and governments that are still pensive of adopting the mobile technology. This study will thus explore the various ways in which businesses can leverage on this information technology innovation to gain competitive advantage by delivering convenience to their clients.

Purpose

It is estimated that they are more than 14 billion mobile devices in the world today. Most of these devices are equipped with various capabilities to facilitate interaction and also to include applications to undertake various roles (O’dea, 2020). As businesses extend their tentacles to serve more clients even in the rural areas, it is increasingly becoming important for businesses to also target these types of clientele despite the challenges, they may have especially with processing payments may not be close to their location. In addition, areas that have low income earners are also characterized by lack of access to various amenities and as such the need to develop convenient technologies arises even as businesses attempt to facilitate the entire process of doing business.

Proposal questions

The main research questions that will guide this are as follows.

1. How do the existing risk elements in mobile payment methods affect their adoption?
2. Do characteristics such as convenience mobility compatibility and reachability affect the adoption of mobile payment methods?
3. What are some of the reasons affecting business owners adopting the use of mobile payments in their businesses.?

Plan of action

The plan of action for this research will be to carry out a cross-sectional mixed methods study design which will be used to determine the existing mobile payment methods available for businesses. This approach will especially take interest in engaging with businesses in the Rural Centre since there are more people likely to be using mobile platforms but may fail to access other payment avenues such as banks. The research will that engage over 30 businesses to determine reasons for adopting or preferring to adopt or not to adopt the mobile payment methods and as well it will also involve over 100 individuals to determine their view on the use of the technology.

The research will also increasingly rely on secondary data to identify interest from other experts and to highlight the views that they had proposed. This approach will be guided by highlighting the relevant literature in the market. The primary data will also be part of these research to highlight the relevant descriptive statistics to analyse the quantitative data. The research will also rely on the multiple regression analysis method to analyse the relationship for both the dependent and independent variables.

Conclusion

This research expects to find the reasons behind the adoption of mobile payment methods. Existing literature highlights that mobile payment methods are essential to determining the business competitive edge. Research also finds that for businesses to achieve the required competitive advantage they must realign their business model in support of the current market conditions and to anticipate the needs of the customer in the other stakeholders (Peskett, 2018). It would thus be worthwhile to argue that the research will ascertain these positions

References

O’dea, S. (2020, September 22). Number of mobile devices worldwide 2020-2024 | Statista. Statista; Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/245501/multiple-mobile-device-ownership-worldwide/#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20mobile%20devices,set%20to%20reach%2017.72%20billion.

Peskett, M. (2018, November 27). Five steps to get a sustainable competitive advantage. SmartCompany; SmartCompany. https://www.smartcompany.com.au/business-advice/strategy/five-steps-to-get-a-sustainable-competitive-advantage/