As technologies change more rapidly, the old theory of the diffusion of innovations starts to prove itself correct. According to the diffusion, consumers can be split into five major groups: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards.
Their consumption practices function in a bell curve. As the late majority group – who take longer to use or adopt the product or technology than most – makes up the bulk of the demographics with a 34 percent share of a new product or technology's consumption, the innovators – who are oftentimes the ones making the new product or technology – comprise only 2.5 percent as they rest on the outer edge of the bell.
But, nevertheless, as technologies change by the hour this theory continues to hold more water. According to an article by Entrepreneur Magazine, although "mobile commerce" (m-commerce) has been abuzz for quite some time now, it's starting to catch on to the early majority and – pretty soon – the late majority will be purchasing more products on their phone than before.
That being said, many businesses and retailers may want to invest in adopting m-commerce to their business model. According to the article, nearly half of American cell phone users had smartphones back in October 2011. Of those smartphone users, two out of every five used the device to purchase a product in 2011 with 62 percent of Americans open to the idea of using their mobile phone as a purchasing device.
If small businesses wish to get the most out of their new mobile commerce apps or websites, investing in a database software like FileMaker or FileMaker Go for mobile devices, can help them maintain inventory control as well as monitor mobile and brick-and-mortar purchases. Companies who want to invest in this software should see FileMaker consultants.