What is the difference between e-Commerce and mobile commerce? originally appeared on Quora, the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus.

Despite the fact that e-commerce and m-commerce have similar goals of buying and selling with the help of the internet, there are many glaring differences. Let's take a look at them:

Mobility. E-commerce stands for electronic commerce, wherein shopping is done over the internet. Usually, e-commerce activities are conducted with the help of desktop computers and laptops, so users have to look for a place to do their transactions. M-commerce implies the use of mobile devices, so people can do their business transactions anywhere they go as long as they can access the internet on their smartphones and can perform transactions with just a few taps on the screen.

Reachability. Because of mobile device portability, mobile commerce reach will be far wider than e-commerce. Retailers can reach users almost everywhere, that allows for an opportunity to get more out of mobile commerce because of the broader audience.

Convenience transactions. People can do their business transactions anywhere they go as long as they can access the internet on their smartphones that allow a transaction with just a few taps on the screen. Unlike e-commerce, they have to do your transactions on the computer. Users have to look for a place to do their transactions because it would be uncomfortable using a laptop anywhere or while they are on the move.

Location tracking. The location tracking capabilities of e-commerce are limited due to the non-portability of devices. M-commerce apps, though, can track and identify user locations with the help of GPS technology, Wi-Fi, and so on. As a result, m-commerce apps can provide location-specific content and personalized recommendations. For example, notifications can let local businesses offer personalized discounts targeting particular customers in a particular location.

Security. In the case of e-commerce, credit cards are the most common form of payment. However, consumers are still somewhat afraid of sending their credit card numbers over the internet. The security capabilities of mobile commerce are a bit more extensive. In addition to regular security measures like two-factor authentication and multi-level authentication, present in e-commerce, m-commerce can also offer biometric authentication (via retina scans, face ID, or fingerprints).

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