M-Commerce in Kenya

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND
Businesses in Africa are turning to the internet to enable them reach a wider market. This is known as Electronic Commerce, where buying, selling, investing and lending is done over the internet. Unfortunately in Kenya, the internet infrastructure is very limited. However with the cell phone boom, there is hope through Mobile Commerce.

1.2 Background of the Organization
For the purpose of this study, we look at a small company called Easy Logistics.
Easy logistics started in March 2005 in a small town in western Kenya called Kisumu. Kisumu has a population of 822,024 (1999 census) in a region over a breadth of 1131Metres. The company provides logistical solutions for both small and large businesses. The CEO, Mr. James Bingo, owns 35% of the company while the six board of directors own the rest of it. The company has six departments; Accounting, Human Resources, Operations, Inventory, Quality control and Marketing departments. The organization has 106 employees working in its 65metres squared warehouse.
The organizations Vision is to have the best logistical network in Kenya in the next five years.
The Company’s Mission is to provide Logistical solutions for both small and large companies through quality service. The company will use modern technology to ensure efficiency and the best value for money in the logistical industry in Kenya. This will ensure reduced order to delivery times, and inefficiency caused by inaccuracies.
The company’s main objectives are:
1. Open one outlet every year
2. Increase its customers by 10 % every year
3. Increase its profits by 12% every year
4. Reduce inefficiencies caused by damages and inaccuracies by 60% every year.
This is how the company operates. The marketing department would approach manufacturing companies that supply wholesalers and super centers in Kisumu with intentions of securing contracts. Retailers, small businesses, NGOs, government offices are also solicited. The marketing idea was to inform the clients how they would benefit by letting Easy Logistics handle their storage and transportation needs. Some of the advantages included:
1. Manufacturing companies would have their goods closer to their customers, reducing storage and transportation costs.
2. Small businesses would save a bundle on storage and inventory costs.
3. Transactions done over phones get easier, with customers getting their products directly from the warehouse, or getting them delivered. This reduces inconveniences of high office rents.
4. NGOs, save on delivery times to their remote areas in Kisumu, since their products are more accessible. The company also handles their transportation for them at a cheaper cost since they have fixed rates with their outsourced companies.
5. The company monitors product demand in Kisumu for their clients by observing their inventory movements.
6. The company also networks their customers by organizing business seminars for their clients.
To achieve most of its objectives, the company has to reach more customers. E-Commerce is one of the ways to do this. However, with the poor distribution of computers and Internet Cafes, and the entire internet infrastructure, the project focuses on Mobile Commerce. Mobile Commerce is the buying and selling of product and services over the net using Mobile devices such as smart phones, mobile phones and hand held computers (Nad Nadesan 11/2007). For Easy Logistics to reach remote markets in the countryside, they will need to do most of the transactions using mobile phones. This is because cell phones have become more affordable making them widely distributed with over 14 million subscribers (Safaricom 2007).

1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
With the increased saturation of the city markets, small businesses have to access the remote customers to compete. The problem is that these businesses are located in the city, far away from their customers in the countryside. This hinders transactions because customers have to travel long distances with cash, putting them at risk and increasing the time it takes to complete a business transaction.

This project looks at M-Commerce as a solution in helping businesses conduct transactions with their customers from anywhere and everywhere.

1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
This study intends to help small businesses reach more customers to facilitate profit maximization and rapid growth. To accomplish this, the following objectives have to be met.
1 Increase remote customers by 300% in one year
2 Reduce costs in record keeping and management by 90% within a year
3 Eliminate billing errors within a year
4 Eliminate loss of cash payments through employee theft within a year
5 Bring transaction time to fifteen minutes or less within a year

FIGURE 1.1 Organization structure for Easy Logistics

CHAPTER 2 THE LITERETURE REVIEW

2.1 EMPIRICAL REVIEW
“Let me start with some facts. In 1999, vendors worldwide sold more mobile phones than cars and PCs combined.” (Nad Nadesan 2001). By the end of 2003, Gartner predicted that more than 1 billion mobile phones will be in use worldwide. By the end of this year there will be more than 360 million wireless data users around the world, according to the ARC Group in 2001.
A paper presented to the University of Cape Town considers the new opportunities afforded for Africa regional development by the advent of electronic communication (E-business for Africa 2007). Electronic communications have considerably lower transaction costs than other forms of information and coordination processes. This is by the use of e-forms to better advance both local and regional integration. The pursuit of local and regional integration and African economic development may require some strategic thinking about the organization and presentation of African information. Regional e-malls, for example, would enable and assist in the intra-African search for business partners and customers. Ensuring that information on and communication forms for Africa are not primarily authored outside of Africa is critical in the new organization of knowledge management and business communication enabled by the new technologies (www.geocites.com)
In Nigeria, consumers have been introduced to the country’s first mass-marketable phone and Internet payment system, e-Card, which enables them to shop securely and effect money transfers online. Based on Sybase 's Enterprise Portal technology and M-business platform, the solution lets e-Card holders make online payments via SMS, VoiceXML, and the Web (e-card solutions for Nigeria 2003-2004). In Kenya, consumers can do the same with the use of Mpesa, where consumers use their phones to send and receive money via SMS. “THis solution enables true remote transaction settlement for the first time in Nigeria”, says Folake Olabiyi, e-Card Solutions corporate affairs manager. "Transactions flow between the participating banks via Sybase 's Enterprise Portal and daily settlement is effected through the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System."

Olabiyi says Nigeria is predominantly a cash-based country, with around 10% of the money in circulation flowing through the banking system. This makes it difficult for the government to optimize its monetary policies in its bid to revamp the nation 's economy. High theft and armed robbery rates have also been blamed on the large amount of cash in circulation. Online payment delivers optimum customer satisfaction and reduces the time required to complete the business process. This translates directly into lower cost and higher customer retention (e-card solutions 2006).
Olabiyi adds: "e-Card holders benefit from the convenience of card payment instead of physical cash payment to purchase vouchers, knowing they can still access funds via the normal banking means. They no longer have to physically go and buy vouchers.

"In addition, features can be enabled that help subscribers get best value for money. These include suggesting to the subscriber which merchant has the lowest priced air time vouchers. It brings the business closer to subscribers which are a competitive advantage in today 's customer-centric economy.” At the back-end of the e-card solution is Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise 12.5, a data management platform for mission-critical, transaction-intensive enterprise applications.

"e-Card chose Sybase ASE for its flexibility, commitment to open standards, and efficient use of computing resources," says Olabiyi. "Sybase Replication Server enables e-Card to deliver live information to remote locations and consolidate information from autonomous units. It provides continuous operation, even when there are hardware or software failures; and offers real-time decision support without affecting our operational systems."

Sybase EAServer, an application server foundation that supports all component models, lets e-Card leverage and connect to all its applications and processes, internally and externally, quickly and more cost-effectively.

"As a core component of our M-business infrastructure EAServer ensures smooth integration with other critical elements, including e-Card 's enterprise portal, wireless information delivery, and data management services. It also ensures enterprise-class scalability and security within a unified development and deployment environment," says Olabiyi.

"Enterprise Portal Express Edition provided us with a quickly deployable portal software solution. It streamlined the implementation of e-Card enabling simple and secure information and transactions. The solution is also scalable and will grow with our business."

Sybase 's portal services layer provides a ready-to-deploy, intuitive presentation layer, and its portal foundation layer is built upon a J2EE application server that is scalable and highly available.

"The technology provides a powerful set of tools and processes to do the things businesses have always tried to do: attract new customers, retain existing customers, improve and optimise business processes," says Obi. "It delivers the e-business infrastructure to reap the benefits of enormous cost savings and increased efficiency that online transactions promise."

He adds that an M-business infrastructure of the magnitude of e-Card 's must be built on proven technology that provides integration, security, scalability and availability to handle the unpredictable workload of the Internet and mobile delivery channel.

"We chose Sybase because of the company 's success in developing and deploying high-end systems," says Olabiyi. "We now have a unified M-business strategy built on a platform that supports e-Card 's current and future online endeavours, leverages our business models and processes, and maximises return

2.2 THEORETICAL REVIEW

Mobile-commerce is using smart phones and handheld computers with wireless connections to place orders and transact business over the Web. This involves buying, selling, investing and lending. M-commerce compasses transactions between business to business, businesses to consumers and government to business ().

2.2.1 Sectors in M-Commerce
M-commerce revolves around several sectors, the first is security. This is the securing of internet networks. It involves identification and authentication of parties involved in network based purchases and payments. This is facilitated by network security conglomerates, encryption tool providers and certificate authorities. Clients are able to protect their systems through the use of passwords, firewalls, proxy servers and link encryptions ().

M-commerce also has the electronic payment sector. This is the initiating, transporting, processing and analyzing electronic payments. Payments are done through card payment processors and payment support providers. In Europe and Asia, mobile operators add up small payments and present them on a single bill such as a mobile telephone bill. This reduces the costs and inconvenience of making numerous small payments ().

M-commerce operates through financial services software. These are software and services designed to give consumers and businesses on-line access to their financial accounts and information. Sub-sectors include consumer software, business software and middleware.

M-commerce has another sector called the business commerce software. This software enables businesses link their internal payments, remittance, order and inventory systems to the internet. This makes it possible for both customers and businesses to get real time information on quantity of goods available for buying and selling from any location. The result is efficient transactions and well informed business decisions.

M-commerce has a last section known as the commerce content. This comprises of the companies that are actually conducting retail and wholesale commerce over the internet. It includes shopping, financial services and industrial purchasing.

All these sectors have to function simultaneously for m-commerce to operate successfully. M-commerce then becomes a paperless processing ability in integrating directly into a company’s computer systems with emphasis on technology. This promises substantial savings on both businesses and consumers.

With improved logistics, this includes faster transportation, deregulation of airline, trucking and railroad transportation industries, m-commerce becomes feasible. Transactions are securely done online, while logistic partners and outsourcings make sure that products and services reach the consumers fast and safely. This reduces transaction time and costs.

2.2.2 M-Commerce Services and Applications
M-Commerce applications have taken off for services that are time critical, that appeal to people on the move, or that accomplish a task more efficiently than other methods. They are especially popular in Europe, Japan, South Korea, and other countries where fees for conventional internet usage are very expensive. Here are some examples:
1. Content and Location-Based Services: Subscribers to NTT DoCoMo wireless services in Japan can access wireless websites to check train schedules, obtain movie listings, browse restaurant guides, purchase tickets on Japan Airlines, trade stocks, view new cartoons and read Japan’s largest daily news paper. GO2 Mobile Directory users can search for local businesses, movie shows and restaurants, obtain driving directions, check local weather forecasts and find detailed information about hotels airlines and car rental agencies.
2. Banking and Financial Services: Citibank Offers wireless alerts about changes in account information on digital cell phones that support text messaging or web access. Customers of Bank Asia in Bangladesh can use their mobile phones to check balances, transfer funds between accounts and pay bills from their accounts.
3. Games and Entertainment: Cell phones are quickly turning into portable entertainment platforms. Mobile phone services offer downloadable digital games and ring tones. Some hand set models combine the features of a cell phone and a portable music player. Users of broadband services from the major wireless companies can download on demand movie clips, news clips and weather reports. Mobi TV, offered by Sprint and Cellular Wireless, features live TV programs, including MSNBC and FOX sports. Film companies are starting to produce short films explicitly designed to play on mobile phones.
4. Accessing Information from the wireless web: Although cell phones, PDAs and other hand held devices are able to access the web at anytime and from anywhere, the amount of information that they can handle at one time is very limited. Until broadband services come into wide spread use, these devices will not be able to transmit are receive large amounts of data. The information must fit onto small screens.

Some websites have been specifically designed for m-commerce. They feature web pages with very few graphics and just enough information to fit on a small mobile handheld screen. Special wireless portals (also known as mobile portals) feature content and services optimized for mobile devices to steer users to the information they are most likely to need. For example, the MSN mobile portal provides access to news from MSNBC, sports from ESPN, movie times, local traffic reports, restaurant listings, yellow pages and stock market reports, as well as capabilities for managing email messages and instant messaging.

2.3 Critical Review
2.3.1 Mobile Commerce Potential
Although m-commerce represents a small fraction of total e-commerce transactions, revenue has been steadily growing as seen in figure 2.1. In 2006, there were an estimated 175 million cell phone users in the United States and over 2 billion wireless and mobile subscribers worldwide.

Figure 2.1: Totals of 2006-2010 are estimated. (Source Jupiter Research 2006)

2.3.2 Metcalfe’s Law and Network Economics
Robert Metcalf, inventor of Ethernet LAN technology, claimed in 1970 that the value or power of network grows exponentially as a function of the number of network members. Metcalf and others point to the increasing returns to scale that network members receive as more and more people join the network. As the number of members in a network grows linearly, the value of the entire system grows exponentially and continues to grow forever as members increase. Demand for information technology has been driven by social and business value of digital networks, which rapidly multiply the number of actual and potential links among network member. This theory shows how valuable m-commerce really is by the explosion of cell phones and other mobile devices already in use.

2.3.3 Declining Communication Costs and the Internet
Another technology driver transforming IT infrastructure is the rapid decline in the costs of communication and the exponential growth in the size of the internet. An estimated 1.1 billion people worldwide now have internet access, with over 250 million web host computers in the United States. Figure 2.2 illustrates the exponentially declining costs of communication both over the internet and as communication costs fall toward a very small number and approach 0, utilization of communication and computing facilities explodes. To take advantage of the business value associated with the internet, firms must greatly expand their internet connections including wireless connectivity, and greatly expand the power of their client server networks, desktop clients and mobile computing devices. There is every reason to believe these trends will continue.

Figure 2.2: One reason for the growth in the internet population is the rapid decline in internet connection and overall communication costs. The cost per kilobit has fallen exponentially since 1995. Digital subscriber line (DSL) and cable modems now deliver a kilobit of communication for a retail price less than 2 cents.

2.3.4 The need for a mobile data strategy
To make the right decisions that avoid the pitfalls en route to conducting m-commerce successfully, companies must build a comprehensive mobile data strategy before they do anything else. This involves incorporating mobile Internet technology into your organisation and existing network.

Not only must you consider the technologies that are available today, namely WAP and SMS applications running over GSM networks, but also those that are on their way, such as GPRS. This is of course particularly important for any organisation that already has an e-business strategy in place since m-business is a natural extension of this.

The biggest risk of all, however, is believing that m-business opportunities are two to three years away. M-business is here today and growing at a tremendous rate. The message seems to be hitting home with larger companies - in a recent survey Peramon conducted, 69% of decision makers from some of the UK 's largest organisations said they planned to have such a strategy in place by the end of 2001

The key to employing m-commerce practices successfully is to start early with the technology that you have already got - most GSM phones are equipped with text message facilities.

Did you know that in the UK alone over 3.5 billion text messages were sent just in the first four months of this year? SMS is the entry point for m-business and SMS alerts are ideal to notify people of incoming urgent e-mails or changes to meeting schedules.

Fundamentally, you need to change the way your business views mobile Internet technology and your business processes need to reflect this. In this respect, it is no different to e-business and DELL is a shining example of a company that made the corporate mindset shift and look where it is today!

2.3.5 The technology that 'makes it happen '
Making sure the m-business model works from a technology perspective represents a very real danger of burning cash on a regular basis. You need the right access devices and you need the necessary 'mobile middleware ' to get your existing software applications to 'talk to ' them.

'Device chaos ' through hardware interoperability and a lack of standards for mobile data transfer means supporting multiple mobile phones, laptops and PDA devices can become almost impossible. However, if the middleware is smart enough, you can achieve this for all your WAP and SMS applications, without fuss and without needing to update it when newer devices become available.

Security is another key ingredient to facilitating m-commerce successfully. Remember that no matter how secure your corporate network, when you 're sending data to wireless devices, you are vulnerable to attack. Check that the mobile Internet infrastructure you put in place addresses this as part of its standard offering and that there are not any hidden costs.

2.3.6 M-Commerce Challenges
The number of WIFI hotspots for wireless internet access has been mushrooming in many countries because the technology combines high speed internet with a measure of flexibility and mobility. Rollout of m-commerce services, however, has proved more problematic. Keyboards and screens on cell phones are still tiny and awkward to use. The data transfer speeds on second-generation cellular networks are very slow compared to dial-up and high speed internet connections for PCs. Each second waiting for data to download costs the customer money. Most internet-enabled phones have limited memory and power supplies. M-commerce will benefit from 3G networks and other cellular broadband services and from standardized mobile payment systems.

CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
5.1 Sampling Frame
The population of the study was the remote customers ( customers with businesses outside Kisumu city) that Easy Logistics obtained before and after they adopted m-commerce. The population was the number of customers in the months of January till June 2008. The company did not use m-commerce from January to March but implemented it from April onwards. This was to establish the impact of m-commerce in facilitating transactions from remote areas. The listing of customers was obtained from the customer records kept by Easy Logistics. The sample size was 600.
5.2 Sampling Technique
The simple random sampling method was used to choose the sample. This was suitable since all the members of the target population were known. This method also ensures that each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected for the sample. The main advantage of this method is that it reduces biasness in choosing the sample and it is time conscious. It was also cheap to implement. The population size was 600 out of which 10% were chosen for sampling. Sixty businesses were therefore randomly selected for interviews.
5.3 Method of Primary Data Collection
Primary data collection was done through personal and telephone interviews with the help of questionnaires.
1. Telephone Interviews
This method was used because the sample comprised of businesses that had telephone numbers already listed. It was also cheaper to call the business rather than traveling to its location. The main disadvantage of this method was that some clients claimed they were not available or lacked the time for an interview, some insisted they needed the lines clear for customers.
2. Personal Interviews
This method was used for those clients that could not be reached by phone. The researcher traveled to their locations to hold face to face interviews. It was expensive due to transportation costs. It was also time consuming because interviews have to be scheduled to the clients’ convenience. However it produced the best results because the interviewer could sense if the questions were not understood. There was also uniformity, only one person did all the interviews.
3. Questionnaires
One Questionnaire was used as a guide for all the interviews to make sure that all the clients answered the same questions. The questionnaire was also pre-tested before administration. The questionnaire sought to establish the impact mobile commerce had on the clients. Questions were designed to help the researcher know if m-commerce was feasible and convenient. The aim was to establish if the businesses in remote areas would have been able to do business with easy logistics without m-commerce.

5.4 Sources of Secondary Data
Internal secondary sources from Easy Logistics were used for this study. The information needed comprised of:
1 Number of customers using m-commerce
2 The phone numbers and physical addresses of the population
3 Record management costs
4 Number of customer complaints due to double billing and miss-shipments
5 Costs of transaction rectifications due to company errors
6 Average time taken to complete transactions
This information was obtained from financial and expenditure reports as well as customer records.

5.5 Data Analysis
After scoring the questionnaires the data was coded and data files prepared for computer analysis. The analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel package on Windows XP because it was readily available. The results were presented on pie charts and graphs for easy interpretation.

CHAPTER 4
DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
4.1 Data Analysis
From analyzing the secondary data the following was discovered
Table 4.1: Growth of remote customers.
Month Number of Remote Customers
JAN 60
FEB 40
MAR 58
APR 100
MAY 150
JUN 192
TOTAL 600
% INCREASE 260

The above table shows that remote customers increased steadily during the months of April through June. Note that m-commerce was implemented from April onward.

Figure 4.1: Impact of m-commerce on customer growth (M-commerce was implemented in the month of April onward) Table 4.2: Effect of m-commerce on record keeping and management costs
Month Record Keeping & Management costs in Kshs
JAN 150,800.00
FEB 87,900.00
MAR 90,000.00
APR 1,009,000.00
MAY 10,800.00
JUN 6,500.00
% decrease 95.69

The above table shows that after m-commerce was implemented, the cost of record keeping and management decreased by 95.69%

Figure 4.2: Record Keeping and Management costs before and after m-commerce implementation. (M-commerce was implemented in April)

We see a spike in costs in April when m-commerce was implemented, but then a sharp fall in costs after the implementation in May and June.

Table 4.3: Effect of m-commerce on billing errors
MONTH NUMBER OF BILLING ERRORS
JAN 50
FEB 70
MAR 30
APR 5
MAY 0
JUN 0

After m-commerce was implemented in April, the amount of billing errors reduced to zero.

Figure 4.3: Comparison on amount of billing errors before and after implementing m-commerce in April

This shows that billing errors were high and irregular before the implementation of m-commerce in April, but they fell to zero in May and June after the implementation of m-commerce.

Table 4.4: Money lost through employee error or theft
MONTH LOST MONEY IN KSHS
JAN 50,609.00
FEB 35,876.00
MAR 39,877.00
APR 10,789.00
MAY 67.00
JUN 23.00

From the above table we see that more money was lost in January through March before the implementation of m-commerce.

Figure 4.4: Effect of m-commerce on money loss through error/theft

Before m-commerce was implemented there was uncontrollable loss of money, but after m-commerce implementation in April the money lost through errors or theft came to nil by the end of June.

Table 4.5 Average transaction times per month
MONTH AVERAGE TRANSACTION TIME (MINUTES)
JAN 180
FEB 240
MAR 200
APR 38
MAY 20
JUN 17

The above table shows how the time it took to complete transactions fell steadily after April when m-commerce was implemented

Figure 4.5: Effect of m-commerce on transaction time Transaction times in January through March were high and irregular, but steadily fell to minimal after April when m-commerce was implemented.

4.2 Findings
From the data analysis the following findings were observed.

4.2.1 Growth in remote customer
In the months of January through March, before m-commerce was implemented, we find that there was no growth in numbers of remote customers as seen in table 4.1. The number of remote customers was very low and the company even lost some customers in February (see figure4.1). When m-commerce was implemented in April, there was an influx of remote customers with numbers steadily growing to 260 percent by June, if this trend continues; the company will meet the study’s objective of increasing its remote customers by 300% in a year.

4.2.2 Record Keeping and Management Costs
The company experienced high record keeping and management costs with amounts fluctuating between 150,000 and 90,000 Kenyan shillings in the months of January through March as observed in table 4.2. However, in the month of April when m-commerce was implemented we see a spike in costs to over one million Kenyan shillings as seen in figure 4.2. After the implementation the costs drastically drop by 95% by June. This meets the study’s objective of reducing record keeping and management costs by 90% in one year.

4.2.3 Billing Errors
Table 4.3 shows as that the company was experiencing numerous billing errors in the months of January through March before the implementation of mobile commerce. After m-commerce was implemented in April there was a steep drop in billing errors as shown in figure 4.3. Billing errors were eliminated by May meeting the study’s objective of eradicating billing errors within a year.

4.2.4 Money lost through employee errors or theft
In three months Easy Logistics had lost over 120,000 Kenyan shillings through employee theft or errors, this happened in the months of January through March before the implementation of m-commerce (see table 4.4). In April when m-commerce took effect, money lost fell to less than 11,000 Kenyan shillings and dropped even further to 23 Kenyan shillings in June as seen in figure 4.4. With this trend, the company will meet the study’s objective of eliminating loss of cash payments through employee theft within a year.

4.2.5 Average Monthly Transaction Times
When it came to transactions, we find that in the months of January through March, transactions took over three hours to process, as recorded in table 4.5. This changed after the implementation of m-commerce in the months of April through June, bringing down transaction times to seventeen minutes by June, as shown in figure 4.5. This will lead to the study’s objective of reducing transaction times to fifteen minutes or less within a year.

CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Mobile Commerce as a Business Solution for Easy Logistics
Mobile commerce will help Easy Logistics achieve its objectives by attracting more customers from remote locations. From the findings we see the company increasing its customers by 260 percent after introducing m-commerce. This is because the customers find it easy to order products and make payments over the phone, saving them the aggravation and inconvenience of traveling to the company location and making cash payments.
To increase profits, expenditure has to be decreased. Mobile commerce enables Easy Logistics to reduce its record keeping and management costs bringing down expenditure. Most of the costs came from employees charged with managing records. Easy logistics used a lot of manpower to make transaction entries, monitor inventories, filing of documents, following up on invoices and credit notes. With mobile commerce, all these tasks were updated automatically through computer networks and operational software. When customers made purchases using cell phones, their accounts were updated in real time. However the implementation of the system requires large sums of capital as seen in figure 4.2. This is because new software and computer networks have to be installed and implemented to integrate the operation systems. Inventory systems have to be linked to customer orders, shipping and receiving so that real time updates on outbound and inbound goods are done. This enables the company to monitor its inventory efficiently.
M-commerce has also eliminated billing errors, because transactions are done over the internet, so the customer accounts are updated online. This removes the aspect of human error created when employees make data entries when filling in customer orders. Since money is transferred online, there is no physical exchange of money, so theft has been eliminated as seen figure 4.4. This has therefore boosted the company’s profit margins.
Lastly, transaction times have been greatly reduced, coming from three hours to under fifteen minutes. This has attracted more customers to the company because the high speed of conducting business has lead to more time and better conveniences for doing businesses. Easy logistics has also benefited from shorter transaction times because this has enabled them to serve a greater number of customers at a time.
5.2 RECOMENDATIONS
There are several recommendations needed to ensure that Easy Logistics can fully realize the advantages of m-commerce in conducting its businesses.
5.2.1 System Integration
Easy commerce must make sure that their systems are perfectly linked. Inventory systems should be linked to operation systems and customer accounts. This makes the process of filling customer orders easier. When customers make orders, using their cell phones or any mobile device, their accounts should be updated immediately. Inventory systems should recognize these orders and make the necessary adjustments to the inventory by releasing the goods ordered. These in turn should be linked to the executive systems that will allow managers make decisions based on product demand.
5.2.2 Establish Business Partners
The company should also get partnerships with banks that support m-commerce so that money transfers online can proceed without any hiccups. Bank guarantees are necessary to make sure that money transfers are monitored and secure. Easy Logistics should also get into partnerships with trucking companies and courier services to ensure that the goods ordered are delivered timely and securely to boost customer confidence.
5.2.3. Have a Mobile-Commerce Strategy
A clear cut strategy must be in place on how to use and implement m-commerce to guide individual workers on how to operate. The company should know what internet providers are suitable for their operations and the type of money transfer services they will employ or offer to their customers. The company should constantly evaluate its strategy by getting feedback from their customers to make improvements.
5.2.4 Employee Training
When implementing a new system training of employees is essential to ensure the smooth operation of the new system. Employee training will also reduce resistance to change because workers will know what to expect. The company should run a simulation of the system (parallel to their current system) to ensure that it functions adequately and understood by its employees before fully implemented.

5.2.5 Maintenance
The company should establish a Information Technology department to ensure a constant maintenance of the system. This will avoid system failures that can bring the entire company to its knees. The IT department will ensure that they do away with any bugs in the system to ensure efficiency in operations. Their should also be complete system shutdown for a complete systems check at least every year conducted by a reputable IT company to ensure that the systems function perfectly.

5.3 Impact on the Community
Mobile commerce is a very big boost to the community economy especially in the remote areas in Kenya. With the introduction of these services the startup costs of businesses have been reduced. Business people do not have to travel long distances to make purchases, but accomplish this by purchasing online using their cell phones. This has made it more convenient in doing business in remote areas. With real time transactions and fast deliveries, the business can order only what they need and do not have to stock up, reducing storage costs.
By enabling communities conduct businesses easier and at lower costs, more businesses have been able to flourish which increases employment and reduces poverty.
Mobile commerce has also been able to increase security since transactions are done online. People do not have to travel long distances with large amounts of cash to make purchases. Goods are also more secure because they are delivered by the company offering these services, since m-commerce and delivery go hand in hand. This makes it cheaper for businesses because transportation costs are greatly reduced. This is because the supply company ship goods cheaper due to economies of scale. With reduce costs come higher profits.

REFERENCES

APPENDIX1: QUETIONNAIRE FOR EASY LOGISTICS
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR MOBILE COMMERCE PROJECT JANUARY 2008

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References: APPENDIX1: QUETIONNAIRE FOR EASY LOGISTICS INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR MOBILE COMMERCE PROJECT JANUARY 2008 1