The Internet has introduced a significant wave of change. Our communication patterns have changed. We have become dependent on email. We interact with firms via Web sites. The next wave—introduced through wireless technology—is about to change our lives even more. The increase in transmission capacity of wireless devices lays the foundation for communication unrestricted by physical locations. We can surf the Internet decoupled from landline computers. In addition, we can do it any time, blurring the borderlines of business and private space. In the future, we will experience another wave of change—a world that provides the ultimate form of ubiquitous networks and universal devices, a world that presents an alternative view of space and time (Miller, 2002, Watson, et al., 2002). Likewise, we will experience another form of commerce—a form that goes over, above, and beyond traditional commerce, i.e., "ultimate commerce" or simply "u-commerce."
Thus, we define u-commerce as "the use of ubiquitous networks to support personalized and uninterrupted communications and transactions between a firm and its various stakeholders to provide a level of value over, above, and beyond traditional commerce" (Watson, et al., 2002).
Four constructs form the fundamental dimensions of u-commerce: ubiquity, uniqueness, universality, and unison. Ubiquity allows users to access networks from anywhere at any time, and in turn, to be reachable at any place and any time. Uniqueness allows users to be uniquely identified—not only in terms of their identity and associated preferences, but also in terms of their geographical position. Universality means mobile devices are universally usable and multi-functional. Currently, for instance, U.S. cell phones are unlikely to work in Europe because of different standards and network frequencies, and vice versa. Unison covers the idea of integrated data across multiple applications so that users have a consistent view on the their information-irrespective of the device used.
Galanxhi-Janaqi, H. and F. Nah (2004). "U-Commerce: Emerging Trends and Research Issues." Industrial Management and Data Systems, 104(9): 744-755.
Junglas, I. A. (2003). "U-Commerce: An Experimental Investigation of Ubiquity and Uniqueness." Doctoral Dissertation, University of Georgia.
Junglas, I. A. and R. T. Watson (2003). "U-Commerce: A Conceptual Extension of E- and M-Commerce." International Conference on Information Systems, Dec 14-17th, Seattle, WA.
Watson, R. T., Pitt, L. F., Berthon, P. and G. M. Zinkhan (2002). "U-Commerce: Extending the Universe of Marketing." Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 30(4): 329-343.
Miller, A. I. (2002). Einstein, Picasso: Space, Time, And the Beauty That Causes Havoc. New York, Basic Books.
Watson, R. T. (2000). U-Commerce: The Ultimate.
Lyytinen, K. and Y. Yoo (2002). "The Next Wave of Nomadic Computing: A Research Agenda for Information Systems Research." Information Systems Research, 13(4): 377-388.
Dahlbom B. and F. Ljungberg (1998). "Mobile Informatics." Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems, 10(1,2): 227-234.
Weiser, M. (1991). The Computer for the 21st Century. Scientific American.
Workshop on Ubiquitous Computing Environment, October 24-26, 2003, Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
Designing Ubiquitous Information Environments, August 1-3rd, 2005, Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
The u-commerce lab at the University of Georgia is a laboratory environment that is able to provide all four u's at once: ubiquity, uniqueness, universality and unison. On a territory size of 80,525 square feet (= 7,481 square meters) and spanning two buildings, a seamless wireless cloud is established using WLAN technology (802.11b). Within this cloud, individuals not only are able to surf the Internet at transmission rates of up to 11 Mbps but they can also invoke location-based services. A location-based service is any kind of service that takes into account the physical location of a person. This includes geographic information about the individual himself (e.g., for navigational purposes), or about others (e.g., in order to search for people). Specific software was developed that—in contrast to commercially available software such as GPS—uses an existing wireless LAN infrastructure only. Free software copies and installation instructions (for non-commercial purposes only) are available here.
In summary, the u-commerce lab at the University of Georgia is the first test-bed worldwide where students can build u-commerce prototypes, experiment with new u-commerce devices, and investigate usage behavior of future u-commerce applications.