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Exploring the Use of Global Positioning System (GPS) for Identifying Customer Location in M-Commerce Adoption in Developing Countries

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Information and Communication Technology for Development for Africa (ICT4DA 2017)

Abstract

M-commerce in Kenya has seen tremendous growth over the last few years due to the availability of mobile payments, mobile internet access, and expansion of mobile banking systems. A critical factor to the success of m-commerce is timely delivery of purchased items to the customers’ premises. Timely delivery is highly dependent on the courier’s ability to locate the buyer’s physical location. To do this, the courier requires a reliable physical addressing system. However, like most developing countries, Kenya lacks a National Addressing System to provide properly registered physical identity of buildings, streets, and roads. The study explored the use of GPS in identifying customer’s location as an alternative to named physical addresses. This paper describes the study design and discusses the findings concerning the use of GPS tracking application among six retailers and thirty customers. The study reveals that geolocation can substitute physical addresses in m-commerce home deliveries.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. United States International University-Africa, Nairobi, Kenya

    Patrick Kanyi Wamuyu

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  1. Patrick Kanyi Wamuyu
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Correspondence to Patrick Kanyi Wamuyu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, South Africa

    Fisseha Mekuria

  2. Information Technology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Ethiopia Enideg Nigussie

  3. Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany

    Waltenegus Dargie

  4. Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland

    Mutafugwa Edward

  5. Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

    Tesfa Tegegne

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© 2018 ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering

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Wamuyu, P.K. (2018). Exploring the Use of Global Positioning System (GPS) for Identifying Customer Location in M-Commerce Adoption in Developing Countries. In: Mekuria, F., Nigussie, E., Dargie, W., Edward, M., Tegegne, T. (eds) Information and Communication Technology for Development for Africa. ICT4DA 2017. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 244. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95153-9_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95153-9_10

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-95152-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-95153-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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