Scale Up Your Business With E-Commerce Mobile App Development

Long gone are the days when you have to step out to get all your needs met in a nearby shopping mall. Thanks, but no thanks, to the global pandemic 2020 which triggered steep surge in mobile commerce or mobile e-commerce. In other words, with the doom of outside world came the bloom of mobile commerce business. 

In 2022, the mobile e-commerce market sales figures touched $432 billion. 

M-commerce users are connected with the internet 24/7 to search and satisfy their queries. Be it a pair of shoes or a brand new VR tool, medicines or a latest car, e-commerce has made the options available in abundance and the purchase merely a click away.

What is an E-commerce App or E-commerce Mobile App?

An e-commerce mobile app or simply, e-commerce app, is a software that permits the users to browse, research and purchase goods and services online. You can buy anything – books, movie tickets, groceries, medicines, house, car, clothes – depending upon your need and budget.

An e-commerce mobile app is not a luxury anymore. It’s a necessity for any business looking to have the growth curve going up. With an app, your business is losing out on multiple fronts.

In this post, let’s discuss the facets of e-commerce mobile app development, how much e-commerce mobile app develops costs and other aspects.

List of Features for E-commerce Mobile App to Choose From

Here is a comprehensive list of features that can work in your favor while developing an e-commerce app for your business:

• Authorization
• Convenient log-in
• User profile
• Shopping cart
• Tracking delivery
• Customer favorites
• Memberships and subscriptions 
• Loyalty programs
• Integration with online store 
• Order and cancellation system
• Search and browse
• Offline functionality
• Multiple payment methods
• Filter
• Quick checkout process
• Customer support
• Social media linking 
• Native app UX
• Design, branding and theme options

Top 10 Reasons Why Your Business Must Have an E-commerce Mobile App

There are already 4 billion active smartphones worldwide. In other words, people are committing themselves to online shopping with just one click. If you’re a business owner with an e-commerce app already in your pocket, then you already are reaping the benefits of reaching out to such a vast pool of potential customers while retaining the existing ones. 

Any business which is looking out for new customers as well as wants to get the growth curve up and going, here are the top 10 reasons on why your business must have an e-commerce mobile app:

Speed plus greater revenue

E-commerce apps use mobile storage to store their data as opposed to mobile websites. This makes the page-loading time faster. In the world of app development and consumer-experience, faster loading time converts to higher conversion rate.

Better reach

For a website, people have to commit to browsers. For apps, people only have to tap and bam opens the dam of your business products and services at their expense.

With properly configured mobile e-commerce apps, you can have higher reach to the customers’ SERPs. Fast page-loading factor enhances the chances of your app to rank high on search engines. It also ensures that they complete their purchase.

Customer retention

A user-friendly e-commerce mobile app helps you retain existing customers. With pleasing aesthetics, a list of properly managed product categories, easy payment gateway etc. are a few factors that summon that customers to come back to the app again and again.

Luring new customers

As per Diebold’s research, 40% of customers get down to finish their purchase if the experience is mobile friendly. It may also provoke them to come back to the app later because they remember the previous experience.

Greater ROI

Retail giants such as Walmart and Amazon have proved the point. With a friendly e-commerce mobile app, you promise your business greater return on investment which multiplies growth in revenue.

High in demand

One of the reasons that e-commerce mobile apps are high in demand is because they allow the user anytime-anywhere-access with new products availability, product research, compare charts, product reviews, special offers and more before making a purchase just a tap away. They do not have to go to the local market to conduct R&D to get what they need. With an app, they are offered a pool of variety on their choices in their pockets.

Ease of access

Mobile apps work on the human psyche. When you pay directly from your hands, you feel the outgoing of your hard-earned cash. But here is the twist – when you don’t see the money in hand, you are more likely to purchase more and more frequently.

Mobile e-commerce apps have intensified the rate of impulse purchasing. The fact that online stores are open 24/7 with an endless number of products and services in hand, people tend to access more and hence, buy more!

Start-up advancement

Here are a few benefits if you are thinking of availing e-commerce mobile app development as one of your business success strategies - Bigger and diverse audience, increased sales and product advertisement on larger scale. The cherry on top is that having a smooth user-friendly app begets customer loyalty, a huge factor in attracting and retaining customers.

Data obtaining

Mobile e-commerce apps support the businesses with offering insights on their customers’ behavioral patterns based on their purchase habits and history. Even if the customer has declined the purchase right after adding an item in the cart, these apps can still indicate the interest (or disinterest) quotient. These app insights are valuable in understanding what your business needs so that the items left in the cart gets purchased right away.

Push notifications

This festive season, buy your favorite shoes at an amazing 10% discount!

Ever received offers from your favorite app? This is known as push notification.

Push notifications are one of the best ways to sell products and services. They can be combined with promo codes, latest updates in the market, personally curated emails and offers etc.

3 Things to Consider Before Opting for an E-commerce Mobile App Development

Everything comes with limitations. Apps are no different, but with careful planning and clear vision, you can get a high-performing mobile app for your business. Here are 3 important things to consider before commencing e-commerce mobile app development: 

1. Platform
2. Data Security
3. Scalability with stability

Platform

The debate is between Android and iOS. Which is the better platform that assures best results? Some statistics might help.

The application type can also help you in selecting the platform:

• Native app – Specific to one platform

• Web-based app – Needs internet connection with HTTP
• Cross-platform app – Combination of Native and web-based apps, placing the web-based app into the Native app.

Data security 

The first step a user takes before making a purchase is to offer personal and sensitive information like name, address, credit/debit card details etc. Logging in also enhances the user experience even if they are not looking to buy anything.

Though it is not possible to get a security system that works 100% in place, yet you can take a few measures to keep your app secure and customers happy:

• Assigning a private cloud – Storing your customer’s details in a cloud requires a personal cloud in place. Ask the developer to integrate this specific feature for a better security system.

• Set rules of access – For example, logging into a website provides some additional services and features. With more such regimes in place, you can assure the customer of a robust security system.
• Alarm system – Hackers and mal-practitioners are everywhere; looking through a loophole to find a crack in the apps’ security system. Asking the developer to equip your e-commerce mobile app with an alarm system can alert you whenever a threat has taken birth.

Scalability with stability

Let’s get this point with a perfect example – Amazon

Amazon sells about 12 million products. It ships 1.6 million packages in a day meaning 66 thousand orders per hour and 18.5 orders per second.

If the app was not scalable to meet customers’ ever-growing demand, it would have crashed long ago. This pretty much explains why your e-commerce mobile app must be scalable to be stable no matter the number of purchases made every day. To test the scalability, try running QA tests, come up with multiple iterations, retrieve customers’ feedback and release regular updates. 

Types of E-commerce Mobile App 

Depending upon the type of transactions, e-commerce business models are divided in 4 categories

• B2B
• B2C
• C2C
• C2B

Business-to-Business (B2B)

Examples: Alibaba. Amazon. Quill.

B2B business model transactions happen between one business to another business. For example, a manufacturer sells his goods/services to the wholesaler which then sells it to the retailers. In this case, manufacturer and the wholesaler are engaging in B2B business model

Business-to-Customer (B2C)

Examples: Amazon. Dominos.

As the name clears itself, this business model handles the online transactions between the business and customers. In the above example, the retailer is complying with B2C business model as he is purchasing from the wholesaler and selling goods online.

Customer-to-Customer (C2C)

Examples: OLX. eBay.

In simple words, this is mobile e-commerce.

In this business model, the online transactions happen between customer to customer with the use of the internet.

Customer-to-Business (C2B)

Examples: Clutch. GitHub. UpWork. Fiverr.

This business model is not that common in knowledge but it is highly profitable for its end users. For example, if you have a service to offer on UpWork or Fiverr, you can lure the businesses to employ your skills and services.

8 Steps to Create an E-commerce Mobile App for Your Business

1. Research
2. Build a business plan
3. Right platform selection
4. Decide the set of features 
5. Create UI & UX design
6. Build MVP
7. Get feedback
8. Test and launch

Research

Conducting thorough research before deciding e-commerce mobile app development cost is the first and most important step. Try to answer below questions:

• Who is my target audience?
• What am I selling?
• What are my goals and objectives?
• Have I done the analysis of the market?
• Who are my competitors? Where and why do they excel?
• What features do I need for my app?
• Which problems should my app target?
• How to test its success rate when launched?

Build a business plan 

Any business idea is a seed which prospers and blooms into a functional enterprise with proper planning. 

When you are developing the e-commerce mobile app, who is the target audience at this point? You. 

Work on the knowledge, resource pool and the blueprint of business structure. It is a time-consuming process; asks for a lot of effort and dedication, but at the same time, it also ensures you to have the best business plan.

Right platform selection

We gave you an idea of the two platforms earlier in this post – Android and iOS – and stats to ease your selection dilemma. Development and inventory costs also help you in deciding which CMS, database and framework to choose. 

To aid you further, when choosing Android, think of programming language (Java/Kotlin), app development tools, UI framework and Android UI. When choosing iOS, consider the programming language (Objective-C or Swift), iOS mobile development tools, and UI frameworks. 

For developing cross-platform app, React Native (JS), Flutter (Dart) and Xamarin (C#) are the programming tools at your disposal. 

This much information can pretty much cover you with the idea of which platform works – Android or iOS, or both. 

List of features 

Along with the list of features mentioned above, what else can help you on deciding the best features that work with your e-commerce mobile app are customers’ feedback, latest trends, expert opinions, and the drive to serve your target audience. 

Create UI & UX design

You do not want customers to just choose your app. You want to give them a solid reason to make it their preferred choice for making any future purchase. 

By delivering smooth UI and UX designs, you avail the benefits of color schemes, attractive visuals, fine details, and flawless navigation across the pages. These and more considerations drive the customer towards your app whenever he thinks of his next purchase.

Build MVP

MVP sprawls for Minimal Viable Product. MVP helps with: saving time on the development process, getting customers’ views on the product, reducing risks as well as assigning the resources effectively. 

Get feedback

Feedback is all about how customers interact with the app and how effectively it meets their requirements.

Collect as much feedback as possible. See what are the strong points along with the areas of improvement. e-commerce mobile app development is a forever going process. It is a journey that can come close to perfection with customers’ valuable feedback.

Keep evolving

Even the biggest players in the market are constantly looking for ways to improve and deliver higher customer satisfaction rates. You should too.

Once your app is ready and launched, keep finding ways to evolve it like embracing the latest technology or adding features that are suddenly in demand. 

Factors to Consider After E-commerce Mobile App Development

Your app has gone through the gruel process of development, test and launch. Now is the time to sit back and relax, right? No way. Now is the time you show better involvement if you dream of making your app an icon for success. 

Here are a few things to look after post-launch of your app. Think about them and take necessary actions on time and as per need:

• Focus on Search Engine Optimization i.e. SEO
• Continue employing rigorous marketing strategies
• Strategize content marketing because content is king everywhere
• Grab existing customers’ attention as well as new customers via effective email marketing
• Optimization the app for higher conversions
• Using analytics to gain insights on customers and their behavioral pattern

How Much E-commerce Mobile App Development Cost?

Now that we have covered all the aspects concerning thee-commerce mobile app and its development stages, let’s get down to actual numbers – the cost involved. 

The cost to develop ae-commerce mobile app depends upon the company as well as the location. Here is the estimation of hourly rate of app development in several countries:

Time Taken to Develop an E-commerce Mobile App 

It depends upon the project type as well as the complexity-level of the app. If going with a pre-made solution, then it can take up from a week to 3 months.

Top Platforms to Build Mobile E-commerce Without Any Coding

• Mobincube
• Appyourself
• IBuildApp
• Swiftic
• GoodBarber
• Appypie
• Shoutem
• BuildFire
• AppMachine
• Plobalapps 

Conclusion

With an e-commerce mobile app, you can reap multiple benefits. These days when the number of smartphone users are going up every year, such an app is a wise decision to stay connected with them while offering your products and services. Given that there are a few challenges and considerations during thee-commerce mobile app development process but there is nothing a skilled team of developers can’t solve.

FAQS

• Is it e-commerce or ecommerce?

Both carry the same meaning. When you search both the terms, SERPs show similar results. They detect the intention behind the query.

However, for a keyword-specific person, ‘e-commerce’ is the right choice. According to KWFinder, people search ‘e-commerce’ more than ‘ecommerce’.

• Are e-commerce mobile apps the same as social commerce apps?

No. Ae-commerce mobile app is distinctive than a social commerce app.

A social commerce app is a growing trend which allows the development of sales channels via social media like selling on Facebook or shopping on Instagram whereas ae-commerce mobile app is dedicated towards a specific brand.

• What are the other e-commerce mobile app types?

• Ticketing booking e-commerce app – These apps are used to book cabs, hotels, liv shows, games, events etc. The event details are shared on the app and based on the interest, people can book the tickets/passes. Goibibo and Momondo are two popular examples of ticket booking e-commerce apps.
• E-commerce aggregator app – Walmart Inc. and Etsy Inc. are great examples of these app type. Such apps provide the sellers a platform to sell their products and services.

• What are the latest mobile e-commerce trends?

Here are the trendsetters for mobile –ecommerce in 2023

• Chatbots 
• Voice assistants 
• Big Data 
• One-click purchase 
• AR and VR 
• Geofencing
• Wishlist 
• Omnichannel shopping experience
• Shopping personalization

• How long does it take to develop individual features while developing ae-commerce mobile app?

• How e-commerce mobile app benefits small businesses?

According to the research, 9 out of 10 people keep their phone with them all the time. 63% of them were using it to search and browse items, comparing them, and knowing about offers and such. 

An effective e-commerce mobile app needs proper investment. If as a small business-owner, you want to scale up and engage in the competition, you should think of employing a good team of e-commerce mobile app developers to meet your goals and objectives.

Read More: Ecommerce Mobile App Development | Complete Guide