With smartphones and tablets being the most important channel to focus on if you want to take your business to the next level, establishing a mobile presence is more important now than ever and has provided an opportunity for businesses to create more meaningful interactions with their users. So if you have an e-commerce website and you are still thinking about having a mobile app, you must make no delays in taking the decision.
Now the million-dollar question is whether to launch a mobile website or an app to touch impressive heights in terms of popularity. While businesses with large wallets may afford to implement both a mobile website and a mobile app, other companies might have to choose one of them. The choice between mobile websites and mobile apps depends on their cost, usability, required features and their business-specific target audience.
Smartphones and tablets have completely changed the game for the e-commerce industry. Even the retail outlets are reaching out to more and more crowd who do their research using mobile before visiting or during shopping. Technologies like beacons are improving store shopping experience for users.
So, here are the reasons why business develops mobile apps to suit present digital lifestyle based on our experience as an ecommerce mobile app development company.
Data Collection and Deeper Analysis
In retail, insight is the new currency, and context is king. It’s quite a challenge to get an in-depth knowledge of personalized consumer demand, which requires authentic data. With a mobile app, data collection, understanding the frequency, preference and purpose of shopping; getting the overall behavior of buyers is extremely helpful for e-commerce companies to chalk out their business strategy in a measured way. This data helps them to take predictive marketing techniques to uplift the shopping experience of their buyers and drive sales, both in-store and out-of-store. Now it’s upto the business owners that how effectively they use the collected data and track the market to outline a data-driven business decision.
“71% of retailers are able to track and understand customer’s buying pattern using beacons.”
The wonders of Push Notifications
Push notification is a smart feature in smartphones that reminds users about upcoming discounts, offers or new product arrivals that e-commerce companies offer. Push notifications are much cheaper promotional channel in comparison with traditional SMS messaging service which excludes the maintenance of larger database of customer’s phone numbers. In addition, it is much effective than running an e-mail campaign as they are accessible by users at any given time. Since there is no spam folder for this feature, they are hard to ignore unless the users have turned the notifications off. This not only creates brand awareness but also helps to strengthen the bonding with the customers by providing a more personalized user experience in that particular mobile app category.
Secure Payment Options
According to a study, 52% of the time individuals spend on digital media is on mobile apps and 22.3% of all digital transactions were made via mobile devices in the first quarter of 2017 in USA.
With integrated payment solutions in mobile apps, One Touch Shopping is possible at anywhere and at anytime. This accelerates the buying process for the user and makes things easier for the app owners. If support functions are included within the apps, then it becomes a one-stop solution for sales as well as services. With all the major players in the mobile device industry having delivered their own version of the mobile wallet like Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay, it simplifies the payment method option even more so that users can go shopping without carrying credit cards and with the fear of losing it. Mobile wallets will exceed consumer expectations for convenience in 2017 with the use of NFC technology. So app developers should include strong data encryption in the upcoming mobile apps to strengthen the inbuilt security features of both iPhone and Android applications.
Virtual Reality E-Commerce
Virtual reality is the talk of the town even in the world of mobile app industry. This high-tech reality brings a revolutionary change in the way customers shop on their mobiles. This added feature integrates a look and feel effect to the app ensuring high levels of customer engagement. This feature will help customers to view their choice in a more detailed manner, see product demonstrations, and facilitates easier browsing, faster payment and checkout.
Enriched Usability
The primary focus of mobile app development is user experience. Mobile apps can create a lot of scopes for developers to design and execute and unique and powerful user experience in accordance with the device that users use. The downloaded apps should not take more than 3 seconds to load as this is the most important concern when people install the e-commerce apps. The navigation and app page loading should be quick and flexible. Apps also allow developers to tailor the experience for the device, which lets you go beyond the limitations of responsive web design and work perfectly with the user’s preferred platform (iOS, Android, etc.).
Loyalty Integration
Mobile apps can offer both mobile payments and rewards programs on a single channel. These offers and deals are very special as they attract users to feel more engaged with the brand and the users are more likely to buy those products eventually. Loyalty programs can work on a much deeper and personalized level, offering discounts not only based on past purchasing patterns, but also customer geography, location within stores, interests, and more. Some even use gamification to make it more interesting— turning the deals into a prize to be won.
Mobile Apps vs. Mobile Web
Research shows that 90% of time spent on mobile devices is spent within Apps, versus 10% spent on mobile browsers.
There have been countless debates about the demise of the mobile web at the hands of mobile apps. Who’s winning? No one can totally agree. Choosing the right tool for the job all depends on your business goals and your target market. While both channels have their own pros and cons, mobile apps, especially, can help you get higher conversions. Mobile apps offer greater personalization and operational efficiency, along with multiple exclusive features.
A quick feature comparison between Mobile Web and Mobile Apps:
| Mobile Websites | Mobile Apps |
|---|---|
| Instantly available but only online | Requires downloading but can be accessed through both online and offline mode (After Installing) |
| Compatible across devices | “Requires separate version for each type of device” |
| Can be updated instantly | Updates must be pushed to the users |
| Can be found easily in search results and directories | Visibility restricted to manufacturer’s app stores as well as location |
| Can be shared easily via URL | Apps cannot be shared the same way |
| Has no push notifications | Can send messages to subscribers |
| Can be slower to load | Native apps are faster than mobile sites |
| Easy to set up – only require domain and hosting | Have to be submitted to App stores, may still require hosting |
| Generally cheaper to develop | Many hidden costs when developing an app |
| Has limited access to device hardware such as GPS | Can integrate smartphone features such as camera, accelerometer etc |
| Less interactive shopping experience, more information based platform | More personalized and interactive shopping experience |
| Limited as to the amount of a device’s native features | Additional native features available for apps |
Conclusion
To sign off, we really believe that Mobile Commerce has started gaining more importance than ever and it would only be wise for retail companies to ride this wave.
Our team of experts can help you deploy a blockbuster app for your own online retail store to boost shopping experience.