Przemysław Pala
Andrzej Puczyk
Cut Chargebacks with GenAI
An E-Commerce application is a channel, which widens your area of influence and gives you brand new customers. Smaller retailers may find it difficult to afford to build such an application, but it turns out there are solutions for them too. Not all of the applications must be built by reputable and costly providers on the market.
Ecommerce mobile app from scratch
The process of creating an ecommerce app can vary due to the desired timeline, scale of the business, individual needs, or the choice of the technological stack. Although such a process has some common stages, which are always quite the same. To make it more tangible let us present it in bullets:
- Business Strategy
- Analysis and Planning
- UX / UI Design
- App Development
- Testing
- Deployment & Support
No matter the level of sophistication, the scale of anticipated customers, or several unique features, an ecommerce mobile application must be built based on the above-mentioned elements, which are the very core of the whole process. Once you know the stages it is unavoidable not to create a list of some main development aspects, which will help you to precisely prepare the plan.
Main aspects of mobile app development in eCommerce
Despite the above-mentioned stages, which constitute the base of creating mobile apps in general, it is vital to mention the main principles, which ecommerce managers should implement and think over to deliver a solid e-commerce mobile application at the very beginning of the project:
- You should learn from mobile websites versions to create a solid mobile application as a result.
- Take care of the implementation of brand new solutions (such as loyalty programs, voice searches, or shop’n’go options) in e-commerce so that your app will be desired and convenient to use
- Use push notifications as a channel to reach out to your customers and stay in touch with them
- The user experience should refer to all the top-used apps. If you want to have a reliable app, you should pay attention to those who did it best on the market (e.g. Facebook, Google, or Uber)
- Be sure that you have an experienced problem-solving team whenever your users will encounter any issues with the app
- Offer discounts, special actions, etc. to attract both: current and potential customers
These aspects are a compressed list of things to take care of when starting a project of building an ecommerce mobile app. That’s of course not everything. Having presented the main stages and the preparation elements to consider at the beginning of the project, it is the customers who should count the most. They propel your business and are the recipients of the mobile application. Now Let’s go deeper and discuss the features which are crucial to staying in real contact with the customers.
Features power in ecommerce mobile apps
Undoubtedly, features inside the application are the main tool to interact with the customer and give you a way to stay connected with them. It is not possible to present all of them since they can vary a lot between different mobile applications, but we will try to deliver those who matter most in our expert opinion. Here are some functionalities that could become a strong development to your mobile app:
- Onboarding – One of the main steps of the whole setup. The narration of this panel should be very clear and easy to understand so as not to confuse the customers. It’s a considerable advantage to show the users how easy the sign-up stage is and to present all the functionalities in a way they will feel comfortable.
- Registration – It should be as fast as possible with user-friendly stages and a clear display. Registered users should simply have their accounts with their customizations, wish lists, and checkout options to make purchases.
- Social sharing – It gives retailers the ability to promote their products and this in result helps new customers to find your app.
- Easy and fast checkout – The worst thing an app can do is to require a complicated shopping process. No one wants to become confused during the payment stage. The idea is that this part should be transparent and clear for the users. The easier, the better.
- Ratings and reviews section – A space for comments and opinions can serve as a reliable source of feedback from your customers, so such a feature is very reasonable. Improving user experience is vital to maintain your customers and perform on the market with success.
- Synchronization – If you have both: a mobile app and a website, you should pay attention to synchronizing them. Customers should be able to switch between these two elements and be given up-to-date information. Another step is the omnichannel approach below.
- Omnichannel – Try to deliver as many possible channels for the customers as possible. The research shows that the more ways of shopping you give to the clients, the more loyal they become as a result.
- Searching by voice – This recent improvement in ecommerce mobile applications is foreseen as a significant enhancement. Customers can easily find their products simply by using their voice. It’s fast, convenient, and easy.
- Lists for favorite items – Having all favorite items or products in one place is a great base for further purchases. Once customers collect them by putting them into wish lists makes them able to quickly find what they need and buy what they truly desire.
- Personalized push notifications – The power of such notifications is without question huge. Your customers can be involved more in using your app thanks to updates, discount information and novelties alerts.
Mobile ecommerce as the new trend to follow
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that almost everyone today uses smartphones and tablets. It became convenient to shop online using our pocket devices used daily. Mobile applications, especially in eCommerce, happened to overpass websites years ago. Customers worldwide are accustomed to making purchases with as few clicks as possible.
Ecommerce mobile apps are the answer to their needs. Therefore, e-commerce managers should focus on creating apps that will be user-friendly, synchronized with their websites, and will hold many useful features to be a reliable solution for the users.
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