We’re living in a time when everything from educational content to any kind of service is a few clicks or taps away. It is therefore not surprising that customers are not only searching for a great product or service but also the most convenient and quickest way to order it. Possible solution? Mobile e-commerce applications. They rely on a standard of immediacy, thus providing a superior customer experience and giving your customers all they need and when they need it.
With that said, let us dwell on the m-commerce mobile solutions and the benefits they entail for your retail business.
Why Create An E-commerce Mobile App For Your Brand
Retail applications usually complement brick and mortar stores, thus migrating all business transactions online. And since the digital transformation is gaining momentum, a growing number of users have joined the smartphone craze. Currently, around 8 percent of customers use retail applications every day, whereas 33% and 24% of the respondents use mcommerce solutions weekly and monthly respectively.
Due to this swell of demand, mcommerce apps have the potential to redefine customer behavior for good. And that’s why we’re here.
Top Benefits Of Mobile Apps For Retail
In a nutshell, mobile technologies turn over a new leaf in the history of the retail sector, and here’s why.
- Immersive and interactive shopping experience
When mulling over their buys, your potential customers need a detailed description of the items you’re offering. Interactive mobile applications and immersive technologies can provide excessive information and contribute to concise product descriptions. Consider implementing the following technologies to make the shopping experience more efficient and personalized:
- Video content. Video content has grown into a key marketing tool since it allows retailers to showcase their products with a creative twist and offer customers to look at the products in action.
- AR and VR functionality. The proliferation of immersive technologies drives an enhanced shopping experience while reducing operating business costs and fostering an engaging experience for shoppers.
- 3D effect. Opting for 3D helps reignite client spending since a virtual shopping interface with product categories demonstrated in 3D allows for a 360 panoramic view of the product. This way, customers are much more likely to shell out for the item.
- Effective business marketing
In the ever-evolving business world, it is essential to keep up with the competition and popularize your products in a favorable light. Mobile applications for e-commerce assist companies in promoting their business and help future-proof marketing strategies.
Also, m-commerce mobile solutions play an integral role in raising your brand awareness. That is if you decide to leverage other social media platforms. Therefore, you will win over a wider target audience with no significant marketing investments.
- Personalized services
Let’s face it: the competition is unprecedentedly high in the market of mobile software. Hence, it’s an uphill struggle to win over the hearts and minds of customers. However, a mobile application is what can help you boost customer loyalty and reach new audiences. Since e-commerce businesses are all about deals and special offers, mobile applications can deliver the latter right into the customers’ arms.
By implementing push notifications, you can update users on the latest deals and establish continuous interaction with your company.
- Data intelligence
The rapid spread of handheld device technologies also means that businesses now have more options than ever to perform data collection. A mobile solution is an indispensable tool when it comes to gathering and analyzing user`s data. All this translates into data-driven insights into consumer preferences and buying habits.
- Better and faster mobile pay
Today, mobile payments ride the wave of e-commerce. Usually, shoppers fill out their credit or debit card details into an online form during checkout. However, other methods like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and such are quickly growing in popularity thanks to greater speed and convenience. Advancements in technology like Touch ID also help customers authorize purchases with one fingerprint.
Must-have Features For M-commerce Applications
Like with any niche, mobile apps for e-commerce share their own specificities within the technical framework. Anyway, the common thing for all retail solutions is to deliver an experience that gets you more customers and boosted revenues at the same time. With that in mind, let’s have a look at the essential features every ecommerce app should have to stay au courant and competitive.
- Simple log-in and registration.
You won’t get a second chance to make a first impression and hook your customers. Lengthy registration forms that require an autobiography are a major turn-off to users. The whole process of registration to checkout should be hassle-free and quick like the one of Amazon. Options like social connect also save user information for future references and migrate the data from social media platforms.
- Uncluttered navigation
The mobile view differs from the web version. So it’s essential that your mobile application secures an easy and straightforward journey for your customers. Make sure that the navigation is simple and intuitive with no extra information that diverts the user’s attention. Each item should have a category, product description, and brand. All these will encourage your customers to make repeat purchases.
- Analytics
Apart from delivering value to buyers, the primary task of an m-commerce app is to raise money. That’s when analytics kicks in. Not only will it help you tap into user buying behavior but it will also make your app more profitable. A summary of behavioral data, including session time, click-through rate, or average time on screen, opens up never-fading revenue streams.
- CTA elements
Call-to-action (CTA) buttons are the buttons you use in your applications to enhance user experience and guide customers towards your goal conversion. Those elements serve as transitions between the steps of the shopper’s journey. Whether you want your customer to snap up bargains, visit your website, or take part in a survey, you must back up this action by a felicitous call to action in the sales funnel.
- Feedback system
Again, this is an example of the win-win functionality that goes in hand with an ecommerce mobile application. Therefore, you should provide your users with a feedback channel on your app, so that they can report any kind of issue in the system like bugs or leave a review about one of your products.
Feedback system also keeps you in the loop regarding app improvements to be made and the most demanded products in your store.
Leading E-commerce Mobile Applications
Although it’s not enough to just copy-paste your retail application, you can use your competitors’ solutions as an inspiration. With that said, here’s the hot index of m-commerce applications available on the market today.
Amazon
No top list would be complete without this giant Internet-based enterprise. Amazon maintains a stronghold on the e-commerce market, boasting a wide clientele base and cutting-edge retail platform. Amazon’s mobile application is light and speedy, with advanced search and filtering functions.
Thus, users can find a product they need with just a couple of clicks. Amazon also implements multiple payment gateways for a hassle-free purchasing process. The GPS functionality allows customers to avail themselves of the offers from neighboring businesses.
eBay
eBay is another established e-commerce platform worth its salt. As for the mobile application, its user-friendly features make the whole buying experience fast and simple. The search system is optimized to benefit both sides of the sales funnel.
The app’s functionality is stunning and effective. It includes personalization features, barcode scanning for price comparisons, filmstrip viewer, and others.
H&M
Apparel and accessories retailer H&M has launched its mobile application to encourage brand awareness and bring foot traffic to its physical stores. Its mobile ecommerce app has a sleek design with smooth screen graphics and book style item menu. Also, this company has gone the extra mile and debuted a personal styling app for men that uses a combination of ML algorithms. So currently, H&M offers its customers unique tailor-made suggestions from its entire catalog.
The Bottom Line
As a fledgling e-commerce business, it’s quite a challenge for you to pit your USP against retail titans. A beautifully designed mobile application with powerful functionality may become your big-ticket on the way to higher revenues and crowds of customers. If you have some difficulty with brewing up a winning mobile solution on your own, we recommend liaising with a skilled team of developers with domain expertise.
