3 reasons why you should create a mobile app for your online store
- nir
- July 23, 2023
- general information
- 0 Comments
The main asset of any e-commerce business is usually considered to be a highly optimized and well-designed online store. Retailers are still hesitant if they need to create a mobile app that will copy their existing site. However, they definitely have to do it, and here are the reasons why.
In 2016, Google published a study in which 58% of mobile users use their smartphones to monitor prices, offers, and discounts, check reviews, compare products, and even buy products. What’s more, 66% of these people used their device to make a purchase at least once a week. Thus, it might seem that 38% of purchases made via mobile devices are not that high for mobile devices. However, every online store owner should remember that customers first use their smartphones to check available offers, and only then their desktops. Given this statistic, questions arise: Isn’t a responsive site is a better alternative to a mobile app or isn’t a responsive site alone enough to run e-commerce? This may be enough, but nothing more.
In this article, we will look at the main benefits of mobile apps.
Reason # 1: an online store app builds a loyal audience
One of the main benefits of mobile apps is their ability to build brand loyalty.
According to data provided by Adobe, 67% of online shoppers who use their mobile devices to shop prefer apps offered by their favorite companies and brands. Therefore, mobile solutions make the connection between online stores and customers stronger. How do I get people to download and install the app? Just offer them exclusive offers or limited discounts to encourage them to install your app.
Apps load content faster than websites (depends on the browser load)
Few online store owners realize that a slow-loading site can lead to business ruin. Customers hate slow sites and often go to other market participants due to the lack of a positive user experience. According to Kissmetrics, if a website takes more than 3 seconds to load, 40% of visitors will go straight to another site. This is why online shopping needs to be fast enough to be able to build a solid core of repeat customers. This is where mobile apps have a huge advantage over websites. Since mobile shopping apps do not need an internet connection to provide users with basic functionality such as comparing products or checking prices, they make good use of the device’s full performance.
Apps Provide Better UI
The absence of the need for constant access to the Internet for the application to work increases the convenience of their use. This allows applications to load heavy animations or high-definition images much faster, making the design of an e-commerce application stylish, modern, and vibrant.
The application architecture allows developers to create exclusive and useful features with intuitive navigation. Another advantage that an online store on Android or iOS provides is the ability to implement gamification. It has become a trend in app development as gamification creates higher levels of interactivity and user experience.
Apps are more interactive
Mobile apps encourage smartphone users to share links to their favorite sites or ask friends to share their opinion on a particular product or service using social media.
With the web2application system, users can even share their push notifications – This marketing channel is one of the most effective and inexpensive ways to promote your products. Every loyal customer who has your mobile app automatically becomes a live platform to advertise your online store on social media like Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
People admire exclusive things. Make a special offer for those who have installed your application, send them a push notification directly to their phone and they will be happy to share a few links to your site.
Reason # 2: App Usage Trends and Mobile E-Commerce Market – Growing
The rapidly growing mobile e-commerce market is helping business owners to strengthen their bonds with their customers. It has become much easier to buy any product in a store located in another country, sitting in your own chair. Online shopping has revolutionized the way people shop. There has never been a better time to develop a mobile app for an online store… And is so easy – You can build your app alone with the best app builder that you already know how to use – Your website
Market situation
In the US, 22.3% of all digital transactions were made using mobile devices in the first quarter of 2017, according to Statista. These numbers have doubled over the past three years, and the chart has been steadily increasing since the second quarter of 2010. Although at that time, the share of mobile commerce in total digital spending was only 1.8%.
People are more likely to use apps on their smartphones
Flurry Analytics claims that users spend 90% of their time interacting with their mobile device in apps. Experts believe that now is the age of mobile applications. Statistics also show that 79% of smartphone users have one or more online store applications, and 10% of them have about 6.
Reason # 3: a mobile app for an online store allows you to create an advanced marketing strategy
The enhanced functionality of mobile apps allows online stores to have better control over user interactions compared to websites and get more detailed analytics. These benefits help business owners to personalize content more accurately and, as a result, implement better recommendation systems to increase conversions.
The mobile webshop can use the built-in functions of the smartphone
Modern mobile apps provide various options for user interaction. The website cannot provide customers with the option to use the built-in camera to show their friends their new clothes without leaving the site. With the help of the app, it becomes a simple action for a few seconds. Another way to increase user engagement is to implement a voice recognition feature that will allow users to navigate menus or subscribe to newsletters. Also, for example, your application can show the location of the nearest offline store using GPS.
Apps allow you to increase conversions with push notifications
Most of the popular mobile e-commerce apps regularly send push notifications to smartphone owners. Compared to traditional SMS, push notifications are a cheaper advertising channel. They eliminate the need for databases containing user phone numbers. What’s more, push notifications are more effective than emails, as they are always available to users if they haven’t turned off notifications on their device. In addition, there is no spam folder for push notifications and it is difficult to ignore them.
Mobile app development is a necessary step for e-commerce business owners. A website with a responsive design is a sufficient measure only at the first stages of a project to test a business idea or market. To gain significant market share, it is necessary to develop an online store for Android and iOS platforms, which will create an advanced marketing strategy to attract more customers and increase revenue.