Play Store from Google is an official pre-installed app store on devices certified by Android. It is one of the largest platforms used for publishing, promoting, distributing, as well as selling Android applications. Publishing apps to the Play Store could be quite confusing and may seem to be a daunting task at first.
The Google Play Store has come a long way in terms of technology and features. Today, it thrives on the modern superpower – Smartphones. If we look into it, smartphones actually become smarter with the apps that are downloaded in them. These apps aid people in fulfilling their daily chores and tasks in many ways.
Developing mobile apps has become an integral part of businesses, especially ecommerce businesses wherein over 79% of smartphone users shop online using their mobile devices. Either companies hire developers who help them develop and publish mobile apps or they create one of their own using intuitive mobile app building platforms such as Builderfly.
The most common place to publish apps is the Google Play Store. With over 2.8 million apps on the Play Store and about 3739 new apps getting added to the list each day, it is clearly dominating the global app market.
Although Google Play Store gets millions of applications, getting listed on the server can be a challenging effort. There are multiple screening processes an app must go through, only after which it can be published. In this blog, we would be discussing the process to publish ecommerce Android apps using Google Play Console.
The Process to Publish Ecommerce Android Apps using Google Play Console
Publishing apps on Google Play is often considered a cakewalk. However, it is not what is perceived. Here is the process you need to follow in order to publish your ecommerce android app using Google Play Console:
Creating the App
- Create a Google Play Developer Account
- Build your ecommerce android app in accordance with Google Play’s recommended format for publishing which is the Android App Bundle.
- Open the Google Play Console
- Click on ‘Select Apps’ and then on ‘Create App’
- Set a default language you would prefer
- Enter the title for your app. This should be the name of your app, just like you want your audience to view on Google Play. You always have the option to change this name.
- Define whether yours is an app or a game. You can also change this specification later
- Define whether your application is paid or free
- Provide a valid email address through which the users get to contact you for queries or issues regarding this app.
- Achieve the Content Guidelines as well as the US Export Laws declarations
- Click on ‘Create App’
Setting up the App
Once you create your ecommerce Android app, you need to start setting it up. The dashboard of your app shall guide you through all the major steps to get your app published on Google Play. Herein:
- You need to provide details including the content of your app, and then entering the information required for your Google Play Store listing.
- Next, you need to move ahead on the App Release that guides you through the management, testing, and promotion of the app before publishing in order to build awareness and excitement of the app amongst the users.
- The final move is to launch the app on Google Play, making it available for download to millions of users globally.
In order to set up your ecommerce android app, you need to go to the Dashboard under the Menu section and then on to Set up your app on the dashboard.
Managing APK Files
The package names for app files are permanent as well as unique. Therefore, you need to name them quite carefully. Also, you must remember that the package names cannot be deleted or even re-used in the future. The APKs can either be in a Draft form that has not been served to the users yet, or in an Active form that is being served to the users or is in an Archived form that is active but not being served to the users anymore.
Setting up the Store Listing
The Store Listing of your app is something that is showcased on Google Play which includes details that aid users in learning more about your ecommerce android app. This store listing is shared across tracks including the testing tracks.
Next, you need to prepare your app for review, discover some best practices for submitting your app to Google Play publish your ecommerce android app by abiding by the guidelines and keep optimizing your store listing with changing trends and continuous experiments. Now that you have done a wonderful job by looking after all the pointers before submitting your app to Google Play Store, you might feel ready to rock. Well, there are a few steps to reach the finish line.
Things to Consider Before Submitting Ecommerce Android Apps
Since there are chances of the apps not getting published if it does to meet the prerequisite measures, you must be sure to consider a few things before submitting the ecommerce android apps for publishing. Below are a few things, you must keep in mind before submitting your ecommerce android app to Google Play:
- Test the App: Testing the app you created is the primary step to publish your app on Google Play. It determines everything further in the process. The developers must go through the entire coding of the app in order to find bugs (if any) and fix them.
- Optimize App Size: Google does not allow apps to be published that are above 50Mb in size. Although it could be extremely difficult developing an above below 50Mb, you can use Expansion from Android APK to upload files to the play store. By doing so, the first part of the app is installed and the latter automatically gets downloaded from Google’s Cloud Serves. Since the download is done in parts, the developer gets to create apps up to 4GB.
- Get App License: It is an optional step to license your ecommerce android app. However, we would recommend you to consider licensing your app as it adds a layer of security as well as professionalism to your app. Also, with licensed apps, the developer gets complete control over the app which is otherwise not provided.
- Create Private Key: Every application has a private key that is utilized whenever an app is published to the Google Play Store. It is similar to having a security certificate that is inclusive of credentials such as the Keystore password.
- Prepare for App Listing: Like preparing for an examination in advance, building an attractive app listing can potentially attract the audience right from the start that boosts the number of app downloads. Since all the information regarding the app is showcased, people would not hesitate from downloading the app.
- Review: While creating an app based on the business requirements, there are chances of it breaching, if not all, some of the guidelines of Google’s Play Store. Even if the app is all perfect and efficient, if it does not abide by the guidelines put forth by Google Play Store, the app shall be removed without even prior notice. Therefore consider reviewing your app for the guidelines before submitting the app.
Conclusion
Did you find the entire process to be cumbersome? Well, we did too! Therefore, Builderfly E-commerce Platform came up with an innovative idea. You can now build ecommerce android mobile app for Android app as well as an iOS app without the help of a developer. In fact, you can even publish your apps to Google as well as Apple Store developers. All these, over and above the feature to create a stunning ecommerce store that helps you thrive in the highly-competitive ecommerce market like a pro.
