With everything that is going around in the world, setting up an ecommerce store and selling goods or services online has become important like never before. Day after day, the number of retail companies across the world keeps increasing. Never in history have there been such massive options for goods and services, unlike today. Additionally, the extensive use of smartphones, gadgets, as well as applications has greatly contributed to this constantly evolving trend.
Online shopping app development is gaining popularity day after day. Since the last 6 months, over 79% of smartphone users have made a purchase online using their mobile phones. And, over 80% of shoppers utilized their smartphones while purchasing from a brick and mortar store to check the product reviews, compare the product prices, or look for other store locations. Therefore, missing out on these growing mobile ecommerce trends would potentially imply missing out on some major profits and revenue. In order to help you with this, we have decided to cover this most important topic for you. Today, we will be discussing a few popular ways to build online shopping apps. Stick to this and get started with your online shopping app, really soon!
Popular Ways to Build Online Shopping Apps
Although over 230 million U.S. shoppers own smartphones, it is quite shocking to say that about half of businesses in the U.S. still do not have a website. And, that’s, in fact, a good sign to let you know that now is the best time to kick-start building your online shopping app. Whether you already own a physical retail store, you are freshly stepping onto the ecommerce world, or you are looking forward to expanding your online business, here’s our helping hand to walk you through the popular ways of building online shopping apps:
Step 1: Analyze the Ecommerce Market as well as the Competitors.
According to report from Statista, the global in-store retail channel generated a whopping $21.7 trillion from sales in 2019. Another report from Statista projects the global retail sales amount to be $26.7 trillion by 2022. This eventually means that more and more people are inclining towards the mobile shopping trend, wherein some of the most popular categories include apparel, accessories, books, music, electronics, games, movies, and cosmetics. From individual brands to international brands, businesses of all types can benefit from building online shopping apps.
Did you know that digital-first retailers are known to have the most popular types of online shopping apps with over 2/3rd share of the online retail app market? Herein, peer-to-peer marketplaces serve about a quarter of the app market, and the third-party loyalty apps, store-based merchants, coupons, etc. account for 10% of the same market. Make sure to examine what your competitors in your niche are doing. Conducting preliminary market research is a vital step to develop an online shopping app.
Step 2: Define the Specifications your App Must Have!
Like all other mobile apps, it is quite essential to define the MVP (Minimum Viable Product). This implies to products with the minimum features to grab the attention of the early adopter consumers in order to validate the product idea promptly in the product development cycle. Some crucial functions that let users get what they are looking for while enjoying the experience and the process are:
Not forcing them for signing up: Although registering with the business makes it more convenient for both the buyers and the sellers in fulfilling the orders, you must take care that you do not force the consumers to register with you as soon as they click into your online shopping app. It is always recommended to include options to register with an email or one existing social media accounts in your online shopping app. Also, since the users of your app could be shattered across the globe, providing them with the knowledge of whether the products get delivered to their chosen location, right at the starting of the process is crucial.
Providing a search engine: There could be an ‘N’ number of products in your online shopping apps. In case your consumers are determined to purchase a particular product(s), he or she might want to avoid the hassles of going through the entire product catalog and would instead prefer navigating directly to the product they wish to purchase. In such situations, a search engine comes to the rescue. With the right implementation of a search engine, users can find what they want from the app. You as an owner must also look forward to providing the consumers with convenient filtering and sorting options under the search engine.
Flexible payment options: Since online shopping has and is associated with various risks and frauds, online sellers must assure the consumers that their money is in the right hands and at the right place. Integrating the online shopping app with a secured way and payment gateway to enter credit card and other personal details is a must. This will not only eliminate the risks associated but will also build trust in your consumer’s mind, leaving back a positive and satisfactory consumer experience.
Convenient checkout options: Imagine that you successfully brought a visitor to the last step of becoming your consumer i.e. on the checkout page and due to some given reasons, they back off and purchase from your consumers. Such a huge loss of time, efforts, and money; right? We understand that too. Therefore, make sure that you provide a smooth checkout experience to your potential consumers as it is the final step that affects the consumers’ buying decisions. Avoid asking for too many questions, let the consumers easily checkout as guest visitors, and let the registered users get options to automatically fill in the required details. All these play a vital role in determining the buying decision of the consumer. Moreover, you should offer a transparent price breakdown without hiding any deductions, including discounts (if any).
Step 3: Determine the Platform
Choosing a platform to build your online shopping app depends on various factors, including the types of products to be sold, the current market trends, the target market, etc. However, experts suggest creating native mobile apps that can be published on both iOS as well as Android, opening gates to a wider set of the target market. We suggest you check out Builderfly Ecommerce Platform. Using this platform, you can create a stunning online shopping app for free along with your paid online selling store. The good news is that the platform offers a native, AI-powered online shopping app builder that lets you publish your app on both, iOS and Android. There are various plans offered based on the size of businesses. You can pick the one that suits your financial as well as business requirements.
Step 4: Market the App
Building an app is the only focus for the majority of app builders and retailers. However, here’s the secret: Marketing your freshly built online shopping app is the key to the success of your business by creating effective user engagement on the app. As you might know, the first step is to make the app available on all the publishing platforms including iOS and Android. The second is to optimize the app as per the current market trends and the requirements of your target audience. Next, the marketing options are many; you get to choose the way you like to market your app. However, some of the most-effective marketing options are email marketing, social media marketing, and advertisements. You can also consider marketing your app by integrating its link to your website, providing the consumers with quick-download links, use content marketing, offer special prices for mobile app users, collaborate with influencers, and the list can go on.
Conclusion
The decision to build an online shopping app is a crucial step that needs your complete attention, efforts, and right techniques. In case you do not go well with the technical aspects, you can always consider using platforms such as Builderfly that lets you create a powerful online presence through an online selling store as well as a mobile app, without being a technical expert. All you have to do is subscribe, create, design, market, and relax.
