What Is Mobile Commerce App?
Electronic commerce was introduced about 40 years ago in its earliest form by English entrepreneur Michael Aldrich. Though his idea didn’t find much support back then, later it became an inevitable part of our lives.
By eCommerce, we mean trading of commercial goods on online marketplaces.. To buy specific items and goods, you simply need to make electronic transactions through your smartphone or computer.
Ecommerce industry grew even further, driven by tech development, globalization, people’s desire for wide choice and better experience.
Today’s eCommerce market requires transformation from brick-and-mortar stores into an online presence. And this is where eCommerce mobile app development comes in.
ECommerce Apps Examples That Rock
From personalization to creating a great user experience, here are a couple of eCommerce apps that are nothing short of impressive.
Goat App
I’m a sneaker fan, and I love browsing for shoes. I won’t settle for simple mass-market shoes, so I always look for something unique. Goat app helps a lot in this sneakers’ chase.What I like the most about the Goat app is – search and filter feature. Filters are usually a weak spot for eCommerce apps, but not here. It’s so simple, intuitive, and easy to use that I would say it’s the best one I’ve seen in this domain.
IHerb App
iHerb mobile eCommerce app did a great job by displaying goods’ cards in the catalog and PDP (Product Detail Page) layout. This is a real challenge in the pharma field, as all information is different for each category: supplements, sports goods, baby care, etc. — and you still have to remain consistent and follow the same rules in UX, which iHerb did pretty well.
Good apps are successful for various reasons. , But the key to failure apps is single – falling short of user expectations. . How often have you got lost in an app that you’ve just downloaded?? I bet often. From the production perspective it all comes from bad feature prioritization and lack of user testing.
Reasons To Develop An ECommerce App
Ecommerce apps’ market is huge.. But if you still doubt if you need to develop an ecommerce app, here are 3 reasons for you.
World Of Smartphones
Right now, there are around 4 billion active smartphones in the world.Most people complete online purchases 24/7 through mobile devices with just one tap. Do you need a more compelling reason to build a mobile commerce app?
Revenue Growth
Smartphones are more than a piece of high-tech circuitry of electronic components. Many worldwide eCommerce apps like Walmart and Amazon have proved that mobile apps attract new customers and increase revenue growth across all devices.
User Behaviour Changes After Covid-19
COVID-19 accelerated the eCommerce boom significantly and had a great impact on the way people buy goods. Total eCommerce spending in May 2020 reached $82.5 billion — a 77% increase from 2019. It would have taken 4 to 6 years to get that number looking at traditional year-over-year increases.
What’s more, there are some reasons to develop eCommerce app than just to have a good adaptive web-view like:
Fast access to a user;
Possibility to reach out to users via push notifications;
Better options to track users’ behavior;
Collect analytics effectively;
Test hypothesis and new features fast.
Mobile Commerce Trends In 2022
eCommerce mobile apps have replaced the traditional way of buying goods. However, it does not mean, that online experience should be different from in-person shopping. Let’s figure out what this means and how eCommerce trends create better customer experience.
Big Data
Big data algorithms have become more valuable for eCommerce app development as the number of users in this industry is rapidly growing. For instance, Amazon can predict what you want to buy next and recommend products that you might like. This gives rise to questions like “How did Amazon know what I like? ”
Well, these days it is hardly a secret that Amazon tracks users’ actions on the app and uses a big data algorithm to make relevant recommendations.
AR Experience
Augmented reality is what bridges eCommerce shopping with in-store experience. Ikea commerce app is among the retailers who succeed in AR experience the most. Customers of the home furnishings giant get access to the full catalog of goods in AR mode.
One-Click Purchase
The convenience of applications of eCommerce is in single-click payments. One payment transaction is both a trend and a must for eCommerce mobile app development. While working on the Dollar Shave Club app, we at Uptech put this feature on top priority.
Since users don’t have to retype payment information every time they make a purchase, one-click payments encourage shoppers to complete multiple purchases. It’s a great example of how a user-centric approach leads to a better buying experience and business revenue.
Chatbots
Chatbots might look somewhat less important, standing next to AI or AR. However, never underestimate the importance of a personalized user approach in e-commerce app development. Chatbots help your business be in touch with your users while not pressuring them with an abundance of information. Besides, being in contact with your users 24/7 is an invaluable feature that no cutting-edge technology can give.
Social Media Commerce
The trend of social commerce is gaining popularity among e-commerce companies these days. Again, personalized user experience plays the prior role here. Companies integrate their online products into social media platforms (like Facebook or Instagram), allowing users to purchase products while browsing the app. Social commerce will enable users to instantly track price moves and buy products right in that minute.
8 Steps Of How To Build ECommerce App
Before moving any further, let me give you a detailed glimpse of the key 8 steps to take while eCommerce mobile app development.
Step 1. Research
We at Uptech are product geeks. That’s why we put the research stage on top. We conduct competitors’ research and user interviews, which are essential for analyzing the target audience’s behavior and patterns. It also helps define the right app platform and the feature set as relatable as possible for our target audience.
Step 2. Set The Goals
The foundation of an eCommerce mobile app development lies in setting the goals for your business. Here’re 3 questions that help you set your goals:
What problems am I trying to solve?
Who am I selling the product to?
How do I understand if it’s successful?
Step 3. Choose The Right Platform
I advise you to get to know the ins and outs of your business before deciding what technology to use for eCommerce application development. Keep an eye on the development cost, inventory, and select the CMS, database, and a scalable framework.
With this information at your hands, it’s much easier to decide whether you want to launch an Android app, an iOS app, or both. It goes without saying that you need to target the mobile platform where your target audience is on.
Tech stack is a critical condition to turn a brilliant idea into a successful product. By tech stack we mean a complex of components, like:
Frontend (interface of the app);
Back-end (processing on the server);
Development (platform with libraries and interfaces);
Supporting (technologies that provide app’s security and performance).
For example, when building an Android ecommerce app, you need to think of:
Programming Language (Java/Kotlin for Android);
App development tools (Android Studio);
UI Framework (Jetpack Compose);
Android UI.
Samely, when it comes to iOS, think of the following:
Programming Language (Objective-C or Swift);
IOS Mobile Development Tools (XCode, AppCode);
UI Frameworks (UIKIt or SwiftUI).
For cross-platform apps the list of programming tools goes like this:
React Native (JS);
Flutter (Dart)
Xamarin (C#).
Step 4. Define Feature Set
Since you already have users’ feedback, expert opinions, trends, and the itch to outdo your competitors, you now understand better what problems your product needs to solve and which features can satisfy the end users.
To help you decide which product feature takes the top spot on the list, you may use popular prioritization frameworks and strategies.
Step 5. Create UX&UI Design
As I mentioned above, the experience in eCommerce apps must go beyond in-person shopping, and UX&UI design is the opportunity to stand out. Design is going to be your voice and business’ identity for the target customers. Color schemes, appealing visuals, and smooth transitions from one page to another are what make a lasting impression on your customer.
Step 6. Build MVP
Remember I told you about the product features that should take top priority? MVP stage is precisely where you need to focus on the most vital features of your eCommerce app. Instead of implementing a full-fledged product right away, I advise going for a continuous evaluation of the product, which fuels further revisions.
MVP aims to learn what users think of the product, cut development time, reduce risks, and allocate resources more efficiently.
Step 7. Gather Feedback
When the MVP is released, it’s time to start gathering feedback from customers. It’s a process of checking how users interact with your app, capture feedback, and find possible improvements. Feedback collection is significant in ecommerce app development as it helps you figure out what works for your target audience and what doesn’t.
Step 8. Iterate
Last but not least, iterating. If we look at the biggest players in the eCommerce app market, we can see that design is never constant. Instead, it’s constantly evolving and adapting to market/user needs.
Last Word
To spare the gritty details, the present eCommerce development Company business is encountering a blast in light of multiple factors: critical use of cell phones, pandemia, shoppers’ craving to look for new, and other worldwide conditions.
Having an eCommerce application sets out many open doors for your business, from quick admittance to clients to an upper hand. We likewise took a gander at top players in the eCommerce business, and presently you have a few patterns to follow. In any case, the reality in the in general eCommerce application advancement process is zeroing in on the client and finding the best client situated arrangement.
Assuming you’re going to make an eCommerce application and searching for item support, reach us. With 6 years of involvement added to our repertoire, we know how to make a uniquely crafted arrangement that works for your crowd and item.
