You may have heard that E-commerce is on a path to outstrip traditional brick-and-mortar stores. With the mobile revolution happening, M-commerce is growing at an even faster rate. The changing consumer behavior and increasing dependency on smartphones lead to optimizing consumer experience with online purchases in M-commerce apps.
Global M-commerce revenue is expected to reach $3.56 trillion by 2021, with an average annual growth rate of 33.8%; 79% of smartphone users have made a purchase online using their mobile devices in the last six months. Moreover, the share of M-commerce is expected to rise to 72.9% by 2021. It’s easy to affirm that the time for M-commerce applications is the most crucial as ever. It makes it imperative for businesses to implement the best approaches to build on potential thousand of dollars.
As it turns out, the objectives for both forms of selling online, E-commerce, and M-commerce are similar. You’re still connecting customers to an inventory of products online and allowing browsing through a web interface. However, the two platforms work slightly differently. The content, communications, and interface designed for consumption through an app have to be optimized according to the changing consumer preferences- that differ from desktop users. The entire user journey needs to be crafted, keeping in mind the way users want it to be. The purchases have to be quick, swipeable, responsive, and easy to complete.
Let’s dive into the various aspects of E-commerce applications, one by one!
A Beginner’s Guide to Mobile Apps for E-commerce
Launching an E-commerce app isn’t a question of why anymore, it’s a question of how to do it correctly. As a business owner, you want to acquire and retain customers effectively. You need to offer the best possible customer experience and the best quality products to ensure customer retention. The key to achieving that is by connecting with customers on all available touchpoints, providing a great experience each time.
Mobile traffic accounts for over 60% of all traffic, with mobile sales quickly catching up. Furthermore, users check out the mobile site for retail stores each time they want to shop there. Thereby, it’s essential to have a great M-commerce app to capitalize better. Based on Criterio’s annual report, retailers must prioritize and optimize shopping apps or risk leaving money on the table.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to a beautiful E-commerce app:
1. Figure out the goals for your E-commerce app
2. Identify your target audience
3. Choose the right technology
4. Create a list of requirements for creating an E-commerce app
– A few key points to enhance your user experience:
a. Push Messages: Critical to any modern E-commerce app
b. Easy Checkouts: Streamline initial purchases, and make repeat purchases more straightforward.
c. Look-books and Wishlists: Popular for B2C and B2B businesses, to focus on repeat purchases.
d. Multiple suitable payment options: More options to pay gets you all the more sales and better revenue.
e. Review/Rating system: Customer experience is enhanced multiple folds if there are great reviews and ratings.
f. Social Media Integration: Being present on all social platforms builds on your brand value and helps in client nurturing.
Once you have a list of features ready for your app, you can move on to the next step.
Step 5: Pick the right budget.
Step 6: Prepare your marketing plan.
The Most Innovative Things Happening With Mobile Apps In E-commerce (evolution)
While developing the perfect E-commerce app for your business, you need to understand the underlying story of these apps’ innovation.
In the past decade, online marketplaces have served the majority of people. It’s become a popular medium for product vendors to sell their products, marketers to advertise their products, and consumers to shop. With many popular stores having their businesses online,
These stores can be labeled as the new storefronts.
The growth of online marketplaces, such as Amazon, has changed how people shop. Adding layers of security made more and more customers trust in these online marketplaces. Moreover, with Google releasing Google Checkout in 2006, there have been many more technological advancements in the E-commerce sector.
Another major player, Magento, an E-commerce Content Management System (CMS), is now the most popular platform with 26.1% market representation.
Reasons You Should Invest in Mobile Apps In E-commerce
Once we have established E-commerce applications’ evolution, we need to understand why you should start investing in these apps.
-Increasing Online Purchases
Online purchases are expected to increase to significant levels in the coming years. Two-third of Americans prefer buying online, unlike earlier.
-Greater Opportunities to Make Money
Having a robust online presence facilitates more significant opportunities for E-Commerce businesses. The untapped potential of these platforms to make money is enormous! You are no longer restrained to geographical constraints or time boundaries since your online stores are open 24/7.
– Boosts Your Brand Image
Repeat customers positively to drive your sales. Once you’ve made a strong bond with your customers or gained their trust, you’ll be able to boost your brand image and thus have repeat customers. A great way to do that is to invest in your website, prepare effective marketing strategies, and be present at online fronts.
-Lower Operation Costs
Starting a business is a costly affair- or is it? In the modern era, M-commerce businesses helped create enormous opportunities for people. Maintaining a web store is far more economical. The operational costs are also way too low, which means more profit for you.
-Track your Customers’ Needs
It would help if you understood your customer’s behavior to make the highest possible sales. This is easily achievable by tracking your customers’ orders, keeping their preferences in one place, and acting accordingly. Take your business to another level if you have the right kind of website.
Biggest Problem With Mobile Apps In E-commerce, And How You Can Fix It
With the mobile revolution pacing up across the globe, retail businesses became necessary to sustain in the hypercompetitive industry to ensure standing out from the crowd; however, even after multiple attempts and numerous design iterations, businesses battle with low engagement and retention in their apps.
The reasons could range dramatically from improper planning to fail in the user-friendliness in the application. However, the grounds are common mistakes developers make while building a goldmine for e-commerce businesses.
-Developers not respecting the medium
-Lack of personalization.
-Low-quality product images.
-Cluttered home page
-Complicated checkout process
-Essential functions out of thumb’s reach
-Lack of a marketing strategy
The process of development is thereby going to be one of the most significant investments for your company. You must partner with industry experts to develop a trustworthy and top-notch product. Ensure that your app development company has an in-depth understanding of the business logic, and you’re all set!
Common Pitfalls of Mobile Commerce
- Need to be constantly aware of advancements in technology and changes in Optimization best practices to ensure your website- at least on mobile- offers a superior experience.
- Choosing the right payment solution for your E-commerce business is even more critical when it comes to mobile. Users generally skip adding their card and shipping details. Therefore, one-click solutions that integrate with mobile wallets offer a better customer experience. Simpler checkout processes and payment leads to an overall increase in conversions and sales.
The Next Big Thing in Mobile Apps In E-commerce
Developing your M-Commerce application in the right way is just the first step towards success. As an M-Commerce business owner, you need to stay updated with the latest mobile commerce trends.
- Design for the Mobile Experience
While one of the critical errors in Mobile app development is developers forgetting the medium, they’re working on. E-commerce business owners and developers need to design their mobile applications or websites following their target audience. Also, different platforms may get your other data for the same set of audiences.
- One-click Ordering:
With technological advancements, retailers begin to implement one-touch shopping in their businesses. This technology allows customers to complete checkout processes with just one click. It gives business owners an excellent opportunity to get more sales and have more repeat orders.
- Social Commerce:
Social media has a tremendous impact on any business. It’s easy to convert social traffic into sales. Be present on all possible platforms to increase trust with customers.
- The use of Artificial Intelligence
The latest technology of AI is used in a wide range of areas. In the E-commerce world, AI chatbots are rapidly becoming the new norm. According to data, 79% of consumers prefer to live chats since they get their answers immediately.
- Voice Search:
According to The Verge, approximately 25% of American households own a smart speaker, and 40% of those have multiple ones. The numbers are clear evidence of how consumers want to browse online. As smart speakers tend to grow in popularity and utility, it’s only natural that people want to shop via voice search.
- Video:
Statistics show that around 50% of consumers have problems with how their products do not match the pictures on the M-commerce website. These complaints lead to increasing dissatisfaction with the customer and thereby losing business. Eliminating this problem should be one of your primary concerns.
Videos and product demonstrations can be a great way to tackle such issues. Around 80% of users have a higher buying confidence in the product when they have watched a video on it.
In all, multiple M-commerce businesses are all set to thrive in the present era. Mobile trends and smartphone users will continue to drive the market. As an E-commerce store owner, you need to keep a close eye on the increased scope, rising opportunities, and market trends for the foreseeable future. One of the easiest ways to keep up with M-commerce’s updates trends is by developing the ‘right’ mobile app for your E-Commerce website.
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