Unleashing Business Opportunities: Break into the Profitable Realm of Smartphone Shopping Apps
Who doesn't love shopping, especially when it's convenient? It's no secret, 88% of consumers carry at least one shopping app on their phones with half of them sporting more than four! Astonishingly, those aged 18 to 44 come in at over 50% of the bunch.
In today's eCommerce-driven world, developerscraft mobile apps to bring retail brands closer to their customers. User experience, brand loyalty, and increased customer retention are just a few benefits of investing in an online store app.
To entice you further, let's highlight three compelling reasons why a shopping app is crucial for your business.
Why Create a Shopping App?
Shoppers Prefer Mobile Apps
American consumers go mobile! One in three prefers shopping through brand-specific apps like Nike or H&M. Impressively, 98% of users are keen browsers, while 99% would actually buy something.
Among general shoppers, 91% said they'd likely browse products in online shopping apps, making clothing, shoes, accessories, and furniture the most desired items.
Enhanced User Experience
A shopping app can deliver a better user experience with an optimized UI, intuitive navigation, and additional native device capabilities such as infinite push notifications. A fantastic UX design can boost a website's conversion rate by a staggering 200%. Remember, a whopping 70% of shopping cart abandonments happen due to poor user experience.
Take MyDeal, the Australian retail powerhouse, as a testament. They aimed to add push notifications and user-centered features to up their ROI. Guess what? The online retailer boosted its gross sales by a massive 100% within a year! If you're curious, check out the MyDeal case study to get the nitty-gritty details.
With a mobile app, you can create a highly personalized shopping experience while also boosting app ROI.
Maximum Competitive Advantage
Remember how app users show notably greater loyalty to their brand of choice than mobile web users? They're more likely to use the app for rewards or points when shopping.
When it comes to your shopping app, you can integrate almost any feature under the sun to gain a significant competitive edge. Whether you opt for app gamification or customer experience automation, the world's your oyster!
Next, let's delve into the details of how to create a successful mobile shopping app.
A Definitive Guide to Mobile Shopping App Development
Each phase in the development process is integral to the app's success. Think of these stages as the facets of a diamond; the more polished, the more brilliant it shines.
1. Conduct Research and Validate Your Shopping App Idea
Research and idea validation are the backbone of the entire project. It will help identify your target audience, competition, and market trends. By skipping this process, you risk building an app that doesn't address users' pain points.
To guide you, here are a few tips from our product specialists:
- Define the problem your app solves.
- Actively engage with your potential users.
- Research the market size of your customer base.
- Analyze your competition to differentiate.
- Gather feedback through surveys.
To take it a step further, observe how Nike validated their app idea. They used concept validation experiments, user testing panels, and in-store app testing. Before launching the Nike Adventure Club, a subscription-based sneaker service for parents, the company ran concept validation experiments under "Easy Kicks" for two years. They used targeted Facebook ads to gain 10,000 members, allowing them to gather loads of customer data to better understand their needs.
2. List Down Your MVP Shopping App Features
Now that we've established the foundation, let's create a list for the MVP (minimum viable product) version of your shopping app.
An MVP shopping app should include essential features for users to browse and purchase products.
Here's a list of MVP features we recommend:
- Setup and infrastructure.
- Global navigation.
- Login and registration.
- User profile.
- Home.
- Search.
- Categories.
- Category listing pages.
- Product page.
- Cart.
- Checkout and payment.
- Notifications.
3. Establish the Shopping App Baseline Traits
After defining your MVP app features, it's time to set the baseline traits for your shopping app. Think of it as the unseen foundation for your app that determines its resilience, security, scalability, and performance.
Here are four baseline traits to prioritize:
- User Experience: Focus on design, navigation, and overall app layout in a way that balances aesthetics and functionality.
- Security: Prioritize user data security and financial information protection by implementing strong encryption protocols and regular security audits.
- Scalability: Ensure your shopping app can handle increased traffic and transactions. It should be flexible to adapt to growth.
- Performance: Optimize your app for smooth, responsive interactions to engage users and create a positive experience.
4. Choosing the Platform
The platform you select will depend on your target market, audience insights, and technological expertise. Here are some factors to consider when choosing between iOS and Android apps:
- iOS apps are popular among affluent users, while Android apps cater to a more diverse audience.
- Native apps deliver a more seamless and immersive user experience compared to web or hybrid apps.
5. Begin Shopping App Design
The design process involves:
- Sketches: Early, informal visual representations of your app's ideas.
- Wireframes: Detailed representations of the design's basic structure and layout.
- Final designs: Polished versions that include typography, colors, images, and icons.
- Interactive prototypes: Functional, interactive models that simulate user interactions.
6. Shopping App Development
We have years of experience in app development for iOS and Android using Swift and Kotlin, respectively. We employ agile development methodologies for efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
7. Testing
Before launching your app, you must thoroughly test it for:
- Functionality.
- Compatibility.
- Responsiveness.
- UI and UX.
8. Launch, Promote, and Enhance Your Shopping App
A. Launch: Launch your app on both the App Store and Play Store after completing the development phase. iOS requires a Developer membership for $90/year, while Android demands a $25 one-time fee for the Developer account.
B. Promotion:
- App Store Optimization (ASO) maximizes your app's visibility on app store search results.
- Partner with influencers or employ referral programs for organic promotion.
C. Improvement:
- Regularly collect user feedback and make the necessary adjustments to enhance user satisfaction and retention.
- In the eCommerce sector, app marketing is crucial for bringing retail brands closer to their customers, as more than half of consumers aged 18 to 44 carry at least four shopping apps on their phones.
- A well-designed mobile app offers a better user experience through an optimized UI, intuitive navigation, and native device capabilities, potentially boosting a website's conversion rate by 200%.
- With features like push notifications and user-centered design, a shopping app can create a more personalized shopping experience and enhance business ROI.
- The finance and retail industry are catering to this trend by integrating various app-based services, as app users show greater loyalty and utilize features like rewards or points while shopping.
- Mobile app development, using methodologies like agile development, is essential for successfully entering the industry and staying competitive in today's technology-driven world.
