10 Essentials for Successful eCommerce Mobile App Development

Globalization has bridged the boundaries for trade and communication like never before. With the advent of eCommerce, the internet is transformed into a huge marketplace. Millions of successful businesses have emerged with the eCommerce technologies and there are millions more to come. While there are many success stories to watch for, the truth is that getting success in eCommerce is not easy. With eCommerce giants acquiring a major portion of the market it is hard to create a compelling USP for your business.

In order acquire and retain customers you need to provide the best buying experience possible. The key to creating a great buying experience is to connect with customers at every touchpoint and provide great service. As we approach the touchpoints in eCommerce business the first two to pop in the head are mobile and website. Many businesses make the mistake of neglecting their app or not making one in the first place. Here we will drill down 10 ways to get success with e-commerce mobile app development so that you never make such mistake.

For the ease of understanding, I have split the article into two parts - the first discusses the must-haves for success in e-commerce mobile app and the second showcases the new add-ons that can give your eCommerce app a competitive edge.

Read More: 6 Advantages of outsourcing development of ecommerce mobile apps.

5 Indispensable Features in any eCommerce App:

1. Intuitive Design:

The design of your store plays a key role on how buyers behave in your app. With an attention span of fewer than 8 seconds, it is important that your users should be able to easily understand the app interface. Creating a very complicated design with lots of animations and text in the hope of enticing the user will always backfire. When it comes to the user interface simplicity is the way to go. This will boost the user experience due to the ease of use.

2. Security:

In case of eCommerce, you ask for a lot of information from the user. Some of this information also includes bank account details, credit/debit card info, address, etc. It goes without saying that you have to ensure your app is secure. You cannot simply ask for such personal information and leave it for the hackers to steal. Do keep an eye on the security level of the app and ensure that there are no loopholes.

3. Great Images:

Visual information can be processed 60,000 times faster than text. (source) In case of eCommerce, your images communicate your brand as well as your product. A common mistake made here is that people tend to save costs incurred on a professional photographer. Taking product images from mobile or using low quality or stock images will hurt your company’s image. Make sure that your value is well communicated through your images.

4. Social Media Integration:

People hate forms. The longer questionnaire you give them the better incentive they will have to skip the registration and go for the app they have already registered for. With the help of social media integration, you can ease the signup and login process. Additionally, you can enable the users to share their experience of purchase on social media which can help you gain a good following and word of mouth publicity.

5. Easy Checkout:

The average cart abandonment rate is 67.91%. The is usually caused due to pricing issues, competition, search for better alternatives etc. With a complicated checkout process, you just giving your users another reason to abandon your cart. Keep the checkout process simple, direct and clean. Also, you should ensure that you give all sorts of alternatives that a user might want for initiating a transaction. You can also provide an inbuilt mobile wallet system to smoothen the process to the best possible extent.

Read More: 7 Tips for Designing a Good Ecommerce Website

5 Ways to Give a Competitive edge to your eCommerce App:

While the above 5 features are key to success in e-commerce mobile app development, they are somewhat obvious. You might have already heard about them and the same goes for your competition. Here at NewGenApps, we have found 5 uncommon add-ons in an eCommerce app that can give you a competitive edge.

1. Geofencing:

Geofencing is the technology that enables location-based marketing. Your mobile app can make use of GPS, RFID, Bluetooth beacons etc to allow your app to identify the location of the user. With the help of this technology, you can send customized marketing messages to the user based on his location. For example, you can send promotional offers as soon as the user enters a mall or marketplace. This will ensure that you take advantage of the timing and channelize the buying intent to your advantage.

2. Augmented Reality:

Augmented reality refers to superimposing virtual objects on the real-world objects using the user’s mobile. Apple and Google have made Augmented Reality (AR) mainstream with their individual frameworks for AR content development. Using augmented reality you can showcase a better view of your products thus enabling users to engage with your app. Using AR users can view your products through multiple angles on your e-commerce app. This will ensure that users are actually satisfied with what they choose to order, thus reducing return rates.

3. Mobile Cloud Computing:

Mobile cloud computing is the combination of cloud computing and mobile computing to provide a rich user experience to the users. A cloud engine reduces the server response time and in turn, increases your e-commerce app speed. No one likes to use a slow loading app. Using mobile cloud computing you can ensure that your app stands out in both quality and performance. This will give your e-commerce mobile app a competitive edge and help it steal customers from competitors.

4. Recommendation Engine:

A recommendation engine analyzes the user behavior to showcase personalized suggestions. It showcases the products to the users that they are most likely to purchase. This helps you retain customers, engage users and improve cross-selling. A recommendation engine is similar to what you can experience in top eCommerce apps like Amazon and even in media apps like Netflix. This algorithm is designed using machine learning to help the app learn user’s preferences and showcase related products.

5. Chatbots:

Chatbots are programs that can understand human inputs in the right context and provide outputs that can be helpful to the user. Chatbots use natural language processing to understand the context behind a user query and then provide results that are most suitable to their needs. A customer can ask for buying suggestions, raise issues, find desired products etc with the assistance of a bot. Chatbots are also highly engrossing which leave a lasting impression of your brand on the user.

Read More: The Biggest Benefits and Best Uses of Chatbots in Retail

Bonus add-on: Gamification:

Gamification is the application of game principles like points, scores etc. in non-game environment like shopping and education. By using gamification in your e-commerce app you can create scenarios where users can earn loyalty points, share their achievements, complete milestones etc. All these features increase the chances of customers returning to your app for future purchases. Gamification can also help you generate word of mouth publicity and engagement something that is must for the success of any business.

Getting success in eCommerce is not easy but it is not impossible either. With the right technique, tools, and developers you can earn good amount of revenue through your e-commerce mobile app. If you are looking for developers who can create an e-commerce app for your business then you have landed on the right page. We have 10+ years of experience in building mobile apps. At NewGenApps, we have created many successful apps across various domains. Contact us today to get your mobile journey started: