SCAM WARNING Learn more ⚠️
E-commerce apps continue to gain in popularity because of how easy it is to shop using them. Being able to purchase something you need while you are on the go is a convenience that has led to apps becoming essential for nearly every company in the industry. There are several good reasons why e-commerce apps are in the top 5 most often used apps.
E-commerce apps continue to gain in popularity because of how easy it is to shop using them. Being able to purchase something you need while you are on the go is a convenience that has led to apps becoming essential for nearly every company in the industry. There are several good reasons why e-commerce apps are in the top 5 most often used apps.
This makes it essential for any e-commerce company to have its own mobile app.
Having a mobile app is a necessity, but you also need to do more than just offer the same easy shopping app as everyone else. People use your app to purchase things, but the better the experience, the more likely users are to return to your app.
There are actually a number of ways to make your app stand out without compromising its functionality. People tend to prefer to use apps because apps are easier to personalize, which speeds up the browsing and shopping process.
To develop an app that people will return to, consider these five factors.
Consistency is one of the best ways to ensure you don’t alienate your users. If you want to make a completely unique looking app, you should also update your website to look similar to the app.
This includes details like the colors and fonts used, but the most important element is to include the same functionality. Mobile apps will be easier to use because you can tap on them, so there will be some differences. That doesn’t mean you will need to start from the beginning again.
Functionality like the way items are viewed and check out should be nearly identical to ensure there isn’t confusion between the two different processes. Users aren’t going to want to relearn functionality when shopping, so keep it as easy as possible. A seamless user experience will make it more likely that you will keep customers coming back.
There is a fine balance between the images you add and the text. Unlike a lot of other apps, you aren’t going to need a lot of text because people prefer to see what they are buying. Descriptions are important, but they will need to be pretty short but with all the necessary details.
Images will need to be very crisp and clear because that is what will really sell your products in an app. People flip through apps quickly, so they aren’t going to take time to look at every element of the app – not unless they are interested in making a purchase. You need to give them a reason to stop and take a closer look at what you are offering. Don’t skimp on the images. Make sure they are crisp and clear so that people will be able to see what they are getting.
The app needs to be as fast and reliable. Obviously you can’t control the type of connection your client has, but you can make the app as easy to use as possible so that it minimizes the likelihood that the app will crash or respond too slowly while customers are using it.
Make sure that your app is optimized for reliability. This is universal for all apps, but for e-commerce, it is absolutely essential as people will probably stop shopping on your platform if the app is unreliable.
E-commerce apps are not too different from financial apps because it is incredibly likely that your customers have several different financial accounts associated with their e-commerce account. This means that you need robust security measures in place to protect all of the data they enter (both personal information and financial). You will want to emphasize in the access that app users should have a unique password that is not used for their financial apps. Also, highlight the fact that they should never enter account numbers to their financial institutions or data that could be used to access those accounts.
If your app gets hacked, it could compromise both the financial information and personal data for all of your users. You should budget quite a lot more to securing accounts and regular maintenance to keep security current.
Keep in mind that a lot of people are going to share purchases online (you actually want this to expose your business to a wider audience), so you will need to consider the potential risks posed by social media connectivity. It’s a unique problem that you must keep in mind – the threats to social media is significantly different than to financial data. However, the protective measures is relatively similar.
Unlike a lot of platforms, you are going to encourage a lot of customer interaction to boost your business. This means you need to have robust analytics on the back end and easy to use interactions on the user end.
Offering to enroll new users in perks like newsletters and regular mailing lists will help you establish a customer base that will keep returning to the app. You will want to be careful not to spam users, but a monthly newsletter and emails about deals are typically welcome.
Just as important is to have connectivity to other apps, particularly social media (as mentioned in the previous section). You want to encourage people to post purchases and comments. If there is a question about something, you want to have some way of letting other people reply to those questions. By getting people accustomed to interacting on the app, they are much more likely to keep coming back to it.
This blog is by no means comprehensive; it gives the key aspects that you need to consider when you first get started with your e-commerce app. You should spend a lot of time doing your research, including checking out other e-commerce apps. You don’t want to mimic them, but you do want to see what the competition is doing and decide if there is something from the various apps that might work well with your app. From there, you can build your own ideas based on what you do and don’t like about the current apps available. Don’t forget that app users like something new and innovative – as long as it is easy to use. They will appreciate a new approach that makes it easier to shop right from their phones.
Don’t forget, you already have dedicated customers who may just be looking for an even easier way to shop. It’s as much about making sure they have a great mobile experience as it is about getting new customers.