Why does your eCommerce business need its own mobile app?
The mobile commerce is expected to become as big as the eCommerce. Hence, having a mobile store of the shopping site is not a luxury anymore, but an inevitable aspect. While most of the companies have already started upgrading their sites into a complete mobile store, a wide gap still exists. Are you still on the fence for trying your hands in m-commerce? Here are some stats that can convince you for the same. â—?
As per Statista, the eCommerce purchases via mobile devices have seen a steep rise ever since 2013. By the end of this year, it was approximately 961 million. This figure is projected to surpass 1 billion in 2018.
â—?
Approximately 60% of the online purchase is done using mobile devices.
â—?
According to Google, 80% of the customers start their purchase on one device and end on the other.
These alluring statistics are enough to motivate the e-merchants to upgrade their online stores from desktop to the mobile platform. If not, then, here are some of the reasons that makes an eCommerce mobile app a must-have. Check them out.
Change in the consumption behavior
Along with the stats mentioned above regarding the buying behavior of the shoppers, the numbers related to mobile commerce is something the eCommerce store owners need to watch out for. The m-commerce is expected to make up to 50% of the total online purchase. Moreover, Google has brought forth the 'Right now' expectation of the mobile phone users has increased. As per a report shared by thingwithgoogle.com, "53% of visits are abandoned if a mobile site takes longer than three seconds to load. ‌ We’ve actually seen that for every one second delay in site load time, conversions fall by 12%". Keeping this in mind, a mobile app is surely one of the solution to deal with the changing behavior of the customers.
Mobile experience can affect your branding
Latest research have proved that the mobile brand experiences are crucial to customer satisfaction. Speed, relevance and personalized contents are few of the factors that affect the overall user experience. Besides, people today have twice as much interaction with brands on mobile devices than the other medium such as desktop computers, TV and others. Thus, the mobile application is one of the most intuitive media for the e-marketers to build their brand equity. Every time a consumer has a good experience with your mobile store, it raises the bar of your brand image. In addition, it even raises the expectation of the consumers. Countering this expectation is easier with an application. Easy browsing, simple navigation, filters and site search saves the time and effort. Thus, boosting the brand recognition of the store.
Cultivate customer loyalty
Customer interaction and engagement is one of the best ways to get the much-needed customer loyalty. This loyalty in turn is the key factor of the customer retention. Bringing the entire eCommerce store in the pockets of the customers is one of the best ways to engage them. The options like reward points, gift cards and others are some of the features that are built around to cultivate the loyalty. The online shoppers are increasingly making last minute plans. Keeping pace with the expectation of the customers who wants everything at their fingertips is nearly impossible without an app store. In addition, 46% of the consumers say that they would buy if they find the mobile experience uninterrupted. Achieving this loyalty is not an easy task when it comes desktop websites.
Tap the gen-next target audience
The online companies need to focus on the tech-savvy younger generation. They make the marginal portion of the target audience. The issues such as fat-finger problem and others are not a concern for the next-generation shoppers. This is when a mobile app can come handy for the eCommerce store owners. Along with the factors like load time and easy navigation, there are many other expectations that can be fulfilled with the help of a mobile app. The voice search technology, location-based searches, incorporated GPS are some of the features that can be catered with the help of a mobile store. So, upgrade your site with a robust eCommerce mobile app maker and tap this customer base.
A better promotion tool The fact that the handheld devices is the quickest means to reach out to the customers makes it the most proactive marketing tool. In addition, the mobile app includes the option of push notification. It may be considered as annoying by some, but is still the most effective promotional tool. Other than this, the social sharing options can even enhance the visibility of your store on the social media platform. There are some apps that can even work offline. Thus, it provides a 24/7 interface to keep the customers informed about the offerings of your store.
Outperform the competitors
The number of eCommerce websites are on the rise. However, not every site is upgrading for the mobile platform. Thus, the store owners who have already tried their hands in the m-commerce
scenario has an undefined edge. The mobile apps not just boost the businesses, but it can even help you find the competitive advantage. With the ease of online transaction and personalized marketing strategies, you can outperform your customers who have still not entered in this field effortlessly.
Apps vs mobile sites
If your goal is to offer user-friendly content to the widest range of target audience, then, a mobile website is perfect. Mobile websites have a broader reach and are accessible across platforms. The online shoppers want the web pages to load quickly. However, mobile browsing is usually accused to be slow. This is one of the reasons what gives an edge to the native mobile apps. Moreover the hardware features of the mobile devices are accessible with the apps. The features and like animations and high-resolution images may take a bit longer to load when it comes to websites. App is an easy means to incorporate them. Final words It won’t be wrong to state that a mobile application can rekindle the user experience of a eCommerce store. There are Prestashop mobile app builder, Magento app creators and many other solutions for the various platforms that can effortlessly convert the eCommerce store into an application. The current trends in the industry demands the store owners to upgrade their sites and grab the untapped market with minimal hassle.