Monday, 28 January 2019 / Published in Ecommerce, online business, Research Driven

9 Reasons Why You Need A Mobile App For Your eCommerce Store

While there are still some people rely on responsive web designs, more and more users are finding that only having a responsive web design has its limitations:

All the content is downloaded (whether it’s used or not.)
Pages tend to load slower, and images are downloaded full-sized, then resized just to fit the device.
The costs of having a responsive web design are usually priced higher than non-responsive web design.

A mobile eCommerce app is an integral part in crafting of an effective marketing strategy. It may be viewed as a luxury for some web-based companies before, but apps are now becoming increasingly necessary to engage users on a regular basis and to stay ahead of the game.

eCommerce is one of the industries that greatly benefited from mobile apps. Take Alibaba, for example ‒ the company experienced a staggering 76 percent increase in sales the moment they implemented their mobile application.

Mobile apps enable companies to be accessible to their customers’ fingertips by being there at the very moment they’re ready to make a purchase.

In this post, we’ll discuss a variety of reasons why every eCommerce store must have a mobile app:

1. Users prefer mobile apps over mobile browsers

According to a report by Compuware, 85 percent of consumers now prefer to use apps over mobile websites.

The preference for using mobile apps isn’t surprising at all. eCommerce apps are more convenient to use especially during shopping. For instance, for users who are not just making a one time visit, downloading a mobile app makes it more convenient because they don’t have to type the URL or log-in to the store.

Aside from that, apps give better security and faster speed as compared to the traditional mobile browser.

2. Mobile apps promote loyalty

Prospects who decide to download your app already showed a degree of investment in your brand. They’re the people who are ready to buy.

Also, by having an icon of your mobile store in their phones, potential customers are more likely going to buy from you. When they’re ruminating over their next purchase, your store will instantly pop over their heads because the reminders are already there, even on a subconscious level!

Now we’ll discuss the different ways how to improve customer loyalty with a mobile app:

Personalization: Utilize the information that your customers provide to your benefit. You can do this by creating a customized experience for users. For instance, offer relevant suggestions based on a user’s previous purchases.

Push notifications: Push notifications allow you to notify your customers about sales and special offers.

Exclusive content: Create offers that are only limited in your mobile apps like exclusive deals and special prices.

Rewards system: Implement a rewards system to encourage customers to keep coming back. You can do this by developing a loyalty program wherein customers can earn points in exchange for free items, limited deals, and sizable discounts.

3. Saves user’s time

One of the significant concerns of users nowadays is how fast is a website or a particular app performing. Mobile apps have reduced response time as compared to a site because apps tend to store their data partially already on the mobile device.

Apps also tend to retrieve data much faster. It also loads only the data that the user wants, saving them a lot of time in the process.

4. Enhanced UX design

The way you present your store to customers can make or break your business. Ideally, when users access to a site, they expect that it’s easy to navigate so that they can quickly find what they’re looking for.

Also, consider having a scale for eCommerce apps. Ideally, you have to see to it that your entire system have the capacity to serve these numbers. If you’re expecting decent volumes of traffic in your eCommerce store (especially during holiday sales), then these are the numbers that you need to keep in mind:

More than 200,000+ orders in a day
20+ orders every second
2000+ product search requests every second
A total of 100M total server requests in a day

5. Better conversion rates

One of the greatest beauty of mobile apps is that it allows you to incorporate features such as social media, and product videos to boost your conversion rates.

Aside from that, an excellent combination of worthwhile user experience, easy navigation, and usability all lead to higher conversion rates. Unlike on the web browsers, people who decided to open the mobile app of your store has all the intention to browse for products and make purchases. This adds up on your success rate.

6. Improves customer engagement

You can integrate your app with your customers’ mobile phone features to help enhance customer engagement.

GPS: Lets the app pinpoint the user’s exact location. Launch a feature that geotags a customer’s address, eliminating the need to input it manually.

Microphone: Gives users the option to say something they’re looking to streamline the whole search process.

Camera: Many businesses allow users to share photos of the items they’ve purchased. By displaying these items in real life, it increases the chance of making a successful sale and boosts customer engagement.

7. Reduced shopping cart abandonment rate

Mobile apps have lower cart abandonment rates because the whole checkout process is simplified. Payment and shipping information is already stored in the system, allowing one to complete a purchase in just a click.

8. Increased average order value

Mobile apps tend to generate much higher revenues compared to mobile and desktop sites. While it’s a challenge pinpoint what exactly compels a customer to spend more time in your store, we’ll discuss the possible factors:

Push notifications: Notifies users instantly if there are special deals, sales, and relevant items that are back in stock.

One-click ordering: The overall simplicity of a mobile app’s layout makes a simpler and streamlines the entire checkout process.

Easy payment: Allows a customer to easily choose between different payment methods like credit cards and other online payment systems like Paypal, Google Wallet, and Apple Pay. Customers also don’t have to enter information for every purchase.

9. Easy monitoring of analytics

Through an app, it’s easy to gather and track data. It allows you to monitor the interactions of users quickly. Moreover, it also gives you vital information such as the overall responsiveness of specific content or feature, audience composition, session length, and so on.

Google Analytics, one of the best free tool out there can help you do tracking without putting a hole in your pocket. If you are keen on getting every effort measured, try the Google Analaytics for Mobile App.

In Summary

Smartphones and other mobile devices have become one of the most prominent mediums in viewing and receiving information from all over the globe. That’s why having a mobile app is becoming increasingly vital for businesses, whether it’s just a starting business or already a well-established player in the market.