Mobile commerce (or M-commerce) is rising rapidly in recent years. However, not all companies are aware of the features that should be in the ecommerce app development. You can learn the solution for yourself by carefully reading our article, so don’t worry.
Technology has undoubtedly contributed greatly to the evolution of the retail industry. The majority of the difficulties that retailers once faced are now the responsibility of IT. The same is true for customers, who don’t have to spend their time scouring countless city shops for a specific item or stressing over payment options.
Additionally, unlike a few years ago, when it was only available to big malls or retail chains, retail IT is now widely available to everyone. Without a website, it’s hard to imagine how a small, privately held company could conduct business; in fact, there’s almost no chance that a company would survive for very long without one.
Mobility is the stage of evolution that retail is currently entering. Even though “shopping apps” make up only 3% of all app store categories, they are unquestionably growing in popularity among retailers and customers.
statistics relating to in-store apps
According to the PWC Total Retail Survey from 2016, 44% of customers regularly use mobile retail apps to check out special offers, 44% do so to read reviews and feedback on products, and 30% do so to view advertisements. Nearly 16% of customers claimed to also be making purchases through retail mobile commerce apps.
Only one year later, PWC found that 25% of users were making purchases on their mobile devices. Mobile commerce sales in the U.S. retail sector increased significantly in 2017, from $96.81 billion to $113.57 billion, a significant increase. Additionally, the overall amount increased from $429 billion in 2016 to $549 billion in 2017.
According to current forecasts, by 2020, nearly 80% of all purchases will be made using a mobile device, and m-commerce sales in the United States will top $200 billion.
Determine your features.
Mobile devices may appear to be less functional than desktop computers because they are smaller and less powerful. Actually, compared to standard e-commerce stores, retail mobile commerce apps offer a richer set of features. The ability for customers to use mobile apps for shopping not only while at home but also while traveling and in-store is by far the biggest benefit. However, it’s just one of many strong points.
Evaluation of the product
While previews are frequently used for online shopping, they can also be helpful for traditional brick and mortar stores. For instance, a customer might want to see how the item appears unpackaged, but the store can’t allow package damage and doesn’t have a live model on hand. Mobile commerce app developers can create a retail mobile app that would provide different types of product previews, such as a 3D or even an AR model, in addition to static visual previews, videos, and other formats like those described in this article.
Being able to see other customers’ opinions of the product via the app makes it even more convenient. In this way, a customer can browse the reviews left by other shoppers while they are in the store and look at the preview of the item they want to purchase.
Coding scanning
Any product in the store can have its barcode or QR code scanned by a mobile retail app using a camera. The app will display additional product information, such as price, previews, customer impressions, current applicable special offers, and quantity left, after instantly decoding the code and locating the item in the database. With a feature like that, pre-sale consulting efforts are reduced for both the retailer and the customer.
Payment via mobile
Of course, a customer can use mobile payments to buy something online, then go to the physical store and pick it up. However, after placing all of their desired items in the actual cart in a physical store, customers can also use mobile payment as a checkout. Customers and retailers both benefit from this feature’s ability to reduce waiting times and save time.
Online promotions
Apps for retail establishments make it simple to create and use coupons. First, based on a user’s purchase history or (if a user chooses to share some of their personal data) mobile search history, coupons can be specially tailored to that user. Second, whether personalization is used or not, it doesn’t cost retailers much time or money to create and launch special offers for mobile commerce app. Last but not least, all a user needs to activate a coupon is their mobile app; they can either show it to the checkout cashier on a screen or press a button to activate a discount for mobile payment.
GPS and beacons
GPS and beacon technology have the potential to personalize retail services even more. When a customer’s device is at a specific location, beacons (small sensors that can be installed in a store) cause actions in a retail store ecommerce app development. The actions are typically constrained by predetermined guidelines or requirements. For instance, if a customer is deemed to have been standing close to a product for an extended period of time, a beacon may cause the app to display more details about that particular product or even present a coupon for a discount.
With GPS, the range of a store’s communication with its customers is much greater than the space inside the store. When customers are nearby, a retailer can identify them and send them an invitation to visit by letting them know about exclusive deals or discounts that might catch their attention.
Setting clear boundaries and remaining unobtrusive are crucial with this strategy because there is a thin line between being helpful and annoying. In spite of their utility, customers who receive notifications frequently are likely to ignore them and simply uninstall the mobile commerce app.
The addition of new capabilities
If your current main objective is to gather more information about your audience or sporadically disseminate coupons and exclusive deals, all you need is for users to download your app onto their devices. In other words, your retail mobile app doesn’t necessarily have to be about shopping or even a virtual store.
However, you should provide your audience with some useful features to encourage them to voluntarily allocate some storage space for your app. Several companies already employ this strategy, including Nike, which created a fitness tracking app, and Teavana, which offers a timer app for brewing various teas. These apps not only serve their own unique purposes but also give you the option to distribute coupons or collect customer information.
Costs
The functionality pack determines how much it will cost to develop a mobile commerce app for a physical store or any other type of mobile software. Additionally, this pack includes both significant features (such as those mentioned above) and fundamental ones (login, registration, social integration, and sharing) that some people might consider standard. You can read this article on the costs of iOS development to get a better idea of pricing.
Nevertheless, keep in mind that your project will feature two distinct interfaces, if not two distinct ecommerce app development types, regardless of functionality. One is for you and your shop assistants to gather, analyze, and control customer data as well as to update and manage data in client mobile commerce app. The other is for your customers to use the features you’ve added. other – so that your customers can utilize the features you’ve put in place.
Summary
Apps for retail stores have the potential to enhance buying and selling in numerous ways. Retailers can customize special offers and anticipate when a customer needs a final push to make a purchase by collecting data from their customers’ mobile devices, beacons, or GPS. Additionally, apps can help customers get more details about any item (price, previews, and reviews) and allow them to pay without standing in long lines. For both consumers and owners of retail businesses, all these options make shopping more effective and enjoyable.