The requirement of a native mobile application for ecommerce websites is paramount. In this article, you will explore why mobile app is a mandate for the e-commerce sites.
The Emergence of Mobile Commerce
A proliferation in mobile technology has brought about a paradigm shift in the field of online retail and ecommerce. While behind an online purchase, even two years back we imagined a bulky desktop or a sleek but ergonomically inconvenient laptop computer, today, we have all that and even more, charmingly packed in our mobile devices. Today, around 2.6 billion people have access to a mobile phone and the number is consistently on the rise. Therefore it is somewhat commercially obvious that whether you have a booming business or your sales are muddled up in economic complexity, in either case you require a mobile application that provides direct access to people across the world. The constant upgradation of the experience associated with the mobile technology, commonly referred to as smartphones is in flavour with our times and has consolidated its presence by overcoming the sales of full-fledged computers. Today, a smartphone is nearly capable of doing everything that a spacious desktop could do two years ago, from social networking to online shopping. Though brick-and-mortar stores still exist and increase in numbers, online shopping and mobile commerce has achieved such a position in our life that does not seem likely to be outdated in the coming years. Besides, it is a fact that accessing an ecommerce site through a native smartphone app is much more convenient than using a desktop website majorly because of the easy manoeuvrability and a more personal user experience of the former.
The Future of E-commerce is Here
In the present scenario, a mobile application is as basic a requirement as a website. According to a survey , the number of smartphone owners has surpassed the number of desktop or laptop computer owners, making the mobile platform most populated and therefore most lucrative area to exploit a varied consumer experience.1 An application on one’s smartphone is surely more convenient to visit than a brick-and-mortar store and probably that is why a third of digital traffic to retail websites is generated through mobile devices. On the other hand, it is also evident that the growth potential of mobile commerce is only going to increase in future making it a major candidate not only for the present generation but also for the immediate posterity. Further this survey states that around 85% of the consumers prefer a mobile app over desktop or mobile websites for purchases done online. A dedicated mobile application acts as greater assurance of market presence of a particular company or a retail-chain. On the other hand, through a mobile application, an ecommerce agency is better capable of providing a more customized and personalized experience to the consumer in the stead.
The Perks of Mobile Apps
1. Round-the-clock Presence
Today, the mobile application has become a comprehensive solution for ecommerce merchants that have to deal with the customers on a daily basis. A smooth and user-friendly mobile application has the power to drive sales like no other online extension for it makes the customers interact with the products on a very personal level. It does not only retain an effective online presence but also helps a customer to create personalized wish-lists to refer during later use or simply for the purpose of window shopping.
2. More Convenient Shopping Experience
Mobile applications are designed to provide a hassle free product interaction. With just a few taps on the screen, a customer can order the product of his/her choice. Mobile commerce also caters a more innovative purchase and marketing features such as cashless transaction, free home delivery, stock oriented discounts and discount coupons.
3. Stronger Customer Connections
Every smartphone is operated by a single user and everything that a person does on the phone, from modifying the appearance, browsing certain products to gathering detailed information about them—all such data are highly personal. Such information gathered while a person uses a smartphone app can therefore be used to create a better customized and personalized shopping experience.
4. Better Engagement
The user downloading the mobile application of a preferred brand or an ecommerce outlet now has different ways to engage with it. While GPS systems can help customers to find the nearest retail outlet, a mobile system may be more effective in product display and information before the actual purchase is made. According to Adobe’s research on mobile shopping, 67% of the customers demand for mobile applications of the brands they prefer. 63% of the customers check and scan prices online before going in for the actual purchase. Besides, most of the applications come with the social network integration feature which enables both the sellers and buyers reach out to each other in various ways through the social network websites.
5. Increase in Sale
The growth of mobile commerce has outpaced the overall ecommerce growth. Data suggests that in 2015 a staggering 163 billion dollars of sales worldwide was done only through mobile applications which counted as 12% of the overall ecommerce turnover.
6. Ease of Access
It is a matter of fact that accessing a mobile application is easier than a website and requires no special skill such as ability to operate computers.
7. Push Notifications
The mobile applications are capable of delivering push notifications for arrival of new products, stock clearance sales, special discounts and offers round the clock with having the consumer even open a particular application. This also helps retailers remain afloat in the ecommerce platform which eventually increases sales and revenue collection.
Conclusion
It is widely evident that the proliferation of applications for ecommerce websites is the future of online shopping. Recent incorporation of latest technological feats such as augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) with the mobile commerce has given online shopping a new edge to the key players in the business to exploit new possibilities. Given the magnanimity of the statistical data related to smartphone technology only makes it obvious that native mobile applications of ecommerce giants are here to stay for long and shall in near future reach new apex in customer satisfaction.
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Sudeep Banerjee
Sudeep Banerjee is the Founder and President of Mobixed, the leading mobile apps development company of California. A visionary entrepreneur, Sudeep's expertise lies in various fields including web development, digital marketing and app development. He believes that apps would act as powerful vehicles to drive sales for businesses in the near future.