The m-commerce industry is booming at the same pace as that of eCommerce. The boom is the mobile eCommerce has made it a compulsion for the store owners to upgrade their site to a mobile store. As per the recent reports, the online shopping using the hand-held devices have grown up by 39%. In fact, it won't be wrong to state that the mobile phones are the preferred option when it comes to shopping online. Even the stats confirm that 85% of the consumers online prefer mobile applications over the mobile-responsive websites.
Salient Features of eCommerce Mobile Apps
Here are some of the statistical report that may specify the reason why the eCommerce companies should invest in mobile app.
1. There has been an increase of 62% smartphone users in the past few months.
2. Even the use of mobile phones has increased by almost 80% for comparing the reviews, prices and other related factors of the products.
3. By the end of 2017, it was approximately 961 million. This figure is projected to surpass 1 billion in 2018.
Despite the edge that a mobile store can provide, the complexity involved is still refraining a number of store owners to go mobile. There are Android/iOS Mobile App Builders available for the various CMS platforms that can help you create an app without any coding or technical knowledge.
If you are planning to delve into m-commerce, then, here’s a list of some of the must-have features that you need to incorporate in your mobile store.
Tablet-optimized
The contents of the application should not appear crammed up on the various hand-held devices. This adds to the compulsion of having tablet-optimized apps. The app should work flawlessly regardless of the device that is being used for browsing.
Simple and uncluttered navigation
One of the vital factors that contribute the triggering the purchase decision of online shoppers is the ease of shopping. Hence, even in the case of the m-commerce, the mobile store should is focused on boosting the shopping experience of the customers. It should deliver seamless navigation. The products and brands should be displayed in an impressive manner.
Quick Login
The online shoppers are not fond of fumbling into the lengthy registration or checkout process. Hence, make sure that your application has social login options. Make the checkout process as simplified as possible. Right from the sign-up to checkout, the key to optimizing the conversion funnel is to keep it simple and seamless.
Social Sharing Option
Word-of-mouth is the easiest and the most 'in' way of boosting the popularity of an application. This is when the inbuilt social option comes into play. Allows your customers to share the product images directly from the app with the social platform. This will allow them to take a second opinion before placing the final order. In addition, it can even enhance the visibility and popularity of your products.
Push Notifications
The on-the-go marketing tools, personalized and time-sensitive promotional triggers tend to inspire immediate action. Incorporating the push notifications would help you see a significant boost in the overall sales of the store in almost no time.
Multi-lingual and multi-currency support
The whole idea of upgrading the site to a mobile platform is to localize the site and make it accessible to a larger audience base with ease. The multi-lingual and multi-currency support is one of the essentials of localizing your business. In addition, the countries that use RTL writing styles, especially the Gulf countries, has seen a recent boost in the number of online shoppers. Thus, the mobile apps should offer multi-lingual RTL support along with multi-currency compatibility. The mobile app builder offered by Knowland and other such companies offers an effortless interface that supports both RTL and LTR writing styles.
Intuitive product filter and search options
Along with an uncluttered interface, filters are a must for making shopping easier for the customers. The tech-savvy generation of shoppers prefers voice search options. Ever since the year 2016, there has been an increase in the voice searches. The reason being tedious navigation is the biggest turn off for the customers. Including this quick search, an option is another way to retain and attract new customers to the checkout page.
Over to you
A mobile app for shopping site is not just concerned with the technology, but its success depends on the features that are offered to your end-users. Offer at par user experience with unique features as well as easy navigation and your app will stand out from the competition.
