What if I told you that there’s an easy way for you to boost your sales, expand your customer base, and give your brand a boost? And that is developing a mobile app for your eCommerce store. Currently, eCommerce mobile apps dominate the market, attracting many users and making substantial profits. And it’s all for a good reason, too.
As shown in the following chart, more online shoppers prefer mobile apps to buy over other methods, further justifying the importance of mobile apps for today’s eCommerce.
(2024’s most popular devices for online shopping in the U.S)
As per Statista, at the end of 2024, there will be 6.57 billion mobile phone users worldwide, which is expected to reach 7.69 billion by 2027. Also, in the past 6 months, nearly 80% of smartphone users have purchased something online.
(Number of smartphone users worldwide)
As the number of mobile phone users increases which in turn increases eCommerce activities that predict the value of mobile commerce to reach $432.2 billion by the end of 2024, this indicates that digital shoppers value the benefits of mobile apps.
Before diving into the benefits of having an eCommerce mobile app for your online store, let’s look at why you need an eCommerce mobile app in the first place.
Why Do You Need an eCommerce Mobile App for Your Online Store?
Considering the above statistics, you might wonder why customers prefer mobile apps for eCommerce. What makes shopping in a mobile app different from shopping in a mobile browser or on a desktop?
Let’s discuss what users like about eCommerce mobile apps and why you need one for your eCommerce business.
Online Buyers Prefer Mobile Apps Over Mobile Browsers
There have been numerous arguments regarding the advantages of mobile apps versus responsive websites. But, there is no doubt that mobile apps are better than mobile browsers: 78% of survey respondents preferred mobile apps over mobile browsers when accessing a store.
There is no surprise in users’ preference for mobile apps. Considering that eCommerce mobile apps make shopping easier, mainly if you don’t shop online every day. The first advantage is that you don’t have to remember the URL or login details whenever you visit the shop. Plus, mobile apps offer better speed and security than mobile browsers.
A Faster Response Time
The performance of a website or an app is a top concern for anyone using the internet. Because mobile apps store their data partially on a mobile device, completing an action on a mobile app takes much less time than on a website.
Furthermore, mobile apps let customers choose their default preferences, allowing them to load only the content they are interested in. This makes users more engaged and saves them time.
Mobile Apps Provide Better User Experience (UX)
The design of your store has a profound impact on your sales since users expect a website to be easy to navigate. Apps on mobile devices have relatively limited layouts, which can work to your advantage.
Specifically, every screen of your store’s mobile app restricts irrelevant banners and buttons, leading to a better user experience. And with fewer distractions, customers will check out faster and return more frequently since it’s easy to make a purchase using your eCommerce app than your website.
App Works Better With Smartphone Features To Increase Engagement
Are you aware of the fact that you can leverage your customers’ devices to increase engagement? Some of the features on your smartphone can integrate with your mobile app to simplify navigation and enhance user engagement.
- GPS: This provides mobile apps with the ability to determine the location of a user.
- Microphone: Allow users to communicate or search via voice mail/note, which helps to increase user engagement.
- Camera: Using this feature mobile app allows users to upload images and leads to a better user experience.
User Tend To Buy More Using Mobile Apps Than Websites.
Mobile apps yield 140% more sales than mobile-responsive websites and 130% more revenue than desktop websites. And there is no single factor responsible for this. However, the following are a few things that contribute to this.
- Push Notifications: They inform users via notifications about their abandoned cart, sales promotions, discounts, marketing campaigns, and much more.
- Instant Checkout: Also refer as one-click ordering. It simplifies the user buying experience.
- Easy Payment Option: Users can use the payment option of their preference, and they don’t have to enter the information every time they make a purchase.
By now, you’ve understood that having a mobile app for your eCommerce store is essential for your business’s growth. But not everyone can afford the cost of app development, especially when you are just starting. That’s where the mobile app builder comes in, allowing you to convert your website into an Android or iOS mobile app in no time. So you can begin providing a better user experience to your customers immediately.
Benefits Of Having an eCommerce Mobile App For Your Business
The fact is, eCommerce mobile apps know their users well and give them a better experience at the click of a button. Having said that, let’s look at some of the benefits of having an eCommerce mobile app for your business.
Mobile App Helps You Optimize Marketing Efforts
In today’s world; customers are constantly connected to brands via mobile apps. And these apps have made it easier for users to interact with brands, find information, and shop online. It is becoming more and more common for customers to choose to use mobile apps to shop online. So, businesses should incorporate mobile apps into their marketing strategies. This will enhance the way that a brand interacts with its customers.
By using the ability to engage with connected customers, businesses can constantly stay in touch with their customers through mobile marketing. And it also helps businesses to promote discount sales, special deals, coupons, and much more to their customers with little to no effort.
Mobile App Helps You Increase Customer Loyalty
Mobile app features a lot of useful options that can increase customer loyalty. And you make sure that your eCommerce mobile app shows product details, customer support, and an easy payment option, which encourages them to make a purchase. So, simply follow the following tips to increase customer loyalty with an eCommerce mobile app.
- Build and maintain the optimal user interface of your mobile app to get a better user experience, which also increases brand recall value.
- You can encourage your customers to return by offering them special deals, discounts, new collections, and much more. You can notify all this by using push notifications.
- You can also provide 24/7 customer support within the app through live chat or chatbots.
Mobile App Reduces The Rate Of Cart Abandonment
In eCommerce, the cart abandonment rate in mobile apps is significantly lower due to the simplicity of the checkout process. The mobile app stores payment and shipping information, allowing users to check out with a single tap.
Additionally, when users visit the store and are unsure of what they need, they often leave without making a purchase. On the other hand, users who access your store via a mobile app tend to arrive well-prepared and may make purchases.
Mobile App Offers A Better Customer Experience
Customers today expect brands to provide a high level of personalization and consistency throughout their brand journey. And relying solely on websites would not help you achieve this. So, mobile apps are the best choice when it comes to retaining customers.
By integrating technologies like, AI (Artificial Intelligence), Machine Learning, AR, and VR with an eCommerce mobile app, you can gain valuable insight about your users, such as:
- Who are your customers, and what do they like?
- At which time of the day do they usually prefer to buy online?
- What is the average time it takes them to make a purchasing decision?
Once you have the answers to all these questions, you can offer your customers a better shopping experience, resulting in more sales.
Mobile Apps Done Better At Retaining Customers
Whenever you accomplish eCommerce sales, there is no doubt that you should be very happy about that. But now that you have achieved success don’t let it end there. Engage your customers with mobile marketing (using built-in mobile app features) to entice them with better deals, discounts, and a hassle-free shopping experience!
Studies show that acquiring loyal customers costs about 25 times more than acquiring new customers. But a 5% improvement in customer retention can result in profits increasing by over 25% at the cost of as little as $5 per return customer.
38% of the users who download the eCommerce mobile app are 11 times more likely to return as compared to the web browser. In short, they will likely buy at least once during 11 or more visits.
Users of eCommerce mobile apps frequently access the apps; that’s an excellent marketing advantage for businesses. It allows them to do marketing and sell whenever they want.
Hence, to retain customer retention in eCommerce, mobile apps play a vital role; without them, you can lose many businesses, Which puts you behind the competition.
Wrapping Up!
It’s no secret that consumers are switching from traditional shopping to mobile commerce. Whether it is branding, customer service, or marketing, a mobile app will benefit almost every aspect of your eCommerce business.
In the end, the numbers say it all. I’ve given you multiple reasons why you need an eCommerce mobile app for your online store and its benefits, which explains the importance of mobile apps for today’s eCommerce quite well.
Lastly, if you want to stay relevant in today’s eCommerce competitive market, having a mobile app is no longer an option but a necessity.
