7 Reasons Why You Need An eCommerce Mobile App

Introduction

With the rapid development of technology, more and more people are shopping online these days. Especially since the COVID-19 occurred, many companies have moved their business to online platforms. The power of the internet enables us to reach any customers anytime, anywhere, … Nevertheless, choosing the type of device to conduct your online business can have a significant impact on your success. In this article, we will show you the reasons why you need an eCommerce mobile application to accelerate your business goals.

7 Reasons Why It Is Essential to Have an eCommerce Mobile App:

Mobile Commerce is a rising trend

As you may notice, everyone around you owns a mobile phone. According to Data Reportal, 52% of the world’s population are mobile internet users. As a result, it is understandable that Mobile Commerce has developed rapidly, and it will continue to take over the eCommerce industry in the future.

52% of the world’s population are mobile internet users. (Data Reportal)

According to eMarketer, by 2021, mobile commerce will control 73% of all eCommerce sales across the globe. People are already used to mobile shopping. It's simply more convenient than waiting for a computer to boot up. Our phones are always within arm's reach, whereas a laptop or desktop computer is not always.

Consumers purchase from a variety of sources. Mobile commerce enables people to purchase on the bus, train, or Uber. They shop online during their lunch break or while walking down the street with a cup of coffee. It's purely too simple.

As mobile sales continue to rise in the coming years, mobile app development is the best way for your eCommerce site to get a piece of the pie.

Consumers prefer mobile applications

If you already had a mobile site for your eCommerce business, it is a good start. However, it is not enough to accelerate your eCommerce sales.

According to a current survey, 78% of consumers would rather use an app to buy from an eCommerce shop than a mobile website. This means that if you currently get 100 mobile transactions per week, approximately 80 of those people would prefer to purchase from your native app. And those are your current customers. Consider how many people you're missing out just because you don't have an app.

There are several reasons why consumers prefer mobile applications

The top two reasons are convenience and speed. Mobile apps generally offer a better purchasing experience.

Optimize Marketing Communications

For marketers, mobile applications are a dream. You'll be able to earn even more revenues from your current and prospective customers if you improve your marketing strategies.

Without a mobile application, you must rely on your customers to navigate to your site directly in order to make conversions. However, there is a little chance that the same person will come back to your website. Even your most loyal customers will not need to purchase something every day, or even every week.

So, you spend marketing dollars on email communication and social media campaigns in an attempt to reach your customer base through alternative channels. Nevertheless, with a mobile app, you will have a more effective way of communicating with your customers—push notifications.

Without a mobile application, you must rely on your customers to navigate to your site directly in order to make conversions.

The data show how push notifications outperform email marketing in terms of open rates. Push notifications offer a better way to keep your customers informed because users don't have to do anything.

When reaching customers via social media, you need to rely on them using your social media platform, seeing your post, navigating to your website and then converting from there. It is the same with email communication. Your customer must sign up, open the email, read the content and click a link to reach your website. It is too complicated with so many steps.

Push notification delivers messages just like texts, appearing directly on home screens. It is much easier for users to buy things because they will be straightly directed to the app.

Personalize shopping experience

Personalization plays an important role in the success of eCommerce. With eCommerce websites, you can conduct some basic personalized tactics such as customizing the homepage based on customers’ locations. Nevertheless, eCommerce mobile app will take personalization to the next level.

You can track the browsing and buy history of the user with the app to offer personalized recommendations. This is also possible on a website, but it depends on the user being always logged in, so it's much easier to do with an app.

According to the research from Accenture and the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), 63% of consumers want a personalized experience when they’re shopping online. Moreover, most of them are willing to share their data in exchange for benefits, such as access to exclusive deals, points and rewards, or special offers tailored to their interests.

You can combine your push notification campaigns with personalization strategies to accelerate your eCommerce sales. Instead of sending the same push notification for all your customers, you can send specific notifications based on the preferences of each user with your eCommerce app.

Better conversion rate with Ecommerce Mobile App

Let’s take a look at this chart from Criteo:

Consumers view 286 percent more products and add 85% higher items to their purchase cart when buying from an app than from a mobile browser.

Products viewed per session and add-to-cart rates are great, but conversion rate is the only thing that matters. You can clearly see from the chart that mobile apps convert at a 130% higher rate than mobile websites.

The higher the conversion rate is, the more profit your business will earn. And a mobile app will drive higher conversion rates for your business.

Increase customer loyalty and retention rates

Implementing a customer loyalty program is an excellent way to encourage your customers to spend more money. The availability of an eCommerce mobile app increases the likelihood that your customers will participate in this type of program.

Customers can view their current program status in real-time through an app, which links back to our earlier point about personalization. A loyalty program encourages your customers to spend more money in order to earn their next reward.

You can set up your loyalty program by several ways such as rewarding your customers based on how much they spend in a period of time. For example, customers who spend $500 in a year will get some type of reward or benefit. Customers who spend $1,000 in a year will get even more rewards.

Mobile users return to the app frequently as well. In fact, a mobile user has a 50% chance of returning to an eCommerce mobile app within 30 days of purchasing something.

Even if a user isn't returning to the app as frequently as you'd like, you can always use push notifications to entice them to do so. To encourage users to buy from your app, offer a flash sale or an exclusive deal. A desktop or mobile site will not provide you with the same opportunities.

Reduce cart abandonment rates

The abandonment of the shopping cart is a major issue for eCommerce companies. It is one of the most important KPIs to track.

This is because the customer is usually just a few clicks away from the completion of the purchase, which makes cart abandonment so frustrating.

There are many reasons why customers give up on checking out their cart:

• Extra costs like shipping fee
• Users must sign up for an account
• Complicated check out process
• Website errors

Besides cost-related reasons, the most common cause of shopping cart abandonment is user experience.

The abandonment of the shopping cart is a major issue for eCommerce companies.

Studies have shown that in comparison with desktop sites and mobile sites, only 20% of users will abandon their shopping cart after adding items. A simplified checkout process contributes to lower checkout abandonment rates in mobile apps. The information for shipping and payment is stored in the system, which enables users to purchase by one click. This allows customers to check out more quickly without unnecessary distractions.

Conclusion

It is not easy to make your eCommerce store successful in a short time. Nevertheless, a mobile app can help you fulfill most of your business goals.

Higher conversion rates, increased retention rates and lower cart abandonment rates are some of the great benefits that an eCommerce mobile app can offer. Furthermore, people are spending more time on their mobile phones nowadays. So, why don’t you consider building a mobile app for your eCommerce store from today?

If you do not have any experience in building an ecommerce mobile app and need help, Groove Technology is happy to be your partner. Please contact us for further support via email: contact@groovetechnology.com.