Online Bookstore App Development Cost and Features Guide- 2024

We all have heard of Amazon, the number one giant in the online book shopping platform. Amazon has transformed the way of selling and buying books online. It is inviting other investors as well to invest in online bookstore mobile app development to grab a big chunk out of the online book shopping market.

Consumers across the world always look for the best options where they can read a brief of the book and its price before they buy. Authors want a place where they publish their book at a good price and are overwhelmed by a large fanbase. Online book shopping platforms are such diverse options for both consumers and publishers.

In addition, global comic characters like Marvel and DC (Detective Comics) drift the rise in the existing market of comic books. Adding to it, Indian comic icons like Chacha Choudhary, Akbar Birbal, and Chota Bheem create a substantial populace, not only in the Indian market but worldwide.

Online book shopping apps give modes to enhance readability and understanding to the user to brief more about a book via dictionaries, appendices, summaries, easy navigation, highlights, and many other options. These apps are embedded with automated light features, which switch to the optimized light when required in the day and night.

Business owners offer huge discounts to consumers during festive seasons to attract them. In addition, they give sample readings to retain them as buyers.

So, if you, too, are planning to build your online bookstore app, you are at the right place. This blog helps you to cater to every aspect of your needs while building the app.

So, let’s begin.

What do you mean by Online Bookstore Mobile App?

An online bookstore app is a platform that offers a lot of flexibility to its readers.
In the traditional model of learning, hardcopy books are easier on palms and eyes to read. And we are quite habitual of it.

But with the essence of technology, when we have apps for groceries, beauty salons, fitness, and health, then why do we unwind from the books app?

They can easily search the book on the platform just by applying the filters and accounts for the type of book they wish to read.

People are so much fond of reading books. Smartphones make it more convenient for them to adopt flawless reading and learn new knowledge or skills. Saves time for the users.

The online bookstore marketplace app offers many features like favorite books, authors, genres, books, rates, year-wise publishes, etc to the readers. Under different sections, they have a large variety to the readers, school kids, professionals, retirees, women, pets, and many genres.

Read Also: How To Develop Marketplace App Like Wish – Cost And Features 

Different Types of Online Bookstore Apps

The online category of bookstores is divided into different categories according to their marketplace. The category is distributed as an individual and publishing bookstore.

Both are distinguished as in the individual bookstore; there is no list of different authors’ books are placed, while in the publishing bookstore, there are different authors’ books placed under a single section.

• Book Shopping App Development For publishing Bookstores: Here, various authors’ books are available. They are international bestsellers. The new inspiring author caters to their publication on some of the top-placed websites or apps to offer large readers. In this platform, both readers and authors combined come together in a single interface.
• Book Shopping App Development For Individual Bookstores: Here in this category, the individual author could not have their own platform, so they connect with some of the individual bookstores who have their platforms to publish their books to offer quality reading to the users.

Before moving to the bookstore mobile app development process, let’s dig more into the market stats of the online book shopping app.

Why Invest in Bookstore Mobile App Development -Market Stats

• According to a survey conducted by GrandViewReasearch, the online book shopping services market is estimated to expand with the current CAGR of 5.8% from $18.8 B in 2020 to $27.8 B in 2027. According to the Mordor Intelligence survey, the number of books sold online in the year 2020 in the USA alone is $191 M.
• In May 2020, one of the top curated apps in the segment, named Kobo, registered with 2M new users.
• Key companies in the market share of online book-shopping apps are Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Google, Lulu Press, Scribd, etc.
• The top countries in the marketplace are the USA, the UK, Germany, and Japan.
• The online devices that played a vital role in the success of online book reading are Kindle, Tablets, and other ebook reading devices.
• When we look into the competitive landscape, Amazon and Flipkart are the top providers in the online book purchase market.
• In 2019, Walmart came with the Onn tablet device, with few of the untouched features in the same price range as Android.
• Online books speed up the readability of the users.

These market stats help you to support more to create a bookstore website or app for your business.

Who is the Target Audience for the Online Book Shopping Mobile App Development?

Nowadays, the usability of online selling and buying of books is very likely enjoyed by people. While creating the app for the bookstore category, first, the app developers need to focus on the different audiences.

Plan according to the market audience what type of reading material they are looking for on these platforms. Conduct a relevant market survey before online book Shopping app development.

• School Kids: The online marketplace makes it easy for school and college students to undergo their syllabus books under the online bookstore. These books are relevant to the state and central boards’ pattern, and can be easier to understand.
• Bachelor and Spinsters: Yes, bachelors are the top in the chart of reading online books. Platforms like Amazon and Flipkart offer a huge category of genres to target bachelors and spinsters. Various companies please to market youth to cater to the good quality of content.
• Businesspersons and executives: Business spokespersons or corporate executives have so much to explore in their daily lives. It is essential for them to learn the chores of important books to get the cliche of knowledge in the right direction.
• Sportsmen: This section helps the sportsperson with various techniques while practicing and polishing their skills.
• Tourists: Those who are uncertain about the quench of time are tourists. They are always wandering to different places. They equate before with the culture, temperature, locality, and religion of their next destination. For this, online platforms are aloof with a lot of resources to cover each of the information.
• Literary Scholars: One who is keen to know and read about ancient literature and mythologies comes under literary scholars. Mythology is the new hot topic in the list of top-searched genres in online books. People loved to read about their ancestors and literature-curated books. Ratings and reviews help them to understand more about the relevancy.
• Pregnant Moms: Pregnant mommies are more prone to their upcoming babies. They have a special feeling for their kid inside their womb, these online books are just their best companion in such times to get a direct connection via illustrations and tangy stories. Plus, books with tips for toddlers are the best version to be read by the parents.
• Relationships: Couples who are in a relationship, always seeking books based on couple goals to check their compatibility with their partners.
• Retirees: Retirees who are looking to downsize their homes and aim to live a minimalist life with the students and for a convenient reading experience.

Read Also: How to Develop Local Buy-Sell Marketplace App like LetGo, OfferUp & Carousell?

Top Bookstore Mobile apps to Inspire you to Build One

Now that you are convinced to build a bookstore mobile app, hire a team of dedicated mobile app developers to get started. As you partner with a reliable mobile app development company, the first thing they would start with is competition analysis. 

Some of the top bookstore mobile apps to inspire your project can be

Amazon Bookstore 

The giant started as an online bookstore and grew to what it is today. Amazon offers books from all genres and languages, making it one of the most popular bookstores in the world.

With amazing offers and regular discounts from the 10th to the 14th of each month, amazon offers users a great book-buying experience. 

Android 

iOS

Alibris Bookstore

The website has a range of books, both fresh and second-hand, for purchase. You can choose books by title, category, author, etc. Alibris is dedicated to making the book-buying experience as simple as it could be and sharing the joy of reading. 

Order from the website and get exciting discounts and rewards on your purchase. 

Website

Books-a-million Bookstore 

Another interesting application that has a lot of audiobooks registered with it. You can download the app and start browsing. Download the audiobooks in your TBR and enjoy listening to them when you have some time. 

Android

iOS

Powell’s Bookstore 

Another popular website to buy books online. Powell’s has been ruling the online bookstore market for a long time now and offers users classic editions of their favorite books.

You can reach the website and browse through your favorite books. Avail of interesting discounts and offers on your orders as you make a purchase. 

Website

Peachpit Bookstore 

Another prominent publisher in the list who has been selling some amazing books. Simply visit the website and check out their amazing collection of books.  They have an amazing range of academic books along with novels and other fiction books.

Website

How to Develop the Online Book Shopping Mobile App?

Android is the highest used platform in the Google Play Store, with plenty of applications. If you want to develop the app on the Android platform, then you must be puzzled with the same question like how to develop a book app for Android? Here we come up with the solution.

Features of the Online Book Shopping App

Book stores are full-fleshed with a large variety of genres of books. To keep everything on the online platform, it is important to add key features to the app. While developing the book store app, basic features are divided mainly into three panels.

• Publisher
• Customer
• Admin

Book Shopping App Development -Customer Panel

• Sign Up and Log In: Easy login and registration interface saves the user’s time. The app prompts the user for registration or via social media for quick login to their accounts.
• Social Media Integration: Everyone is on social media networking to keep sharing about their social life with their friends and followers.
• Genres: This section is separately placed in the app. This makes it more interesting and easy for the users to navigate different books
• Proper Font and Size: Each user has a different choice for reading. Some may want to read the large font build characters, some may wish to go with small ones. The app should have readability context for the readers as per their wishes.
• Format: The readable document is in a different format to allow users to access their doc on their devices. Some of the formats are pdf, epub, etc.
• Cover of the book: In case the user wants to buy a book, he can be able to do that.
• Bookmark: Using this bookmark feature, the user is able to highlight their important script in the doc with some color. This feature also helps the user to come back to the same page, wherever they have left.
• Reading Mode: This feature allows the user to automate the brightness of the document as per the light of the room environment.
• Themes: Now these are a very interesting feature, where users can pick their choice of theme and apply it to the background of the document or file.
• Text Zoom In/ Zoom Out: Sometimes the text size in the document is small for our eyes to read. This feature gives the flexibility to the user to zoom in and out as per their wish.
• Landscape and Portrait Mode: Under this feature, the user can rotate the document in landscape or portrait size according to their device.
• Admob and iAd Versions: This feature allows monetization. You can place the relevant ad on the book page and advertise it to the users to earn money.

Online Bookstore app Development – Publisher Panel

• Sign Up and Log In: Publishers have their separate section in the profile to add their bio and information. Many users and customers cross-verify the publishers to trust them. They can look at any of the publisher’s bio with this.
• Cover: The market is high with the competition. So it’s important for any book to have an attractive and appealing cover that inspires many users.
• Book Description: The next thing to attract more niche users is to add some informative description or brief of the book to get them aware of the insight of the book.
• Links: At the end of the content, place some of the informative links that add more value to the context of the book.

Book Store Mobile App Development – Admin Panel

• Real-Time Analytics: Admin is the main authority of the app. He has full control over the app. This feature helps him to get the insight of the current user base to make wise decisions and get more definitive results.
• CRM Integration: CRM is a tool to manage the mandatory tasks performed by the user. This helps the admin to serve their customers in a more subtle way.
• Dashboards: Using the dashboard, the admin gets a detailed view of the sales and every operation in a single window.

Related Post: Book Review & Recommendation App Development – Cost and Key Features

Advanced Features for Online Bookstore Mobile App Development

Advanced features of bookstore mobile app development make the app more cliche in such a competitive of market. The features that make the app placement amongst the top are as follows:

• Voice Assistance: Users are always looking for a convenient option that makes their searching fast. Here lies the option of voice assistance. Just by giving a voice command, users can automatically search for their choice of books at the optimal time.
• ChatBot Support: Chatbots give endless support to the users, in case they get stuck someplace. It’s a mix of Machine learning with Artificial Intelligence and NLP (natural language processor). This reduces human intervention.
• Push Notification: This feature allows the user and publisher to get aware of any important updates when they are away from the app.
• User Behavior Tracking: This feature helps the admin to track the behavior of the user and send them more personalized suggestions relevant to their choices.

Required Tech Stack for Online BookStore App Development

Languages

• Android: Kotlin, Java, React Native, Python, Android SDK
• iOS languages: Swift and Objective-C, iOS SDK

Toolkit

• Android: Debugging tools, Graphical UI and Emulators, Graphical UI Builder
• iOS: Xcode, and Intellij App Code

For Hybrid Bookstore Mobile App Development:

• HTML5, CSS4, JS.
• Google Maps
• Google Analytics
• Rockerbox for advertising
• Google Cloud Messaging
• Bootstrap
• SproutCore- JS framework
• FoxProxy
• Amazon S3

Team Required for Online Bookstore App Development

• Project Manager
• Business Analyst
• Front-end developers
• Back-end developers
• iOS Developers
• Android Developers
• UX/UI designers
• Testing Engineer

Read Also: Leverage the Power of AI for Your Ecommerce Business Success

Steps to Develop an Online BookstoreApp?

As you partner with your mobile app development company to build a bookstore app for you, be clear about the development process and methodology your development team will follow.

Most development teams follow the Agile methodology of development to deliver the app within a shorter span of time with no flaws. 

Here are the steps to build an online bookstore app: 

Market Research 

Understanding your target audience and their preferences gives you a direction to build a solution that will work for them. Study your competitors and their solutions to know the pitfalls that you can avoid in your solution. 

Once you are well acquainted with the market, work on the features and functionalities to include in your bookstore app. 

Decide the Platform 

Once you are done with competition analysis and market research, decide the platforms you want to build your app on. You can choose to build an Android app, an iOS app, or a cross-platform app that can be accessed over any device without compromising the functioning and features.

Get Ready with the Feature List 

Build a detailed feature list and functionalities you want to include in your project. This would make it easier for you to hire a team of developers who can result in solutions aligned with your business objective. 

Hire a Development Team 

Search and hire a native app development company or cross-platform app development company according to your budget and requirements. Check their portfolio and reviews before finalizing the team. 

Recommended Read: How to Hire Mobile App Developers 

Market Your App

As the development team is busy building your app, make your presence felt. Engage your marketing team in building a strong marketing strategy to promote your app. Branding and marketing are crucial to a successful business application.  

Launch Your App 

Once your blog is developed, launch it on the app store and track what users have to say. It is essential to get real-time reviews of your application that can help you enhance the features and functionalities of your application. 

Revise and Update 

Modify and update your app as per the reviews. Partner with our mobile app developers who deliver scalable solutions that can grow as your business expands.

Cost to Develop the Online Book Shopping Mobile App

Cost is the most important and crucial aspect of deciding the price of the book’s purchase app development. The cost of the app depends on many of the factors that combined affect the cost.

Nature of the App: More features are added to the app, which increases the cost of the app. To get a clear overview of the app, wireframing, and prototype is important to develop at the early stage of the development. Yet, this may increase the cost of the app.

Tech Stack: If you want to make your app robust and rapid with any of the fluctuations of the marketplace. More advanced tech features are placed on the app. This will lead to the price of the app.

Number of Developers: As per the functionality and complexity of the app, various developers are used for the development. The expert team will take the final product to success. However, this may raise the cost of the app.

Region of the developers: You have a wider choice of options to choose the right development team or developer from the pool of experts.

The price developers charge depends on their locality. On an estimation, the developers from the USA or European countries take a higher charge compared with the developers from the Indian regions.

On concluding each factor, the price of the online book shopping mobile app is $15k to $25k. While the advanced functional app will give you more ability to work. This will raise the price of the app to some extent to $50k. 

We, too, can help you by giving a highly agile Online Book Shopping App Development solution for your next bookstore app. If you need expert assistance from us, you can connect with us. Whatever you want to place in your app, our app developers can help you out with the best online book shopping app development solutions for setting up your own online book-shopping app.

How to Start an Online Bookstore in India

India is one of the most likely markets for authors and publication houses to showcase their national and international top-selling books and novels. The government under the ‘Incredible India’ opens platforms to the industries to cater the multitude of services to the users.

In order to start and create an online bookstore website or app in India, you need to prepare a whole business plan. If you are new to this industry, planning is vital to create a relevant strategy, estimate the budget beforehand, shipping costs, a mode for shipment of books, and other things you pack for your users.

Give a refund policy so new users do not hesitate to purchase books from the platform.

1. Find the Right Source:  What type of books do you need to sell in the Indian market? There are plenty of categories to choose from, like motivational, fiction, non-fiction, technology, spiritual, etc. You can research the Indian market as per their choice and their gender, locality, etc. Then, connect with the best nearby wholesaler to get books at a decent rate for your online platform.

2. Create the Product Catalog: it is always best to separate different categories of books at the platform. This makes quick accessibility to the users. Plan a robust product catalog system to place a pile of books under a single roof.

• Divide the books into categories.
• Describe the price for each book.
• Make a poster of the book to attract the user’s attention for more reading of the book.

3. Advertise in the Indian Market: the next important step is to advertise the app in the market. In the generation of technology, the online mode of marketing is the quickest way to get connected with niche users. Facebook, Google ads, and email marketing campaigns are good-to-go options to attain a large number of local customers.

4. Secure Reliable Payment Gateways: To gain a higher customer base, always choose both online and offline modes of payment. Usual online payment gateways are credit/debit cards, net banking, UPI, and eWallet app development. Still, a large number of local or rural people face hesitation to pay the price online. They prefer COD (cash on delivery) to be more trustworthy.

Flourish your online bookstore with these small things. You can connect with some leading mobile application developers like us who can help you throughout your online bookstore mobile app development journey.

Final Thoughts!

The recent rise in the number of smartphones and purchasing everything via apps helps to grow the online book-buying market. Consumers are more likely to get an overview of the book before they go to buy it. Over the book shopping mobile app, every detail is placed so that the consumer would not find themselves in any vague state.

We at Octal IT Solution can transform your journey of online bookstore mobile app development by making personalized apps in the spare of apps. Hire mobile app developers to help publish the app in the right marketplace: on play stores like Android and iOS to provide the best user experience.

FAQ – BookStore App Development