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We must admit that the web presence is no longer enough to attract and retain a newer audience. With the new era of technology, digital habits are also changing, and people now prefer to browse and buy products even on the go. The mobile presence has become more important than ever. That’s why it has become imperative for entrepreneurs to opt for online shopping app development. Entrepreneurs now prefer to develop shopping apps as they offer multiple benefits over the web presence.

But how do you go for shopping app development and make it successful? There are a plethora of driving factors behind the development of a successful online shopping app. In this article, we will go through various aspects that cover the answers to how to develop a shopping app.

What is a Shopping App? Why to go for Shopping App Development?

Although shopping app is now a ubiquitous term, still it is defined as a mobile application by which users or customers can browse and buy products from mobile devices, tablets, etc. The retailers or merchant list their products, and the customer can browse through the catalog on this online channel. An online shopping app development can significantly increase the business as mobile traffic continues to grow at an exponential rate. The majority of online purchases now happen through online shopping apps instead of traditional websites.

There are a lot of reasons why today’s customers now prefer to buy from a mobile app instead of a website. Firstly, they get a highly convenient and user-friendly experience through mobile apps vis-à-vis mobile websites. Secondly, the speed of an online shopping app is much higher than that of a website. They are also more responsive, which is important for customers who want to make a purchase quickly.

Market Statistics of Online Shopping Apps:

Do you know that 62% of people who own a smartphone have made a purchase using their device in the past six months?

Surprised? This is just a glimpse of the sky-touching statistics of online shopping. Here are a few major statistics that will compel you to build a shopping app for your business as soon as possible.

·  Online shopping apps are responsible for 31% of all retail e-commerce sales in the USA

·  35% of US consumers use only their mobile device to buy online

·  80% of customers utilized a mobile phone within a physical store to look up product reviews, compare pricing, or research other store locations.

·  51% of people open a mobile app up to ten times each day.

Benefits of Online Shopping App Development:

Although we have already mentioned certain ways in which you choose to develop an instant grocery shopping app like Instacart, which will be beneficial, here are the other major factors.

1. Quick and Convenient Experience:

The foremost reason why customers prefer to opt for mobile shopping apps is because mobile apps are quick and convenient. Mobile shopping apps are built in a way that makes it easy for customers to find and buy the products they want. Also, after saving the payment info once, it is quite faster for the shoppers to purchase items and make in-app payments by logging into an account.

2. Highly Responsive and easy to navigate than traditional websites:

Online shopping websites were once a huge trend; in fact, they still are to buy items. However, with the development of newer technologies, mobile apps are catching on at a faster pace. The apps come with an intuitive and responsive experience, which makes them easy to navigate compared to mobile websites. Mobile apps help in organizing and redirecting customers to precisely what they need without any distractions that could take them away from the website.

3. Discounts and App Exclusive Deals:

Mobile apps are not just limited to being responsive or easy to navigate, but they also offer exclusive deals and discounts, which may not be present on the retailer’s website. It is a huge motivating point for customers as they can save money by adopting mobile shopping. As mobile traffic continues to grow, businesses leverage mobile shopping apps to attract new customers.

4. Social Media:

The driving force of the internet is engagement. The more time people spend time on your shopping app, the better it is for your business.

When it comes to increasing engagement, social media is the best available way. However, if you want to ensure your app works with major social networking sites, you can consider advertising on them as a first step.

You will require a strong media campaign to generate a large following on social media. Popular social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube are excellent for launching your app and getting the required attention right away.

Once you get all the downloads, you can motivate all the users to join up with their social media profiles. This will greatly simplify future social media sharing. Similarly, incorporate social networking buttons and other shareable call-to-actions within your app. To encourage individuals to use them, you may need to provide tempting incentives.

5. Marketing Channel:

Your company’s shopping application also becomes a marketing tool. When businesses switch to mobile commerce, the digital marketing team gets direct access to user data, a major benefit.

They can get various data on customer journeys, such as user sessions, entry points, response time, in-app clickthrough rates, and many other metrics. Whether you are marketing to customers or businesses, developing an instant shopping app like Instashop will give you the greatest deals at the customer’s fingertips.

6. Customer Service:

Customer service is a very old field, but the expectations are always new and ever-changing. Customer wants quick responses to their queries, which require mobile devices for interaction. Customer support through mobile apps gives multiple advantages. A mobile shopping app is embedded with a helpful, easy-to-use help center that customers readily accept to get assistance with.

Read More: How to Develop Home Decore Shopping Mobile App?

Features To Include in Shopping App:

shopping app development features

Whatever type of shopping app you want to develop, whether it is home décor shopping app development, video shopping app development, or any other kind, the features will play an imperative role in determining its success.

Here are the major features to consider even if you wish to develop an online book-shopping mobile app:

1. Authorization:

Although authorization is an obvious feature, there are some peculiarities of which you may need to be made aware of. Firstly, you must not force your customers to sign up for an account immediately as soon as they start using the app. It doesn’t lead to frustration but also emphasizes a negative perception of your brand.

Allow users and guests to browse your app, and ask them to register only when they have taken steps to make a purchase. Also, don’t forget to implement social media login (like through Gmail or Facebook). It will give you a slight advantage over your competitors.

2. Customizable Push Notifications:

A push notification is an important tool to boost sales in your business. You must leverage push notifications in your online shopping app to interact with your customers. You can use push notifications to remind customers about items left in a cart, inform them about upcoming sales, notify them about items on a wishlist which has just gone on sale, and other important or exciting information.

Search is probably the first functionality by which users start interacting with your online shopping app. That’s why you must ensure that the search is fast and delivers relevant search results. Also, the in-app search should be flexible, so consider adding appropriate filters.

4. Rating and Reviews:

The customers should have the choice to leave feedback by assessing and reviewing the products they have purchased. This will boost the customers’ trust in your store and also motivate other users to make purchases.

5. Easy Checkout Process:

Sometimes, the customers leave the website at the last stage, i.e., checkout. The checkout should be smooth with frictionless points. You must allow users to purchase goods without registration and illustrate the checkout process step-by-step.

6. Reliable Payment Gateway:

A reliable payment gateway is necessary to process the financial transaction. Payment gateways deal with extremely sensitive information, so they should be secure. Also, they must offer multiple payment options so that users can choose their preferred method of payment.

7. Customer Support:

Customer support is required in both pre-purchase and post-purchase customer journeys. Initially, you can begin with FAQ pages and contact details, and later on, implement dedicated chatbots or customer service managers.

Revenue Model of Shopping Apps:

There are several ways to monetize your online shopping app, be it of any kind. Here are a few major ways:

a. Commission or Sales: If you are building a marketplace on which different merchants will sell, then you can charge commissions or earn profits by selling your products.

b. Advertising: Advertising is a common way to make money in a mobile app. You can place banner ads, interstitial ads, or video ads if you are going for video shopping app development.

c. Subscription Services: You can offer exclusive features, discounts, or early access to new products by offering subscriptions to the users.

d. Affiliate Marketing: You can partner with other businesses to promote their products and earn a commission on sales.

Complete Process to Develop Online Shopping App:

Here are the major steps to follow for developing an online shopping app:

process to develop online shopping app

1. Find an experienced mobile app development company:

The process begins with finding a reliable mobile app development company with prior experience in online shopping app development. They will guide you through the whole process of development. We always recommend you consider outsourcing your requirements to Indian companies as they provide the best value at affordable rates.

2. Market Research:

You must do in-depth market research to make a shopping app successful. It includes determining the target audience and their requirements. You should identify your main competitors and then choose a business model. You can choose a B2B, B2C, D2C, or even C2C business model. Lastly, you have to decide which business models you want to follow to make money.

3. Determining Platform’s Type:

The next is the choice of platform for your mobile app, i.e., do you want to develop an app for iOS, Android, or both? As a software vendor, we will also provide you with choices for native mobile app development, cross-platform development, and mobile website development.

4. Start the development process with the chosen vendor:

After making all the points clear, the team will start working on the development. They will also create a scope of work mentioning all the requirements and decide how to achieve all business goals.

5. Design:

An attractive and captivating design is essential to compel people to land on your app and start shopping. The design should be intuitive and simple yet awesome. The UI/UX team of Octal IT Solution gives special detail to the logo, simple navigation, search icon, add-to-cart button, and other essential design concepts.

6. Development and Testing:

The development team is responsible for the overall features, functionalities, and workings of your app. They will develop every feature and the backend of the app. After the development, the QA team will check all the bugs and ensure that the app is working smoothly.

Check out More: How to Develop a Grocery Shopping App?

Cost to Develop Shopping App:

The cost of developing shopping depends upon a lot of factors. The primary factors are features and complexity, choice of platform, tech stack, location of development team, and certain other factors.

Among all these factors, the location of the development team matters most. If you outsource the project to a development company located in the USA or Eastern Europe, they will charge you an $80-$120 per hour rate, while you can get the same development quality in India at $25-$40 per hour.

As per our estimation, developing a standard shopping app for both Android and iOS platforms will cost you around $45,000-$55,000.

Do you want to know the cost of building an AR shopping app like IKEA? Then check this article.

Conclusion:

In this article, we have gone through various aspects of online shopping app development. An online shopping app gives you various advantages over traditional website or physical store selling. At Octal IT Solution, the best mobile app development company in India, we can build the best online shopping app with advanced features and functionalities. Let us know your requirements.

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THE AUTHOR
Managing Director
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Arun G Goyal is a tech enthusiast and experienced writer. He's known for his insightful blog posts, where he shares his expertise gained from years in the tech industry. Arun shares his knowledge and insights through engaging blog posts, making him a respected figure in the field.

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