The shopping industry eCommerce is booming and mobile shopping trends dominate the overall eCommerce category.
In fact, 73% of the total e-commerce market share worldwide comes from m-commerce. 79% of mobile users have purchased something online from a mobile device in the last six months.
But not all mobile shopping experiences are created equal. 85% of people say they prefer mobile apps over mobile sites, and apps convert at a 157% higher rate compared to mobile web.
So if you want to maximize the potential of your eCommerce operation, building a shopping app is the way to go.
This ultimate guide will walk you through the step-by-step process of creating a shopping app.
How to Create a Shopping App in 9 Steps
Anyone can create a shopping app by following these simple steps:
- Market research for your online store
- Selection of platform and technology
- Choose an agency for the development of shopping applications
- Identify the functions for the product Minimum Viable
- List additional features to make your store stand out in the future
- Create a mockup of your online store app
- Start the process Mobile Shopping App Development Guide
- Test Your Shopping App
- Start Your Shopping App
By the end of this guide, you will have An understanding full story of shopping app development and how to succeed at it. space. Let’s dive in!
Step 1: Market Research for Your Online Store
Before you start building anything, you need to validate your idea with market research. This step will look a little different for everyone, depending on the stage of your business.
You most likely fall into one of two categories:
- You have a business existing eCommerce business and want to add a mobile app
- You are starting a new business from scratch and want a mobile app from day one
For those of you who already If you are selling products online, you probably went through the market research step when your business was first launched. So some of these tasks can be a bit repetitive.
Anyone starting a new sourcing business from scratch should take the step of market research very seriously. Otherwise, you could invest money in a business that the market doesn’t want or need.
Identify customer needs and requirements
The first thing to do is identify a target customer profile. Who are you selling to?
Selling to “everyone” is not a recipe for success. You need to narrow things down to an ideal customer profile. Then you need to find out if your products really fill a market need for your ideal customer.
Running a SWOT analysis is the best way to start your investigation.
This process not only analyzes your potential customers, but forces you to evaluate your internal initiatives, your competitors, and the overall market picture.
Very few startups offer something that is 100% unique to the market. It is very likely that there are other online stores and shopping apps that sell something that is almost identical to your offer.
What makes your product unique in the market? Are you taking a broad product and targeting a niche audience? How will your value proposition stand out against the competition?
These are the types of questions you should ask yourself and answer with confidence before proceeding.
Business Model
Shopping apps generally fall into three different models:
- B2C: Businesses that sell products directly to consumers.
- B2B : Businesses that sell products to other businesses, sometimes wholesale.
- C2C: Customers that sell to other customers through a marketplace online (like eBay or Etsy). li>
Which template are you going to use for your shopping app?
Monetization Strategy
Next, you need to determine how you are going to make money from your shopping app.
Compared to other categories of mobile apps, the shopping apps are pretty straightforward. For B2C and B2B shopping apps, your primary focus should be sales revenue. I would not recommend adding ads to your shopping app as this can ruin the customer experience.
For C2C shopping apps, you can make money by charging sellers a fee to use the platform or charging a commission. of each sale. You could also charge for promoted products to appear at the top of search results.
Step 2: Platform and Technology Stack Selection
Once your idea is have market validation, you can start to think about the technical aspects of your shopping app.
Choose your platform
What platforms are you building for?
- Android: Android apps are available for download in the Google Play store. Android dominates the global market share, with 71.7% of smartphone users owning an Android device.
- iOS: iOS apps are available for download from the Apple App Store. It’s a bit more difficult to get your apps approved for the App Store, and iOS commands 53.66% of the operating system market share in North America.
If you’re strictly targeting users in countries outside of North America, it makes more sense to build for Android. But if you’re targeting North American consumers, the best option is to build for both iOS and Android.
This will make your shopping app available to the widest possible audience and won’t neglect any potential consumers.
Native Development
Next, you need to decide how you’re going to build a shopping app for the platform or platforms you’re targeting.
Native app development requires low-level coding specifically for a single operating system.
So if you want to build an Android and iOS app through native development, you’d essentially be creating two completely different applications, one for each operating system.
This is the slowest and most expensive development path, and is typically not needed for basic shopping apps.
If you want to add complex features like in-app augmented reality, you may need to go native. But otherwise, this development path is only needed for game apps, VR apps, or apps that require precision and the highest possible performance.
Cross-Platform App Development
Cross-platform app development is usually the best option for most shopping apps. This means that you can create an app for both iOS and Android with a single build and code base.
Cross-platform development typically saves you at least 40% in development costs and drastically reduces your development timeline.
If you want to build a shopping app on your own without hiring a developer, you can take advantage of no-code eCommerce app builders like BuildFire.
It’s a simple and cost-effective way to build an eCommerce app for iOS and Android without writing a single line of code. So even non-technical users can do it on their own.
Step 3: Choose a shopping app development agency
Assuming you’re not going to create the app on your own, you need to find an agency that can create a shopping app for you.
This is usually better than hiring an independent team that hasn’t worked together before. There are many different roles and responsibilities in the app development process, so it’s generally best to choose an agency that has a proven track record.
Team Composition
The exact number of developers and team members needed will vary slightly depending on the scope of your project. But here’s a general idea of the positions needed to create a shopping app:
- Android Developer
- iOS Developer
- UX Designer
- User Interface Designer
- Project Manager
- Web Developer
- QA Agents
Again, this is why it is so much easier to just go through an agency. Assembling a team like this on your own is challenging. Ecommerce app development agencies will have all the in-house resources to meet your needs.
How much does it cost to build a shopping app?
The average cost to build a shopping app ranges from $30,000 to $700,000, with a median of $171,450, according to a survey recent ,
But there are many different factors that contribute to cost, including:
- Development method (native or cross-platform)
- Location of development team development
- Application complexity
- Features
- Technology stack
For example, hire a freelance developer in India Building your app is probably cheaper than using a US-based agency, but there will also probably be a significant difference in the quality of the final product between these two options.
Using a cross-platform development solution It’s one of the best ways to save money here, as you won’t need to create two separate apps for iOS and Android. You can create an application for both platforms with a single build.
Discovery Phase
The discovery phase is an important step here when you are consulting with different agencies. You can shop around and get a quote on your top considerations to get a better understanding of cost, schedule, and other factors.
Basically, you just want to get a feel for the agency and see if it sounds like a good partner for your shopping app development project.
BuildFire Plus is our all-in-one app development service
We offer everything from pre-development strategy sessions to post-launch maintenance and support. We’ll help you run a competitive analysis to validate your idea and get started with prototypes, schematics, and mockups before construction.
Our expert development team can create a custom shopping app for iOS and Android faster than traditional development solutions without sacrificing quality. We’ll work with you every step of the way to ensure your app achieves its intended goals.
Step 4: Identify essential features for your shopping app
Now is the time to think about the features you want to include in your shopping app. Try not to get too carried away here with the “nice to have” features. First, focus on the bare minimum and essentials that are required to make your app run smoothly.
You can always add more features later.
We’ll cover a few examples of different essential features in more detail below:
User registration and login process
The best shopping apps offer the ability for users to register and create an account. This gives them the ability to save key information in the app, such as your name, shipping address, billing address, and payment information.
This will help increase your conversion rates since your users won’t have to than to do it manually. enter these data for each purchase. They can simply add something to their shopping cart and buy it with one click.
Allowing users to create an account can also help you personalize their shopping experience with recommended items based on their purchase history.
Easy Navigation
It should be very easy for users to find what they are looking for when searching for products in the app. A good rule of thumb is that each product page should be no more than three clicks away from the home screen.
This is why it’s so important to put your schematics down on paper before you start building anything, because this will help you design a smooth user flow. You can borrow ideas from big players like Amazon to chart your navigation.
User Profile Editing
Give users the ability to edit their profiles with preferences. Registration should only ask for the minimum information required to create an account. But give them the option to go back and change their settings at any time to improve the customer experience.
For example, users shouldn’t have to enter their date of birth to sign up. But you can ask them to add that information to their profiles later if they want to receive special offers on their birthday.
This is an opportunity for you to customize other preferences, such as managing what types of push notifications you want to receive.
Product Catalog
Obviously, you need to sync your shopping app with your product catalog. This is not only required for the app’s functionality, but will also help you manage inventory and fulfillment.
For example, if you have an existing Shopify store, you can simply sync your Shopify account with the app to import the product catalog.
In -App Smart Search Engine
This feature is really important for any shopping app with more than a dozen products.
You can’t expect users to scroll through hundreds or thousands of products to find what they’re looking for. Therefore, you should give them the option to search for products by name or narrow the results through a search filter. Filter options can include parameters such as gender, size, color, product type, etc.
User Reviews
Approximately 95% of consumers read reviews before purchasing something.
That’s not all. According to BigCommerce, products with at least five reviews are 270% more likely to sell.
It’s no secret that user reviews influence mobile buying decisions. So be sure to include reviews on your product pages.
Shopping Cart
Obviously, you need to have a shopping cart feature and a payment gateway to process transactions.
There are hundreds of options to consider here, like Stripe. In many cases, you can use the same shopping cart solution that you are using on your website. If not, you can talk to your development agency to see what they recommend.
Easy checkout and payment options
The best shopping apps have a smooth checkout process. Eliminate any friction in this process and ensure customers can add items to their cart and checkout with as few clicks as possible.
Offering as many checkout options as possible is another way to keep conversions high.
The options will generally depend on the shopping cart software you’ve selected. But the best shopping carts will accept:
- All major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover)
- Debit cards
- PayPal
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
This is the minimum you should accept. But the more payment options you have, the better for your conversion rates.
Ideally, you want users to buy from your profile. But having a required login can be problematic, so you should still offer a guest checkout option.
Shipping Options
You should offer some sort of free shipping option, even if you require users to spend a certain amount of money to receive free shipping. Approximately 70% of consumers say they abandon shopping carts because of shipping costs.
Offering multiple shipping options at different costs can also boost conversions. Give your customers a choice based on how quickly they want shipping. Examples include:
- Free Standard Shipping (5-7 business days)
- $7 Expedited Shipping (3-5 business days)
- $25 Expedited Shipping (Next Day)
Again, it’s all about giving your customers as many options as possible to fit their needs.
Key Features of the admin panel for online shopping apps
In addition to the customer-facing features for your shopping app, you should consider the features you will use on the admin side to manage your app.
- Order Tracking
- Inventory Management
- Catalogue App Builder for Product Management
- Relationship Management (CRM)</li
- Customer Support Tools
This is something to consider when comparing different solutions and development agencies. See what they’re going to offer you in terms of management features and how those features will affect your costs.
Step 5: Identify additional features that help your store stand out
Now you can start thinking about other features that go beyond the basic functionality mentioned above. To be clear, you don’t need to add these additional features at this time.
For your first build, you should focus on simplicity and getting your app to work as expected. Adding too many features at once can be cumbersome and ultimately take away from the main purpose of your app.
That being said, you can start thinking about these ideas now and think about them for future updates. Examples include:
- Customer Wish Lists
- iBeacon
- Maps
- Augmented Reality
- Machine learning
- Social sharing options
- Barcode scanner
- Automatic notifications
- Chatbot to improve service Customer Service
Again, none of these features are required for your eCommerce application to work. But they are “nice to haves” that could ultimately help your app stand out from the competition.
For example, if you’re building a shopping app as an extension of your physical store business , adding a barcode scanner can enhance the in-person shopping experience on mobile devices. Users can scan a product in the store to view user reviews and save it to their wish list for later purchase.
But for now, you probably don’t need to worry about adding these features. Just focus on getting your app to market.
Step 6: Create a mockup of your online store app
Mockups are static, non-functional layouts of an app. This will help you and your team understand what your final product will look like.
The purpose here is to help establish things like fonts, visuals, images, content layouts, color schemes, and the overall user experience from a design standpoint.
Wireframing, layouts, mockups and prototyping are all part of BuildFire Plus’s exceptional service offering.
This stage ensures that you’re on the same page with our design and development team before they start building your app.
Step 7: Begin the mobile shopping app development process
By now, you should know the answer to the following questions:
- What platform(s) are you building on?
- What development method are you using?
- Which application development company are you proceeding with?
- What characteristics do you need for an MVP? (minimum viable product)?
Now you can start building the shopping app. If you’re outsourcing this to a development company, then there’s really not a lot of work to be done here.
Just make sure you have a basic understanding of the development timeline and have a rough idea of when the app will be ready. In the meantime, you can start collecting promotional materials and creating publicity for your app with marketing strategies before the official launch.
Step 8: Test your shopping app
Once the app is application is finished, you should test it before making it available to real users.
First, you need to make sure that the application is free of errors. Then you need to verify that it works as intended. There are many different approaches to app testing, including alpha testing, beta testing, user testing, and more.
In addition to looking for software flaws, you should use this as an opportunity to gather user feedback and do additional research.
No app is perfect and there is always room for improvement. So try not to focus on getting everything perfect before launch. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck in development forever.
But the idea here is to release a product that’s fast and functional without crashing.
Step 9: Launch your Shopping App
Now it’s time to officially launch your Shopping App!
You’ll need to submit it to the Apple Store app and Google Play Store. Each of these platforms has different requirements for approvals and submissions, so make sure you understand the guidelines thoroughly before submitting.
Examples of what you’ll need here include an app name, description, screenshots , app category, and an app icon.
To make sure your app is highly visible in search, check out our comprehensive guide to App Store Optimization (ASO).
Be sure to promote your app on your website, social media, and as many channels as possible to get the word out. Your app marketing strategy will have a direct impact on your downloads.
Conclusion
Shopping apps are superior to mobile websites in terms of revenue generation, conversions, and satisfaction the client’s.
If you’re ready to get started, contact our team at BuildFire for a free strategy session. We can create a custom eCommerce app with all the features you need to be successful. We’ll help you with pre-development steps and even take care of post-launch updates and maintenance.
Click here to book your free consultation.
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