A mobile application is a key for successful trading

Moreover, many users prefer to use applications, rather than online websites, since they are more comfortable and faster in many ways. Here are the main reasons for users to use the app:

Fig. 1

Image credit: Clutch

According to Gartner’s forecasts, those online retailers that have personalized their services by 2020 (including the use of mobile applications) have increased the profits by at least 20%.

We have entered the era of the mobile Internet. Yesterday people moved from offline to online stores, today there is a trend of moving from desktop to mobile devices. More and more often, they are making purchases from smartphones. This trend grows with the development of payment systems, as well as the optimization of web-pages for mobile devices and appearing of new mobile applications.

Analysts from Statista predict that the m-commerce sector will bypass traditional e-commerce already this year. But despite remarkable successes in this industry, conversions in online sales with smartphones still lag behind those on desktops. And the main reason for this is the poor level of optimization for mobile devices, including low page load speed and poor usability. And again, a mobile application helps to solve this problem.

Besides, Google recently updated its web indexing algorithm. Now, the position of a website in search results will be determined by its mobile version, even if it is opened from a desktop PC. This is another compelling factor that will make retailers focus on m-commerce.

Now let’s take a closer look at the benefits of a mobile app for online retailers.

What are the benefits of a mobile application?

The functions and tasks of a mobile application are various; they depend on the e-commerce company’s vision of its role in the overall ecosystem. But there several common to everyone:

1. Increase of an average bill. According to statistics, authorized users order through a mobile application (over 90% of the total number). Thus, a shop knows its buyer, which means it can make a personal offer, use bonuses, and discount programs. All this increases the average bill by at least 30%. High speed of catalog loading, comfortable usability, additional functionality (recommendation system, the possibility to compare product items, wish list) – all this benefits the conversion.
2. Increased loyalty. Everything is quite simple here – a client does not search for the product with a search system, does not see other people’s ads or your competitors. In short, if everything suits your customer, this person goes straight to you through your mobile application – an essential thing for a highly-competitive online trading market.
3. Sales growth. According to statistics provided by Criteo (France), the conversion rate in mobile applications for online commerce was more than three times higher than in mobile browsers for the previous year in the EU. Moreover, the company’s analysts have come to the conclusion that mobile applications today generate about half of all sales.
4. Encouraging a client. Mobile apps have such a great feature as push notifications. It is an invaluable channel for direct advertising: discounts, promotions, and loyalty programs. Your customers will be able to find out about interesting news instantly and this will encourage them to re-purchase again and again. Push messages are much more effective than regular SMS messages.
5. Reducing costs. Having a direct channel of communication with a client, there is no point in investing additional money in other types of advertising. Even even though the cost of an average mobile app is about $4,000 ~ 8,000, in the medium to long run, this investment will pay off with increased conversions and savings on advertising.

Thus, as you can see, there are more than enough reasons to order the development of a mobile application for your online retail business.

Conclusions

Mobile apps provide high conversions and sales; they are more convenient than websites and have lots of other advantages. But it is essential for a retailer to clearly understand the functions of an app and the place it will take in the overall trading ecosystem. The optimal functionality is critical, also it is crucial to choose the right design (maybe not something exclusive, but it must look nice), UX/UI, and other elements. All this will allow you to get the maximum benefits from your mobile application in the shortest possible time and within an acceptable budget.