Are you an e-commerce store owner who still does not have a mobile app for their store? Do you feel that a website is enough and does the job? You might want to reconsider. Mobile e-commerce apps are leading the market as they are fast, have an easy navigation and offer a great user experience. Every time a user has to zoom in to view something or gets lost on a website due to poor navigation they simply move to a more reliable and mobile friendly option. Also, you are missing out on a huge amount of traffic if you do not have a mobile app.
Here’s some data established by Statista to support this claim:
- In 2019, 67.2% of sales occurred via the use of an e-commerce app
- The number of users of smartphones will increase to up-to 3 billion by 2020.
- According to estimations, about 2 billion people will make a mobile e-commerce transaction in 2020
Did you know that the ratio of usage of desktop browsers to mobile devices has already begun to gravitate more towards mobile devices, especially in the United States? These shifts in customer preferences can be attributed to a lot of factors.
Moreover, every claim, in order to be a good one, needs to have theories to support the available data. The abovementioned data does indicate a b causation behind why your business will benefit from an e-commerce mobile app. But let’s delve a little deeper into the causalities, in order to make our case ber.
So, what is it that makes the customer gravitate more towards mobile apps?
10 Reasons Why Your Store Needs A Mobile App
1 When given a choice, customers prefer apps over browsers
The very first among
10 reasons why your store needs a mobile app is user preference. Around 78 percent of customers claim that they prefer to use a mobile app over a mobile browser. This can be attributed to the fact that a mobile app provides a lot of benefits over using a mobile browser.
Some of the benefits for the customer include:
- Apps require the login details to only be entered once
- Apps can be easily accessed through an interactive icon already displayed on the device
- Apps are faster in functionality than browsers
- Settings need to set only once and can be modified easily
Every organization should always place paramount importance to facilitating what the customer prefers. Having a mobile app would make life easy for your customers.
2 Customers are more loyal when they interact via apps
The very act of a customer installing your app is a solid proof of their commitment. The customer clearly wanted to access a better experience of what you had to offer. Your icon is what they want to press when they think of the service you provide.
In order to honor their loyalty, here are some ways how your app can reinforce customer loyalty:
- Use their data to filter their content: you can use the data provided by the customer initially, in order to tailor better content or services for them. Moreover, you can also reach them by sending them specific emails or messages according to their preferences
- Provide them with push notifications to directly access any offers or inform them about any updates: This is a great way of keeping the customer engaged and informed about the activities and updates on your application.
- An elevated experience through customer service and providing rewards: No customer will complain about having access to 24/7 helplines and a responsive customer service. Moreover, if you reward the more loyal customers with discounts and other benefits, they are most likely to avail your services more often.
3 Customers have an enhanced and a more satisfying user experience
When compared to the alternative which is a website, a mobile app can provide a more elevated user experience. This can be attributed to the fact that mobile apps have interactive graphics and are loaded with lesser text in order to access services. This makes the experience less tedious for the user.
Moreover, the limited display of options over a mobile screen facilitated with minimal or no interruptions provides the user a more satisfying experience. This increases the chances of the user revisiting your app to access your services with zero hassle. Much like user preference, user experience is another reason
why your e-commerce store needs a mobile app.
4 Customers can elevate their experience through interactions with other apps
Every smartphone nowadays has several inbuilt applications like the GPS, the camera and the microphone. You can elevate the user experience by interacting with such applications.
For example: Some e-commerce websites provide special rewards to customers who share pictures of availing their platforms after sharing it on social media. Have you seen your friends share pictures of items they bought over an e-commerce website online, and simultaneously share links to their apps on Instagram?
Many organizations have used that feature to reach out to hundreds of bloggers and other prospects over numerous social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. You can do the same, and possibly offer a better experience for the user through interactions with many other applications. User engagement on apps are way better than the website, which is the fourth reason
why you need a mobile app for your e-commerce store.
5 Customers tend to not exit your shopping cart while using mobile applications
While accessing your website, 68 percent of customers have a greater chance of abandoning the website without making any purchase. However, on a mobile application, only 20 percent of customers quit the shopping cart without making a purchase. This can be because firstly, the users which are uncertain of making purchases on your platform will not access the app. This, along with the abovementioned increase in customer loyalty, can boost your overall sales. The storage and easy access of the payment procedure via the storage of card details, PayPal details etc. facilitates the interested customer to a much greater extent than the website.
Moreover, customers can access your application anytime and also access post-purchase information like shipping information and accessing customer service for any unprecedented returns.
6 Customers tend to purchase more products through the use of mobile apps
Another major reason to have a
mobile app for your e-commerce store is higher conversion rate. E-commerce mobile app conversion rates are three times more than that for a mobile website. Customers can view products with greater ease and lesser hassle, so they tend to visit your application more often. Moreover, the availability of your icon on their mobile screens also tends to make them gravitate towards opening your mobile application.
Facilitated with the greater conversion rate and increased number of views, the average number of orders made from your website shoots up.
To top it all, customers are also more likely to purchase accessory products because of the tailored references you offer. The customer, therefore, completes one round of the transaction cycle you offer and is more likely to make many more cycles.
7 Customers can access applications more quickly compared to websites
It is highly likely that your e-commerce app will load faster than the website accessed through the mobile browser. It has been said by a lot of marketers before that the customer will provide you a limited amount of time out of his/her day. The reduction in the loading time promotes customer loyalty by meeting the customer’s needs in a shorter amount of time.
Facilitated with the display of the preferred options for the customer, the customer is very likely to complete their first transaction with a lot more satisfaction and are likely to avail your services more often. Quick and easy access makes it important for business owners to have a dedicated
mobile application for their e-commerce store.
8 Customer information can be used by you to tailor your own marketing strategies
In a mobile application, the customer provides information like their location. This can be used by your e-commerce company to tailor more location specific strategies and curb certain ineffective budget costs. You can also limit the generalized services you provide by observing the purchase pattern of the customer.
9 Customer browsing patterns can be observed
The content you provide customers need to reach them through the more convenient means like the mobile application you provided. The content also needs to reach the customer at the right time.
You can use the data you collected on the customer browsing patterns and check for the timing when your customers are most active. Push notifications can be provided at around that time to remind the customer to visit your app and access your services and content.
10 Customer inputs and feedback facilitate for better updates
You can also provide better updates for your mobile app to the customer very easily. Customer feedback collected through previous usage can be used to facilitate the updates and create a better version of the app for the customer.
This increases the likelihood for the customer to interact with your app and more transactions are likely to occur in your application
Let’s re-evaluate for one last time
It, now, goes without saying that mobile apps are becoming increasingly popular among customers. Creating an app for your e-commerce website doesn’t just provide a better platform for marketplace interaction with your customer, but it also gives you an edge over many other competitors which do not provide their customers with a mobile app. Customers prefer apps over mobile browsers because of easier accessibility, better share ability and for a better overall user experience.
The democratization of communication outlets has generated this giant wave of facilitating customer experience and it’s best that your e-commerce business rides this wave before it’s too late! And don’t forget to share your views on aforementioned
10 reasons why your e-commerce store needs a mobile app.
