Smartphone shopping demands companies develop native apps

Posted by Naina Tiwari on July 26th, 2018

Online shopping has already changed the way we buy and receive products. While sitting at the comfort of our homes, we can survey different brands of any item and make payments online.

Internet has reached to every corner of the world and online shopping has now advanced to smartphone shopping since smartphones have become a huge part of our everyday lives than ever before. Therefore ‘native’ apps have become need of the hour in order to stay relevant in online shopping domain.

With the emergence of e-commerce, the way in which consumers shop has changed considerably since the last decade. Now, smartphone shopping has become the latest trend and it is expected that significant number of consumers will shift from desktop web sales to mobiles apps in the coming years. More and more consumers are expected to do shopping using their mobile device as the time people spend on their favourite mobile apps is growing day by day.

The prospects of mobile shopping seems really bright as retailers are leaving no stone unturned in making it super easy and hassle free. In such a scenario, native apps have become the need of the hour for every brand and retailer due to their advantages over the traditional mobile web.

However the native app development is bit costlier as compared to the mobile-friendly e-commerce website development but native apps are better option than responsive web because the native apps can boost the business growth manifolds. In today’s highly competitive market, the potential of native apps that enable smartphone shopping is still undervalued, despite the fact that retailer’s websites that aren’t specifically developed for a smartphone’s OS aren’t easy to use.

Many market experts believe that the most of the conventional marketers and business owners’ brands are still in the phase of adjusting their retail strategy to the e-commerce arena; in such a scenario, they are hesitant to constantly adapt their strategy to ever-changing e-commerce trends. Therefore, the growth of native apps has become slow in-spite of the fact that more consumers are expected to use their devices to purchase products in coming years.

Nevertheless several enthusiastic and progressive retailers are realising the significance of native’ apps and their focus is shifting towards mobile-friendly retail strategy. Basically, e-commerce is driven by numbers, and native apps can easily get these numbers. The retailers, who invested in native app development and also 

e-commerce website development, both have witnessed a three times higher conversion rate on their native apps, and almost eight-time higher boost in consumer retention rate!

A native apps is specifically designed for a smartphone’s OS therefore they offer much better online shopping experience as compared to mobile friendly websites. In today’s time-crunched environment, people only wish to focus on exactly what they really need. Mobile apps are the best tool to focus on exactly what customers want to see. This gives the companies an opportunity to emphasize on their brand’s USP, and save them from posting any irrelevant content or images, providing a cleaner and easier way to bond with their customers.

Unquestionably, native app development is the focus of every brand and retailer in this era of digital economy. All types of services are swiftly moving to the smartphone screens of potential buyers, enhancing the customer satisfaction.

In addition to this, native apps completely support the complex hardware and software specifications of the different devices like – smartphones and tablets. Therefore, these apps can offer hassle-free and smooth navigation. Native apps can be easily customised according to the needs of a particular business with the help of app developers. Before launching customised native apps, powerful testing processes are applied on them by app developers.

One of the most wonderful features of native apps is push notification. Genuine players in the field know that the e-commerce website development has few limitations as these mobile friendly websites aren’t good at user engagement due to their hardware accessibility limitations.

On the other hand, native apps excel in the department of user engagement with features like push notification. Users get latest offers, discounts, and other useful deals that help companies engage users for longer period and eventually add to their business growth.

Mobile websites are prone to security issues and these security-related worries can negatively impact the growth of any retail business. Whereas, native apps offer superior security features that can protect users’ funds and other critical information in a much better way.

Developers believe that the native apps are far ahead of mobile-friendly websites when it comes to navigation speed. The size of the native apps can be different based on the hardware and software configurations of user’s device. Therefore native apps are much faster and capable of providing smooth navigation.

Users can report technical issues and share feedback about app’s performance and user-friendliness. Business owners’ can solve those issues and send an improvised version of the app which advances the user’s engagement and further boosts the business growth.

Companies and entrepreneurs should first look for a top company that is capable enough to understand the specific requirements of their business. Time and budget constraints play an important role in this process.

A high-performing Indian entity in the field can be extremely helpful in unlocking the potential of your business app. Experienced app developers’ team that is well-versed in ecommerce mobile app development can add value to your mobile strategy and provide good results.

Companies and entrepreneurs should be extremely careful and choosy about the process being followed for such app development. In order to create an appealing app that translates into business growth, the developers should follow an efficient methodical approach to app development. When it comes to designing a native app, it is important to give priority to simplicity first. Building a platform that transforms brands’ e-commerce content into an interesting and user-friendly mobile app can help brands switch to native e-commerce.

Navigational menu is the first function a user checks in a mobile app therefore simple and clear navigation without any words is essential for the success of any application. It should not overlook the fact that users hardly open a shopping app without having a product they need in their mind. So, the product search should be fast and simple too. Companies and retail businesses should try to make the comparison process simple for users by suggesting related products with same features.