The current pandemic of COVID-19 has made us realize the need for mobile applications for our business. In today’s time, almost every urban as well as the rural individual is having a mobile with a stable internet connection. People now prefer to use mobile apps for their daily tasks such as booking a cab to the office, ordering food, movie tickets booking, finding a partner on the app, etc. A mobile application for your traditional business will help in expanding it, increasing the revenue & sales, and maximize the profit. In this article, we are going to tell you about mCommerce and how you can hire a mCommerce Development company that can turn your business onto mobiles.
What is mCommerce and why it is important?
Mobile Commerce is e-commerce conducted on a mobile application. It simply means when products or services are purchased through mobile applications then it is termed as mCommerce. The most popular example of mCommerce is Amazon mobile app.
As smartphones are in the hands of every individual, the customers can do shopping anytime and from anywhere even while traveling or in-between meetings. This is the reason why mCommerce is highly important and is giving tough competition to e-commerce web applications. The traditional e-commerce is turning to mobile commerce or mCommerce.
Interesting stats about mCommerce:
- The global valuation of mCommerce is expected to reach $3.56 trillion by 2021 with an average CAGR rate of 33.8%.
- Nearly two-thirds of the global population owns a mobile today.
- The mCommerce will took up 75% of the total e-commerce sales by 2021.
- As per a recent report of Shopify, mobile phones and tablets account for 69% of total sales.
Advantages of mCommerce:
1. Fast Commerce:
Most of the time mobile applications are nearly 1.5 times faster than its web application in loading data and search results. Since the data also don’t need to pull from the server every time, the customer can browse and purchase products faster. A mobile application has all the features and functionalities of a desktop while the vice versa is often untrue. Therefore, people prefer to buy their products from the app instead of their web application.
Amazon increased its customer base from 43 million in 2015 to 67 million in 2016 and the reason is its mobile application.
2. Better shopping experience:
The shopping experience highly matters. People know the capabilities of their smartphone and know how it works. They have prior knowledge of navigation through an app that helps your app to give a better shopping experience. Smooth customer experience results in better conversation rates and sales. The only prerequisite is to make your app:
- Fast
- Convenient
- Interactive
- Exclusive
From the customer point of view, the main need is speed and easiness or simplicity. By the way, 83% of customers used smartphones inside real stores to shop.
3. Use Push Notifications to make Direct Connection with Customers:
This is something with an e-commerce web application. Yes, you can send emails or newsletters about new stock, offers, discounts, or sale but a push notification is something different. Push Notifications gives the user a reason to open your mobile application. It happens a lot of times that a user installs your app but don’t open it after a single-use. In this scenario, push notifications are helpful. They can turn your inactive users into active and loyal ones. Nearly half of the users like push notifications and respond to them while 80% of the users say offers and discounts make them more loyal to a brand.
4. Personalized Content:
You can deliver personalized content to your app users based on their searching patterns, user behavior, clicks, and other analytics. Don’t overdo it and they will love it. You can also give them a suggestion based on their location, interests, social media profiles, etc.
Here the best example is Amazon, if you search for a pair of Nike shoes, then probably for a few upcoming days, you will see the suggestion of shoes on the home screen of your app.
5. Deeper Analytics:
Data is the new oil in today’s time. More knowledge of your customers will be going to help you in serving them better. To know your customers you must have data such as their age, sex, location, search history, shopping history, etc. You can get more through a mobile application instead of a web app because the user leaves the website after a few seconds while the app is installed in his device which he may open again and again.
Thus you can get more data with an app. This data will also help you in providing them with a better-personalized experience which will increase sales.
6. Cut in Marketing Costs:
If you can reach your customer base faster with a mobile application then it will cut down the cost of your marketing campaigns. If you are also implementing social media integration on your app, then the user will itself market your app. And obviously, mouth publicity is a strong marketing stunt.
7. Leverage Mobile Hardware:
A mobile application can provide a better using the capabilities of a smartphone too such as voice search, AR and VR experience, Camera, accelerometer, gyroscope, etc. Do you know that Google stated that every 5 the search made by mobile is made by voice and the numbers are only going to increase by 2020? It makes it clear that the searches in the future are going to be more intuitive, natural, and more vocal.
Prominent Examples of mCommerce:
1. Amazon:
No one hasn’t heard of Amazon’s e-commerce application. The e-commerce giant application was introduced in 2011 and currently available in almost every country. There are more than 2.5 million sellers active on Amazon. 23% of online shoppers go first on Amazon for inspiration when they don’t have a specific product in mind for purchase. Amazon heads the most ranking of the most popular shopping apps in the United States with 150.6 million mobile users accessing the Amazon app in September 2019.
2. eBay:
eBay is probably the oldest name you have heard of e-commerce. It is amongst the most popular e-commerce platforms. It is having 182 million eBay users globally. It is used by almost one-third of all US mobile users. There are 1.3 billion listings on eBay. $22 billion worth of goods were bought and sold on eBay’s marketplace platforms in Q4 2019.
3. Walmart:
Another big name in the e-commerce marketplace is Walmart. Walmart’s e-commerce sale is likely to represent around 5% of the total US e-commerce sales in 2020. It is one of the biggest retail chains in the world with nearly 11,300 stores in 27 countries.
Features of a mCommerce application:
Here are some of the necessary features of a mobile commerce application:
1. Easy Login & Sign-Up:
The user onboarding of your app should be as simple as possible. The registration should only contain essential fields and also them to log in through social platforms such as Facebook, Google, or LinkedIn.
Why? Users wouldn’t have to fill in a lot of data before even using the app.
2. User-friendly product filters and sorting:
In most e-commerce stores there is a huge variety of products. For easy customer navigation, you need to implement functional sorting and filtering options. Minimize the steps that a customer has to take to find his favorite product. It will increase sales as well as customer experience.
Why? Users can quickly find the product in which they are interested without going through the entire application.
3. Detailed Product Description:
It may seem long detailed production of your product is unnecessary as users are more interested in pictures. But pictures are not enough, descriptions are required to avoid returns or conflicts with customers. Also, it may help in boosting the SEO of your site.
Why? The customer can check all the details of the product such as size, type, model no. weight, specifications, etc.
4. Representing products with AR:
You can use AR to represent products. Through AR, the users would be able to see the products in a real context. The best example is IKEA and Sephora.
Why? Customers can get a virtual try experience before buying the product. They can check whether the product size and looks are proper or not.
5. Shopping Cart:
A shopping cart is a required feature in an e-commerce application. It is just like a shopping basket to collect all products and then make an order. It builds a positive user experience and allows customers the flexibility they appreciate while making purchases.
Why? A shopping cart allows customers to realize their purchase in several stages when they find it comfortable.
6. Multiple Shipping Options:
Multiple Shipping options such as one-day delivery, two-day delivery, etc. are new requirements in mCommerce. The user should be able to choose the type of shipping they require.
Why? The user can opt for suitable shipping and they know how much they have to pay for that shipping.
7. In-app Payments:
Finding a secure and reliable payment gateway is always a big challenge for an online retailer. There should also be multiple payment options for the customer. The customer would be able to make payments through different debit/credit cards along with internet banking, UPI, and trending digital wallets.
Why? Customers can use this feature to pay for their order quickly and securely.
8. Returns and Replacement Status:
There are many scenarios in which the customer wants to return or replace the product. Thus you should also provide a return facility for your mCommerce app. By offering a clear returns procedure and the option to check the status of returns easily, you’ll enhance the transparency of your store and become more trustworthy in the eyes of customers.
Why? Customers trust your site as if the product gets defective they can make an easy return.
9. Subscriptions or Memberships:
You can make membership programs or subscription facility on your mCommerce application to give exclusive access to deals and offers.
Why? By becoming a member of your store, a customer can receive special discounts, get access to promotions earlier than non-members, and benefit from other advantages.
10. Reviews and Ratings:
Well, a customer trusts more a review of the other customers, also he wants to give feedback on receiving a product.
Top mCommerce Development Companies:
We would be not leaving in midway and will also give you suggestions of the top mCommerce development companies which you can consult for your idea, ask for a quotation, and can hire them for developing your app. Here is the roster.
Fueled specializes in designing and developing award-winning mobile apps and websites that are fast, attractive, responsive, and easy to use. It is an international company having offices in New Delhi, NYC, London, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The company has also got prominent awards like OMMA Awards, The Webby Awards, The DIGIDAY Awards, HIVE Awards, etc.
When clients utilize their full offering of services, it means they take a project from opportunity analysis through the design and build process and then through launch, growth, and iteration.
Emizen tech is an 8+-year-old top-rated, certified website & Mobile development company and has a global presence in Singapore and the United Kingdom countries. The company is having expertise in a wide range of services especially e-commerce whether on the web or mobile. They are having 250+ dedicated clients and 80+ Team members. If you are having any e-commerce requirements you should first consult them.
WillowTree® is an industry-leading mobile and digital product agency. Since 2007, their team of award-winning mobile strategists, UX/UI designers, and software engineers have delivered over 1000 mobile and digital solutions to the world’s leading enterprise and consumer-facing companies, including 21st Century Fox, Regal Cinemas, Synchrony Financial, National Geographic, and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.
The company has also won many prominent awards including Glassdoor’s Employees’ Choice Award, Communicator Awards, Webby Awards, Inc’s Best Workplaces.
Hyperlink Infosystem, an ISO 9001:2008 certified organization, is a renowned IT Software Solutions provider based in Ahmedabad, India. Established in 2011, Hyperlink InfoSystem, with its dedicated and skilled team of professionals has able to create dynamic and cost-effective solutions for its clients that are based all over the USA, UK, Japan, Canada, and other parts of the World. It has ranked among Top App Development Companies on Clutch since 2014.
TechAhead is a global leader in Mobile Platforms that is trusted by Fortune 500 companies to Startups. Founded in 2009, we are a 150 people company having a decade long proven track record in engineering innovative, robust, and scalable apps at speed.
The company is having a physical presence in the United States and India. They provide you with unique onshore and offshore value propositions with the highest integrity and transparency.
Appinventiv has established itself as a leading company in the mobility space within a short period. They have a team of adept mobile strategists, UX/UI designers, and app developers who form the core of its operations across the US, Europe, and APAC. The company is having a client base that spreads across emerging startups and its Fortune 500 partners to provide a delightful experience.
Appinventiv has helped in the development of best-in-class mobile apps for 300+ clients, collaborating with its team of 500+ nerds.
Since 2008, Yalantis has been providing engineering services for startups, small and medium-sized businesses, and enterprises from the US, Europe, and the Middle East. We form, manage, and scale strong development teams that solve your burning business challenges. The company is having a 96% client satisfaction rate, 205 US clients, 150 times the company has got media coverage, and a team of 200+ members.
YML or YMediaLabs is a 300+ person digital design and development studio bringing Silicon Valley to its clients worldwide. The company pride ourselves on being agents of change, helping startups and Fortune 500 clients become industry leaders with innovative digital solutions.
hedgehog lab is a global digital product consultancy that partners with brands and enterprises to help them achieve their business goals using emerging technologies. With over a decade’s experience in technology, design, and product development, they’re experts at delivering digital solutions that deliver real, demonstrable business impact for their partners.
Whether it’s iOS, Android, web, immersive, or voice, their exceptional design and engineering credentials have helped some of the world’s biggest organizations to challenge their status quo and provide digital experiences that have transformed their businesses.
Wrapping Up;
MCommerce is a developing trend. The customers are only going to adopt the technical era and soon everyone will start buying their regular groceries, and other household items through mobile applications. Hence before the market gets saturated and you get empty-handed, leverage the development of a mCommerce application to enter the market and earn money.
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