Not too long ago, mobile apps for shopping were the dominion of retail giants like Amazon. Developing mobile apps wasn’t cheap and companies weren’t convinced that mobile shopping would benefit their businesses.
It didn’t take long at all for all of that to change. The cost of developing such apps came down, companies discovered the advantages of mobile shopping, and apps of all kinds have rapidly been developed. Shopping via mobile is now a big trend with more and more consumers joining it every single day.
Shopping via mobile app is the next generation of e-commerce.
Whether your business is large or small, there are many advantages in using mobile commerce apps to gain new customers, reach new targeted audiences, and more.
Safety During the Pandemic
Before the coronavirus pandemic struck, many industry experts predicted that mobile sales would account for more than half of e-commerce sales. Forbes reported that e-commerce growth would reach $666 billion in the U.S. by the end of 2021.
But then the pandemic emerged in early 2020. It revealed another important benefit of mobile shopping: safety.
Shopping via mobile app can be used by businesses to make sales with customers who are safe in the comfort of their own home. They can shop using the app instead of physically going to the store and have items delivered to their home. It protects your customers and employees alike.
Providing an Excellent User Experience
Using a mobile app to provide a shopping experience for your customers opens up a new world of marketing and promotional opportunities for you. In crafting a thoughtful UX, you will attract new customers and find ways to keep the existing ones engaged.
Using e-commerce apps works a lot better than a responsive e-commerce website. E-commerce apps load 1.5 times faster than responsive websites and speed up your customers’ shopping experience. They can find what they want faster.
Using e-commerce apps, you can reach a much larger audience. With a projected 3.8 billion smartphone users by 2021, you can greatly increase the size of your reach.
Mobile apps also allow you to take advantage of geo-tracking and geolocation services so you can send push notifications to your customers at the right time. If a customer shops each day when she gets home from work, a push notification can be sent to her about items she’s demonstrated an interest in before at that time. For customers who work or live in the vicinity of your physical store, a push notification can be sent to them when they are close, letting them know of a sale or special promotion.
Frameworks for Apps Keep Improving
Frameworks for both Apple and Android are widely available for app development and are getting better all the time. Android is the most popular operating system with 1.5 billion downloads each month. It also has plans for cars, home appliances, PCs, smartwatches, and more.
The best frameworks for Android are highly customizable with a huge global community forum for support.
How do you select the best Android frameworks for your app development? Start by determining what your specific needs are. List all the features you’d like to have and then create a list of frameworks that are a good match.
Selecting a framework with a base language your team has experience in is a bonus and will cut down on development time. You’ll want to select a framework that is efficient, works across all the major platforms, and is scalable.
If your team doesn’t have the expertise to navigate the world of app development and Android frameworks, there are some excellent companies that know all the best frameworks for Android. They can work with you and your team to create an e-commerce app that will boost sales and create a wonderful shopping experience for your new and existing customers alike.
