The eCommerce industry is booming, and it is expected to grow even bigger in the following years. In fact, the estimated value of eCommerce sales worldwide is a whopping $4.28 trillion in 2020, and a big part of this phenomenon can be attributed to the development of mobile technology.
These days, you can buy almost anything online with a smartphone. Mobile eCommerce apps make it even easier to get what you want almost the exact time you want it. And it’s not only the retail giants that are thriving in this modern world of shopping; standalone brands and even SMBs can create their own mobile apps to make shopping more convenient for their customers.
If you are thinking of creating your own app for your eCommerce business, here are some of the features that your app should have:
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An easy registration process
Customers hate inconvenience, and a mobile app that requires a tedious registration process is the definition of inconvenience. For this reason, eCommerce apps usually enable users to connect with the app through their social media accounts or email accounts, primarily Facebook and Google. Thus, you should do the same if you want users to interact with your content as soon as they download your app.
It is also a good idea to enable shareability for your content. Letting users share your listings on social media can help with SEO marketing since the more clicks your links get, the more search engines will recognize the content as relevant to your target markets.
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A good search function
All eCommerce apps have the search function to help customers find what they need, but the search function on some apps leads to no useful results. This is the case for apps that provide completely unrelated search results from the keyword that the customer used. If there are no listings that match the customer’s keywords, there should be no results at all to prevent customers from having to scroll through irrelevant results. It’s frustrating and downright useless, which is why a high-quality search functionality is a must for all types of eCommerce apps.
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Filtering and sorting options
When browsing products, customers prefer to see the things that they are likely to buy. Hence, they use the filtering and sorting options to look through listings. Furthermore, these functions help customers absorb as much information as they can with their limited attention span. If they have to scroll through hundreds of products before finding what they want, they are more likely to exit out of the app than actually buy anything.
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Categories and sub-categories
An eCommerce app needs to have categories for its products so that customers have an easier time browsing products. But more than that, apps should also contain sub-categories (and/or brands) when applicable to make the customer experience even more convenient.
For example, the category of ‘Toys’ is too wide. You can divide it into several sub-categories, such as ‘Dolls,’ ‘Cars,’ ‘Play Sets,’ and more. If you are also carrying specific brands, you can include sub-categories of brands to make it easier for people who prefer to buy from those names.
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Push notifications
Mobile eCommerce apps that don’t have this feature are missing out on potential sales. Customers aren’t likely to actively think about buying items from your business unless a) they have something they want or b) they are reminded of your business. Push notifications can help with both; they can offer something that the customer wants, and/or they can remind the customer of your business. At the very least, push notifications can help increase brand awareness.
However, you must be careful about this feature. People turn off push notifications that they find too annoying, repetitive, or pushy. It is, therefore, imperative that your push notifications are regular but infrequent, non-forceful, and actually offer something of value to the customer (e.g., discounts, promos, sales, etc.)
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Multiple payment options
Most online customers pay via credit or debit card, but your payment options shouldn’t be limited to these only. Offer other modes of online payment, such as Apple Pay, Paypal, Braintree, and more. Remember that customers want convenience, and having multiple payment options is a significant part of a convenient customer experience. Furthermore, it can help reduce cart abandonment rates when customers don’t find a payment option that they want to use.
This is not an exhaustive list of must-have features of an eCommerce mobile app, but these are some of the most important ones. So if you want to develop a mobile app for your business, refer to this list when deciding some of its most basic functions.
