Your business can grow exponentially with an ecommerce mobile app. Your customers will be able to shop through your app much more easily than when they shop online. Instead of waiting for customers to land on your website, and seeing a banner or pop-up box advertising a generic sales offer, push notifications can be sent out about specific product sales based upon each customer’s previous purchases. You can maximize your sales potential because you have control over the game.
Aren’t Mobile-Optimized Websites Enough?
Even if your app is mobile commerce friendly, a mobile-optimized site is essential. If a visitor does not make a purchase, it is still a limitation to your marketing potential. Targeted email marketing can be used to sell a customer something else if they do buy from you. This is the ideal situation. Your targeted ads and offers help customers to land on your page and buy something. Your web traffic isn’t always converting the first time. If the customer lands on your website again, you will have to start over. Retargeting is not as easy as it sounds. You can still cookie visitors and retarget them via banner ads or Facebook ads. However, this feature is beginning to be challenged. Apple has announced that Safari will now have a new feature which limits the use cookies for ad-retargeting to 24 hours after potential customers leave a page. This means you only have one day to reach them with targeted ads.
What is the best time to build an app for your ecommerce store?
- If You Have The Resources To Create It
If you aren’t certain that the app you create will be a key part of growing your ecommerce company and generating new revenue streams, don’t take on massive debt to make it happen. To attract the right customers, you should continue to build relationships with your existing customers and grow the online platform. Once you have the resources it is time to create a business case. Then, when you are ready to launch your app and have the resources to do so, you can invest in a mobile application. The cost of creating your app will vary depending on whether it is outsourced or built in-house. To help you make that important decision, we have created a guide. You can download it here.
- If The Majority Of Your Traffic Comes From Mobile Devices
It’s time to get a mobile app if you are seeing a lot of your website traffic come from mobile devices. Your customers tell you that they prefer shopping from their smartphones, so launching an app should be easy. Why? Customers and potential customers won’t have as much resistance to you as if you were using desktop shopping. You’re just making the experience more richer and intuitive for them. You’re wasting money if you don’t capitalize on mobile traffic long-term with push notifications, targeted sales, and other marketing strategies.
- You Can’t Be Left Behind If You Make The Decision To Not Get Left Behind
Your competitors already have apps. You’ll soon be far behind if you wait for a mobile app to become a must-have. Recall the debate about websites. Businesses that launched websites early and provided customers with a new way to shop set themselves up for success more than those that kept it old-fashioned. Sears Canada is a great example. Sears Canada is known for slow adapting to market changes. They have just announced their intention to go out of business. Although there are many factors that go into adapting to online shopping, Sears remained focused on in-person sales. It didn’t turn out as they expected.
In Summary
Mobile ecommerce has been on the rise. You’ll fall behind if you ignore this trend. A comScore survey revealed that 51% of shoppers purchased their goods online in 2016, up from 48% in 2015. A further 44 percent of smartphone owners made a purchase via their phone. According to the Wall Street Journal, approximately 190 million Americans will shop online in 2015. Online shopping is no longer a problem. Online shopping is becoming more popular and consumers are becoming more comfortable buying online. Now is the best time to think about developing a mobile app for ecommerce. Get in touch today if you feel ready to start. We will help you realize your mobile app dreams.