In recent years, electronic commerce (eCommerce) has seen significant transformation. The surge in online purchasing prompted by the pandemic has been the decisive factor that elevated e-commerce to the same level as physical retail outlets.
Similarly, mobile devices have evolved as a prominent means of interaction between consumers and shops, gradually progressing towards being a preferred channel for customers. According to projections, by 2025, mobile commerce (m-commerce) is expected to comprise around 67.6% of the overall sales in the electronic commerce (eCommerce) sector. This significant share is estimated to contribute around 16.0% to the total retail sales.
Despite the relatively modest growth in mobile app downloads in 2022, there was a corresponding increase in the installation of ecommerce mobile applications in 2023, with a 4% rise compared to the average figures from the previous year. The number of global mobile commerce sessions also saw a 12% increase compared to the previous year.
In the present discourse, we will direct our attention to the technological aspects of the development of e-commerce applications. This blog article aims to provide an overview of the primary characteristics and emerging patterns in mobile e-commerce application development, as well as an estimation of the associated expenses for creating a mobile e-commerce app via Orangesoft.
What are the current trends in mobile commerce (m-commerce) app development?
Similar to other digital products, e-commerce applications replicate prevailing technological trends. The influential combination of automation, immersiveness, and connection is seeing significant growth in mobile e-commerce. These three technologies are evident in various technological solutions applied in mobile commerce.
The Process of Developing an e-commerce Application: A Sequential Approach
Strategizing and developing a good mobile application cannot be accomplished within a short timeframe. Hence, it is essential for the development process of an e-commerce application to adhere to a coherent sequence of logical processes.
Define the niche
It is essential to prioritize the selection of a distinct domain that serves as the focal point of your application. The selection made by the end-user in this context will provide the foundational framework for any further additions to the solution. The field of electronic commerce (eCommerce) has variations across different industries. From the realm of traditional retail to the realm of Internet marketing and digital advertising, your application can focus on various facets of market interactions.
Identify the target market and rivals
After formulating a broad concept of your prospective digital asset, refining and articulating your vision becomes necessary. Conducting a competitor study may assist in identifying prominent technologies, UX/UI trends, and revenue models suitable for solutions similar to yours. One may also peruse client evaluations to identify the merits and drawbacks of existing solutions.
Your application must be tailored to a specific user group or target population that is highly relevant and exhibits strong brand loyalty. The examination of the client base, the implementation of market research, or the analysis of rivals may discern the primary user. The development team will review the customer personas to ensure that the application is aligned with the target audience.
The outcome of these two phases is a comprehensive compilation of application requirements and business goals, which will serve as the foundation for the subsequent development process.
Assemble a dependable team.
Including a proficient group of verified mobile developers is an additional component of your framework. When constructing a retail solution from the ground up, it is customary to establish a team structure encompassing many professionals’ expertise. These specialists often include:
Organizations can engage software specialists via on-site hiring or outsource their mobile development to an external provider. Typically, the former option tends to be more costly. However, outsourcing has a favorable price-value ratio while maintaining software quality. In addition, it is possible to consider soliciting proposals from independent contractors, contingent upon having a well-defined and focused development assignment in mind.
Develop the idea and specify the feature list
During this phase, the user and the development team explore the app concept in-depth. Company analysts provide a contextual analysis of your eCommerce solution within the company’s framework, while technical specialists devise an appropriate combination of technologies to convert your concept into a comprehensive solution.
The outcome of this particular stage yields a collection of essential characteristics that will serve as the foundational elements of your minimal viable product (MVP). Regarding the desirable functionality, it is recommended that your development team incorporates it towards the latter stages of the development process.
Create captivating UI/UX
Using the user persona, UI/UX designers will create a design layout that effectively facilitates the consumer journey inside your application. With mobile user experience (UX) design serving as the foundation, UI/UX developers will include essential aspects to enhance your eCommerce application’s usability, convenience, and consistency.
Selecting the development method
A software development strategy encompasses the strategies and methodologies used to manage a software project effectively. The phenomenon is evident across several phases of mobile development, including selecting features, the pace at which releases are made, and the duration of testing cycles. Orangesoft employs the Agile process as a framework for mobile development.
Agile methodology enables our team to maintain a high degree of flexibility effectively, creating enough room and opportunity to incorporate modifications or enhancements. Additionally, our delivery process involves providing your program in incremental portions, ensuring you are informed of the outcome at every step of the software development cycle.
Make and evaluate an MVP
After the technical and business decisions have been made and verified, the next step involves the implementation of the documented plans. The mobile team should start with a modest approach by developing a rudimentary product. A minimal viable product (MVP) is comprised only of essential features. These examples should be sufficient for users to evaluate and test the mobile solution.
The minimum viable product (MVP) is then available to the general public to collect feedback and strategize further enhancements.
Enhance and substantiate the functionality of your eCommerce mobile application.
Utilizing user data, the mobile development team refines the solution and enhances it with additional features that are considered desirable. Once the development of your application is complete, it is made available for distribution via the app store. Nevertheless, your digital product must undergo frequent upgrades and maintenance to ensure optimal performance, irrespective of the increasing traffic or evolving platform versions.
Key Elements to Incorporate in an Electronic Commerce Application
While each shopping solution presents its selling proposal, it exhibits some fundamental characteristics similar to those of other rivals. In the following section, we have compiled the primary characteristics that constitute the bulk of applications within this specific domain. It is also worth considering their inclusion in a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for the application.
Authentication capabilities
Verifying a user’s identity is a crucial aspect of any eCommerce solution, as it enhances security measures and mitigates the risk of unauthorized access by malicious individuals. Individuals can register for your application using their email address, phone number, or social network credentials.
In addition, implementing two- or multi-factor authentication is a supplementary measure to enhance clients’ security. Both of these techniques need the user to authenticate themselves by logging in using two or more authentication mechanisms, such as a personal identification number (PIN), a one-time password, or a separate device.
Profile of the User
The identification of customers by the program enables company owners to get more information to refine their suggestions and other marketing endeavors. In contrast, customers can input the necessary information on a single occasion and retain the data for subsequent transactions. User profiles can include fundamental user details, such as email addresses, given names and surnames, shipping addresses, and purchase histories, among other relevant information.
Search with specified filters.
The core elements of mCommerce apps revolve around product selection and exploration, emphasizing the search functionality’s criticality. Implementing filtered search functionality enables users to refine their search results, resulting in a more targeted and pertinent array of options that align with their purchase requirements. The “Refine Result” checkboxes should be category-specific and allow updating the available results automatically.
Image search is a frequently employed feature in several prominent apps, such as ASOS, AliExpress, and others.
Shopping carts
The shopping cart pages should effectively enhance customers’ intention to purchase by smoothly directing them toward the order checkout process. Regarding the particular constituents, carts must provide a prompt recapitulation of the product(s) that have been added to the cart, together with their corresponding pricing and pertinent product details. In order to proceed with the transaction, consumers must be provided with the opportunity to choose their desired payment method and specify their preferences for delivery and return arrangements.
Gateways for online payments
Incorporating one or more payment services is crucial in facilitating the transfer of funds from the client to the merchant’s designated bank account. From a technological standpoint, the activation of payment gateways occurs via the integration of application programming interfaces (APIs), which establish a connection between the checkout function of a company and the payment system. PayPal, Amazon Pay, and 2Checkout are among the prominent choices in online payment solutions. The inclusion of debit and credit card payment functionality, together with support for mobile wallets, is recommended for your eCommerce application. Statista identifies these payment methods as the predominant ones in the industry.
Efficient and expedited payment process
This stage concludes the procurement procedure and often involves inputting the delivery address and payment information. Based on the findings reported by Shopify, it has been observed that a notable proportion of consumers, namely 18%, tend to leave their shopping carts as a consequence of encountering a protracted and intricate checkout procedure. Hence, optimizing the efficiency of the checkout process will contribute to client retention.
One of the most often used checkout structures in e-commerce is a one-page checkout, which encompasses the presentation of shipping, invoicing, and order summary information on a single page. The use of a two-step checkout system is prevalent among shops that choose to divide the procedure into two distinct parts.
Push notifications
Push notifications serve as a prominent re-engagement medium for businesses, effectively motivating consumers to participate in purchase activities. Precisely timed and tailored in-application push notifications have the potential to mitigate instances of cart abandonment, provide real-time updates on active promotions, and provide location-specific messaging, among other functionalities.
The real-time nature of the functionality is another compelling reason why your mCommerce app will benefit from its inclusion. Consequently, push alerts are more prone to eliciting an immediate response.
Customer Assistance
The cornerstone of a retailer’s brand reputation is consistently providing outstanding and punctual customer service. Based on research conducted by Hubspot, it has been shown that a significant majority of consumers, namely 93%, exhibit a high likelihood of engaging in repeat transactions with organizations that provide exceptional customer service. The integration of live chat capabilities has gained significant popularity as a software solution, as it facilitates instantaneous customer service, enhancing communication effectiveness and diminishing response durations.
Personalized mobile application dialogues may be expanded via chatbots or conversational artificial intelligence (AI). These advanced technologies facilitate self-service for clients and effectively manage recurrent inquiries. Specific software development kits (SDKs) for live chat, such as Sinch or Twilio, have a chatbot functionality.
Delivery Monitoring
This functionality allows consumers to get information about the current status of their delivery. In the event of a delay in delivery, customers are provided with real-time information about the present status of their package and the underlying cause for the delay.
The eCommerce solution can get real-time shipping data from shipping application programming interfaces (APIs). These features enable the seamless integration of real-time order-tracking functionality into your mobile application. The real-time data obtained from the application programming interface (API) may initiate a notice for the consumer afterward.
Preferred choices of customers
In order to enhance sales, eCommerce solutions include a selection of presently popular daily goods that clients most often purchase. Additionally, this functionality can display a compilation of often-bought items specific to a particular consumer inside their designated user account. The vendor can access a record of previously bought items to give customers customized promotions, discounts, and tailored suggestions.
High-quality product pages with descriptions and photographs
Captivating descriptions accompanied by well-matched visual representations can effectively highlight the items, leading to a positive perception and a higher likelihood of successful conversions. In order to provide comprehensive information to potential customers, product descriptions have to include essential details such as dimensions, color variations, pricing, shipping particulars, customer reviews, and any other pertinent information that may assist consumers in making informed purchasing decisions. The mitigation of consumer complaints and returns may be achieved using precise and comprehensive product descriptions.
The implementation of effective visual merchandising strategies requires the inclusion of high-quality product photos in mCommerce apps. Therefore, consumers anticipate a range of 5 to 8 visual representations of the product.
Product evaluations and rankings
Customer reviews and star ratings are crucial in aiding consumers in product research and facilitating informed purchasing choices. Moreover, they provide a supplementary avenue for merchants to get feedback and mitigate the occurrence of client complaints.
Program of loyalty
Achieving brand loyalty is the ultimate objective for any eCommerce business. Hence, integrating a loyalty program into the customer experience has significant implications for establishing and enhancing brand equity. Based on a survey, a majority of individuals who own loyalty programs, precisely 56.0%, assert that their current rewards program positively impacts sales, yields a favorable return on investment, and enjoys significant popularity within their client base.
From a technical standpoint, two options are available for implementing a loyalty program: integrating an in-house system or outsourcing the process to an external provider. According to the survey, around 49% of loyalty programs are overseen by a vendor specializing in loyalty technology solutions. In comparison, more than 50% of these programs are administered internally by the organization. Ensuring that the loyalty solution has data processing capabilities and is equipped to support future enhancements is essential.