According to researches, people are increasingly turning to digital solutions for entertainment and performing their daily tasks. Since the lockdown began, the percentage of mobile users has increased, and the online trading segment, and therefore, the number of online purchases, continues to grow at a high rate. A mobile commerce increase is predicted to reach 27% over the next few years with an overall increase in smartphone usage by at least 10%.
This means that growing retail companies should consider building their own mobile app as a solution to improve customer service and remain competitive in the marketplace.
Based on the extensive expertise in the designing and development of retail solutions of a reliable technology partner Emerline, let’s figure out what advantages retail mobile applications have and how to develop an efficient mobile retail solution.
What Are the Benefits of Mobile Retail Applications?
Some retailers perceive mobile apps as just a nice-to-have rather than a need. These are the reasons why retail businesses should think twice.
Increased conversion rates
A user-friendly interface and easy navigation of the mobile application helps to achieve high conversion rates. As follows from the research, mobile apps increase the percentage of users performing a targeted action compared to desktop and mobile websites. As a result, the conversion rate of apps is several times higher than that of websites.
Improved Customer Loyalty
Users who choose to download a mobile app are more inclined to purchase than visitors of mobile websites, who mainly enter a website to check details or find contact info. In addition, people spend 3-4 times more hours in applications than on websites, which also increases the likelihood of a purchase.
Valuable customer data
Innovative technologies built into mobile applications help to quickly analyze and understand customer behavior and their actions on the Internet. Through this analysis, companies receive accurate data about what their customers are interested in, and based on this data, they can offer them exactly what they need.
How to Build a Successful Mobile App for Your Retail Business?
Mobile retail applications are one of the most important business tools. Brands use mobile applications to notify customers about new items, enroll them in loyalty programs, distribute products, and collect feedback on customer preferences and service levels. For a mobile application to bring only benefits, it is critical to precisely identify what functions your mobile application will have.
Below are the top 5 features that a high-quality mobile retail solution should have.
Top-5 Retail Mobile App Key Features
Mobile payments
One effective way to reduce cart abandonment and enhance conversions is to accommodate customers’ payment preferences. It’s important to integrate your retail mobile app with all the leading payment service providers, such as Apple Pay, PayPal, Android Pay, etc.
QR code scanner
Using the camera lens, shoppers can scan the barcode or QR code of the products and receive additional information, such as price, characteristics, special offers, and quantity. In offline stores, the app can reduce salesperson’s pre-sales consulting efforts, and shoppers will gain in time savings.
Product finder
If your store offers a large number of products for purchase, then the product search feature according to certain characteristics is a must-have for your mobile application. This will significantly save time searching for a specific item and increase the quality of service and the level of customer satisfaction.
Feedback option
Ratings and customers’ feedback are valuable sources of information about products. 92% of shoppers buy products after reading feedback. The opportunity to read and leave feedback has a significant impact on gaining customer trust and boosting sales.
Push notifications
Push notifications boost customer engagement rates as they inform your customers of current promotions, specials offers, and seasonal discounts.
When creating a mobile retail application, it is also important to determine, who is your app target audience, what problem or business goal your app is going to solve, why people would love to use your app, what benefits your app will offer, what kind of products and services you are going to sell through the app, how it will work, and what users can do in your app.
If you are interested in an individual mobile application for your retail business, contact Emerline experts. They understand how to develop mobile apps for retailers correctly, how to use the power of innovations, and how to create the design that will definitely make your customers use your solution. Feel free to contact them for further details.
