E-Commerce apps have taken the digital world by storm. They have transformed it into a more convenient space for people to buy anything they want. If you want to get into this revolutionary industry, you’re right on time. There are several e-commerce mobile application features that you can’t miss today.
The eCommerce industry has amazing online stores for different industries. It doesn’t matter what business you have. If you have a mobile shopping app, you can build customer loyalty and grow your business, which can translate into more sales.
Now, how do you create an online store that stands out from the rest? An eCommerce mobile app must include something unique for users. There’s a list of “must-have” features that will get you started on the right foot.
Here, you’ll discover all the features you should include in your online shopping app. Although some of them may be obvious to you already, there are other ones that you may have missed, and they can make all the difference when boosting the appeal of your eCommerce business.
Top Features Your eCommerce Apps Must Have
Take a look at the best eCommerce app features you should consider today. All of those features will do a great job of making the online shopping experience much better for everyone, which can make your business more successful.
- Debit/credit card payments
- PayPal
- Apple Pay
- Skrill
- Amazon Pay
- Stripe
- And more
#1 – Payment Options
It doesn’t matter if you offer the best online shopping experience in the eCommerce industry if you don’t offer flexibility around the payment methods.
Your goal should be to make your online store as convenient as possible for most people, so try to include the most popular payment options available at the time. This will increase the chances of getting more sales later.
The most important payment methods out there include:
Make sure to check your market to tell which methods are most used by mobile users when they buy.
Something that will also help achieve a positive user experience is to make the payment process safe. If you work with the right development team, you’ll be able to offer a safe payment platform within your mobile commerce app, making people more likely to go through with their orders.
#2 – Intuitive and Easy Navigation
It should go without saying that eCommerce mobile apps must be easy to navigate. Getting this part right is very hard for those aiming at mobile compatibility, though. Being able to create a mobile app with an immersive design will be key in attracting customers.
Two of the most important things you must consider when creating an e-Commerce mobile app are the screen size and the content. Not all phones share the same sizes, so you must optimize the platform so that it looks good on most devices.
A key aspect you must keep in mind about eCommerce apps is that you have very limited space, and it’s easy to overload it. You must work with the developers to ensure you design a simple and good-looking layout for your platform.
The navigating experience should be seamless, and mobile users should be able to look at all your products and services without feeling overwhelmed. If they have a bad experience with your platform, they’re not likely to come back even if you fix the design.
Many developers go for responsive design, which adapts to any screen size and makes things better for most users.
#3 – Simple Sign-Up Process
Most people back out from an eCommerce app (any other platform) when they see how extensive the sign-up process is. Several websites online ask the user to fill out a bunch of forms and required fields, which will likely cause a negative reaction from them.
First, you would be making the registration process much more complicated for the person. Additionally, if you ask for too much information upon registration, the user could suspect negative intent on your behalf, which will drive them further away from your platform.
The best thing you can do here is to make the process as simple as possible and only ask for what’s necessary.
Many eCommerce apps only ask for a person’s name and e-mail address to create their account. This approach will make the person more likely to share more information once they’re confident enough to make a purchase, including their phone number, the address where they want to receive the products, their payment information, etc.
#4 – Shopping Carts
Shopping carts should be a staple in all online stores. Thanks to this feature, the user can simply get everything they want in the same space and then place their order comfortably.
If you don’t have a shopping cart feature, you limit the user to only making a single purchase per item, which makes things way too inconvenient.
On the contrary, a shopping cart helps the user keep adding products there until they’re ready to make the purchase. The “Shopping Cart” page can allow the person to review every item they’re buying and make adjustments, which adds up to a positive user experience.
#5 – Galleries
Most people who purchase from eCommerce apps are more “visual” when it comes to deciding what to get. Since they’re not inside a physical store, they have no way of looking at what they’re purchasing, which can make the decision harder for them.
Thankfully, if you add a product or service gallery, your users will be able to look at what they’re getting before they place their order, which will make them feel more confident, and therefore, more likely to go through with the purchase.
Keep in mind that a single image per product may not be enough to convince your average customer. If you’re creating a gallery for your eCommerce app, make sure you include different photos from different angles, and if possible, include 3D product visualizations.
#6 – Feedback Section
Getting feedback may sometimes feel scary for eCommerce business owners, as you never know what people are going to say.
If you offer a seamless and exciting online store experience, there’s nothing to worry about (for the most part). However, if you get things one step further and include a feedback section, you’ll give users the power to share their opinions about certain products (or the platform in general).
This feature helps to make your brand more transparent, which is something you definitely want if you want to stand out from the competition.
Something that can also help you with brand transparency is social media integration features, but we’ll get into that in the next section.
#7 – Social Media Integration
You can create a social media sign-in feature if you want to make the registration process even easier for people. Thanks to this feature, users can create an account using the information from their preferred social media platforms, whether it’s Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
Another thing that social media integration helps with is sharing. You can add a “Share” button on each product page to help users interact and share their opinions on your platform or product offering.
If you offer a great eCommerce app experience, then this will help you with marketing, as your users will be doing some of the advertising for you.
Social media is currently one of the top options for those wanting to promote their business. Overall, social media marketing efforts have increased the exposure of 90% of marketers’ businesses. Moreover, 75% of those marketers claimed they increased traffic.
With that data, it’s no surprise that everyone is trying to implement social media in their eCommerce apps.
#8 – Wishlists
Including a wishlist section may not be your priority, but this feature helps a lot if you want to retain customers.
It may not seem like it, but a lot of shoppers add items to their wishlist instead of their cart. This helps them remember what products they were interested in but wanted to purchase later.
Moreover, you can set up your mobile app to send push notifications to your users whenever one of their wishlist items is on sale.
#9 – Shipping Options
The more you limit your customers’ options when they shop, the less likely they will be to process their orders. A great way to make the user experience better is to add different shipping options depending on what the customer needs.
Many mobile apps give users the option to add different shipping addresses, for example, since this makes everything more convenient for them at the time of placing their order. Getting rid of the need of writing a new address every time will make all the difference.
If you want to take things to the next level, add different shipping options that show their cost and estimated delivery time. This will help the user choose the option that feels more convenient for them.
#10 – Giveaways and Flash Discounts
People have always loved (and will forever love) discounts. There’s not a single person in the world that doesn’t want to save money whenever they purchase something, so if you want to increase brand loyalty and customer retention, then consider offering flash discounts and/or giveaways from time to time.
“Flash” events will notify the user that certain items (or category pages) are featuring sales. These events are called “flash” because they last for a short time, typically a few days or even less.
The fact that these sales last for such a short time will create a sense of urgency in the customer, which will make them more likely to place an order before the event ends.
As for giveaways, you can choose a popular product and choose to give it away to a lucky customer. Depending on the strategy you use, you could get a bunch of new customers and free advertising from them.
If you’re going for the best option possible, giveaways may be the top option compared to discounts.
#11 – Push Notifications
We’ve mentioned push notifications a lot on this page, and that’s because of how important they are. According to E Goi, 70% of users see push notifications as useful.
Most users won’t simply “remember” to check your website all the time if they don’t get any incentive to do it, especially if your mobile app is new.
Thankfully, push notifications are a very easy way to engage with your app users and get them to return to your platform. You can set these notifications to show new products, discounts, sale events, and more.
Most of the time, push notifications will give you more results than other promotion tools, such as emails or text messages, so make sure your eCommerce app isn’t missing this fantastic feature.
#12 – Order Summary
As mentioned before, most people like to look at what they’re purchasing before they place their order, as this helps them ensure they’re not making mistakes or missing anything important.
Add an order summary feature alongside the shopping cart to make the process more convenient for the user. The summary will give the user a short description of everything they’re buying (and their price) before they move on with payment and shipping.
Order summary features help reduce the risk of returns, which is known for causing loss of money and time.
#13 – Product Score
Not everyone will take the time to look at other users’ reviews when they’re purchasing, so what you can do to offer an alternative is to include product scores.
The scores are often featured alongside a product’s price, so it’s hard to miss. Each product would get its score based on the average result in customer reviews.
How do you encourage customers to review a product with a score? It’s simple enough. Once they make their purchase, you can send a notification to ask them how their experience was, and if they’re happy, encourage them to leave a score or a short review to help other users who may be looking for the same product.
#14 – Analytics
While this isn’t a feature aimed at the users, it will make the experience much easier for your team. Analytics will help you understand user behavior and buying patterns, allowing you to create better marketing campaigns based on the information you’re getting.
There are many things you can learn from your customers even with basic analytics features, including session times, click-through rates, cost of conversions, and more.
Many business owners go for Google Analytics as their tool for this matter. Still, you can go for the option that best suits your needs.
#15 – Personalized Recommendations and Personalization
Thanks to current technology, you can adjust the customer experience to fit each client perfectly. Developers can set the app to track users’ behavior when they’re using the app, so if they’re looking for products of a specific category, the app can use that information to recommend them a similar item later.
Most mobile apps do this under the “You may also like” section below each product description page. If you do it right, you can improve customer loyalty and increase conversion rates.
#16 – Membership Programs
A great feature you can add to your eCommerce app to increase brand loyalty and customer retention is to offer membership or loyalty programs.
Let’s go over memberships first. A membership can give the user access to exclusive products or discounts that the average user won’t have. Typically, you would charge a monthly or yearly fee to those who want to become members, so if you want to get that extra revenue, make sure to make an interesting offer they won’t want to let pass.
As for loyalty programs, you can create a “point system” where users can gather points as they make purchases or use the platform. Then, once the person reaches a certain threshold of points, they can get access to exclusive deals or products.
This strategy motivates users to keep using your app to earn rewards.
Remember, people love discounts and free stuff, so you can take advantage of these features and get more users to join your app and use it frequently.
#17 – Item Availability
Something very annoying for most people is trying to add a product to their cart and place an order only to find out that the item is out of stock. This makes them lose a lot of time, which can drive them away from your platform. However, a simple “Item Availability” feature can fix this issue.
You would include this feature in every product description page alongside the price, scores, and other important factors. It will tell customers whether the product is still in stock and how many items are available.
Some eCommerce app developers include a message for when there’s low stock, which can make users more likely to place their order before it’s too late.
If a certain product is out of stock, you can add the option for users to add them to their wishlist and then get a push notification when it’s available again.
#18 – Customer Support
Even if your eCommerce app is perfect, you must have a customer support team ready to help users. Keep in mind that many people aren’t tech-savvy, so they will have a hard time navigating the platform even if you made it easy to use.
Make sure to include a reliable Customer Support section that can address people’s most common concerns. Feel free to also offer a direct communication line with a company representative to make things easier for the user.
Other Features for Your eCommerce App That May Help You
These were the most important features that shouldn’t be missing in your next mobile app. However, if you want to take the customer experience to the next level, you can also consider the following extra details:
- Product filtering and sorting
- Product descriptions
- Order tracking
- “Most Popular Products” section
- Augmented Reality gallery for products
- Simple product returns and tracking
- Company data invoices for customers
- Barcode scanning (only if you also have a brick-and-mortar store)
Why Should You Get an eCommerce Mobile App?
There are dozens of benefits that come from having an eCommerce app. According to Forbes, about 91% of people make online purchases with their smartphones. That’s an outstanding number!
If so many people are using their phones to purchase from online stores, then that means you can benefit from them, especially if you own an e-commerce business.
The primary benefit you must consider about eCommerce mobile apps is that they’re much more convenient than other options. Even if you have an eCommerce website, people would have to get on their PC/laptop to access your content without any problems.
However, if you develop an e-commerce mobile app the right way, you will be making things much easier and more convenient for your potential customers, increasing the chances of getting more sales.
All eCommerce app users are looking to save time while they buy, so if you’re able to provide them with the solution to that problem, you’ll see good results.
Let’s look at an overview of the main benefits of eCommerce mobile app development:
Competitive Advantage
eCommerce businesses with a mobile app will definitely gain an advantage over their competitors, especially if they don’t have an online store yet. This is because mobile apps allow for more interaction and growth.
Currently, the most popular (and recognized) online store out there is Amazon, so you should use it as a reference of what eCommerce mobile app features to include in your project to make it stand out.
You don’t have to be as big as Amazon to get more customers. As long as your eCommerce app can provide people with a seamless and fun shopping experience, then you will have the upper hand compared to your nearest competitors.
Cost Reduction
One of the main reasons why not everyone has an eCommerce app is that the development process may not be affordable for them. If this is your case, think about all the money you’re already investing in marketing, third-party integrations, and communications. You can integrate all of these features within the same platform!
An eCommerce app can help you reach customers faster and boost your sales, which will aid in reducing marketing costs in general. Moreover, since you’ll have everything on the same platform, you won’t need to worry about excessive workload on your team. You will save money in the long run.
Overall, creating a mobile app for your eCommerce platform will be worth it in the end.
Better Retention Rates
Getting customers is one thing, but another factor that many business owners struggle with is retention. It isn’t worth it if you get a bunch of “single-purchase” clients. Your goal should be to get those people to return to your business eventually.
Since people are more likely to return to a mobile shopping app due to how convenient it is, you have a great chance of getting higher customer retention rates.
Brand Loyalty
There’s nothing more satisfactory than getting loyal customers, and you can achieve that by boosting your brand loyalty. An eCommerce mobile app can connect the customer and the business like no other platform.
Some online stores, for example, allow people to share social media posts about your products, which can help you improve your reputation.
Moreover, you can set your online store to send push notifications to its users with discounts, giveaways, and more. All of those will do wonders in making your business thrive in the future.
Bottom Line – Start Working on Your E-Commerce Mobile Apps Today!
An eCommerce app will do wonders for your company, especially if you work with the right development team.
Make sure to evaluate all of the features mentioned on this page, and talk to your developers to see which unique ideas could fit your project the best. With patience and the right investment, you will certainly get an e-commerce mobile app that will give you the advantage you needed in this digital world.
