Among games and utilities, online stores are making their way through the crowd of mobile apps, a sector that keeps growing. Major companies across industries are starting to use apps to sell. According to “The App Date”, Spain has 22 million active users who download 4 million apps every day.
Among games like Candy Crush, Spider Man and Chronology and photo and music editing apps, you’ll find stores such as H&M, Amazon, Vente-Privee and Privalia. All of them have significant search volume and organic traffic.
Given these figures, the question arises:
Do I need an app for my online store?
With more and more people using their phones to shop, online stores need to be mobile-ready, not only because it affects search rankings but because it’s another sales channel for the online store. But more and more people are also asking whether they need an app to sell.
According to SocialMediaToday, users struggle with some of the mobile apps on the market. Studies show that most users don’t have a reliable browsing experience, and fewer than half of consumers are satisfied with the mobile experience.
Before considering an app for your online store (native app or web app), think about the project costs you’ll have to take on, both technical and in terms of promoting it.
• To begin with, if you want your app available on every system and platform, you’ll need to build several apps in each operating system’s language. Consider whether the app will need an internet connection, access all user features and profiles, etc. You should also set aside part of the budget for innovation, as this tech market keeps evolving with new features and designs. Content visibility
• Plan a strategy to offer fresh, exclusive content; otherwise there’s no point in getting users to download your app.
• If budget isn’t an issue, an app can be profitable as long as you’re well known or develop brand promotion and awareness strategies. If nobody knows you, who’s going to download the app?
• Beyond branding and brand awareness, you’ll need a ranking strategy to make your app stand out from all the others.
• If you want your app to be an effective sales channel, you’ll need to provide user support throughout the buying process via live chat or a support line.
So while m-commerce grows and users become more demanding about their browsing experience, apps are now a profitable business if you take into account factors well beyond simply promoting and developing the app.
In a competitive market, what matters is that your store is responsive or has a mobile version that lives up to browsing and usability expectations.
What’s more, with a mobile version of your store, people don’t need to know you and download your app to buy. To reach your site, they simply run a generic search on their phone and click your link to get the mobile version of the store, where they can also buy.
