How to Choose Online Shopping App Development Company

The eCommerce industry has realized tremendous growth in recent years. More than 2 billion individuals used online shopping services in 2020, with total eCommerce sales recording over $4.2 trillion globally.

This rapid development has created numerous opportunities, but it has also increased competition among vendors. We can see various trends cropping up from this competition, with the most notable being a surge in online shopping apps. Nowadays, it’s the norm to offer eCommerce with a mobile app for big businesses, and smaller companies are also hopping on the trend. Marketplace websites have also emerged as a new business model for retailers who do not have brick-and-mortar outlets.

The market is predicted to keep expanding, with forecasts of over $1 trillion by 2025.

What is online shopping app?

A mobile eCommerce application enables users to browse through several product categories/subcategories or any specific item within its product database. Within the app, users can view detailed descriptions of every item available in the catalog, compare prices across different vendors, use advanced search filters, and more.

Once a user has found their product of choice, they can add it to the shopping cart.  Before placing an order, shoppers must add their shipping and billing address and then pay for the product(s) in their shopping cart.

Developing an eCommerce App

eCommerce product development refers to the process of conceptualizing and designing products like shopping apps and websites. It involves gathering ideas for product development, building research to gain customer insights, prioritizing market needs and wants, developing design concepts, prototyping the selected concept, and testing it on a small scale before rolling it out to a wider user base.

A mobile eCommerce application is designed for use on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, and its purpose is to sell products/services online. This type of application can be developed either as an independent app or as an integrated element of another mobile app with different functionalities.

Online Shopping Apps that Rocks

Online shopping apps are developed to meet customers’ demands for convenience and ease of use. These applications give a new dimension to online retail through mobile apps and website interfaces. Companies develop such apps to increase their sales and revenue while also giving consumers what they want. These applications make life easier for consumers, as they can browse and purchase products at any time and place.

There is a wide variety of online shopping apps available today. Still, you should choose to develop one, especially as its features would attract more users and result in higher revenue generation. Here is a list that includes some of the best online shopping apps suitable for different industries:

1. GOAT App

The GOAT app focuses on sneakers, but it also carries clothing and accessories. Its simple and intuitive search mechanism helps shoppers quickly find what they are looking for. Users can search by brand, gender, size, or type of product.

2. IHerb

IHerb’s mobile eCommerce app displays goods’ cards in the catalog and PDP (Product Detail Page) layout. This is a challenge for pharmaceutical companies, as all information varies depending on what you’re looking at. Although, the IHerbs UX strategy has been well planned out across the different product types.

3. Amazon

200 million for its Amazon Prime subscription. One key strategy that the excellent eCommerce app example has applied over the years is to focus on users and their unique needs. The company’s success plan factors in an incredible user experience, which is carried out in many ways:

• Simple User Interface: Amazon has an accessible and easy-to-use interface.
• Responsive App: The app’s design is highly responsive and navigational.
• Load Time and Browsers Compatibility: The app loads within seconds and can work on every browser, whether old or new, ensuring maximum compatibility.
• Product Accessibility: Amazon offers a highly detailed search and filter feature.

4. Walmart

Walmart’s grocery pickup service witnessed exceptional success during the Coronavirus pandemic. A notable fact is that the company had begun user testing this feature in 2013. Walmart is the retail giant it is today largely due to its expansion into grocery stores. When Walmart first opened, its primary business was not food or groceries but instead general merchandise. The app’s main feature is the click-and-collect model applied through Walmart Grocery Pickup, which allows customers to select food items and enables retailers to not worry about last-mile logistics.

Why You Need an Online Shopping App?

The eCommerce market continues to grow, and customers are purchasing goods online more than ever. Many eCommerce stores have decided to build an eCommerce app for smartphones; this move can help them stay relevant in this ever-growing industry, guided by changing user behavior.

If eCommerce growth wasn’t impressive enough already, the eCommerce industry grew greatly due to the coronavirus pandemic – by $26.7 trillion, in fact. Every day, e-stores are adding more users and making more money than ever before. Today, e-stores are not only about buying goods – eCommerce has become an indispensable part of all modern business strategies.

Mobile commerce trends for 2022 state that the market will grow by 68%. This is because people want to be able to purchase products faster and easier. They do not want to enter all their information every time they make an order; they need a button that says “buy now.” One-click payments allow you to purchase items with one click on your phone, as long as you’ve previously registered your billing and shipping details. Single-click payments are probably one of the biggest drivers for the best mobile commerce apps at the moment.

Any business operating within ecommerce should have a mobile app if they want to connect with current customers and generate brand new leads.

How to choose online shopping app development company

eCommerce apps have a huge potential to earn. Successful eCommerce apps have already generated billions in revenue and have helped numerous small and medium businesses increase their profits manifold.

Businesses require custom mobile app development to maximize their reach and expand their business globally. A mobile app development company offers services such as designing, coding, and testing mobile applications for customers worldwide. The company will design and create apps that meet your specific business goals and then deploy them into the market via an app store or enterprise application.

So, what do you need to keep in mind when looking for eCommerce development services? And how do you choose the right company that can build an eCommerce app according to your business needs? Read the guide below to find the answers:

Factor 1: Your Budget

A mismatch in the expected eCommerce mobile app development cost and your actual budget can result in slow-downs or even cancellations of projects. In knowing how to choose a mobile app development company, realizing your financial position is essential. Do not forget to make inquiries about all costs and avoid signing a contract with hidden fees or additional charges. To proceed cost-efficiently, a logical approach would be matching the company’s minimum cost of projects with your total budget for an MVP.

Factor 2: The Team’s Size

You need to decide if you want a small app development team size consisting of just developers and designers or if you’d like to go for a larger team. A large mobile commerce app development company will likely have more experienced personnel on hand, which is great if you’re planning on expanding the business significantly.

Factor 3: Location of app development company

An online app development company has an advantage over a local development company because they often have a bigger pool of resources to pull from. Plus, online eCommerce development services usually charge a lower hourly rate than their brick-and-mortar counterparts. The Internet has made it possible for anyone to outsource their projects to an international development company located in a different time zone. The convenience and ease of communication through the Internet have made it possible for businesses to hire app designers and developers from around the world.

Factor 4: Reviews

A reliable app development company should have some experience in creating custom apps for different businesses. You can find out about their previous app development projects by reading customer reviews, making sure to filter out any false feedback. Look at how fast they respond to customer queries and their level of communication: this indicates how smoothly their business runs.

Factor 5: Portfolio

You can tell a lot about whether an app development company will assist you with your app by looking at their project success rate. Does their app design look appealing? Check if their apps are relevant to your industry and whether they can provide a taste of their execution process through an example app.

In addition, if their apps are popular and highly rated on different distribution platforms such as Google Play or the App Store, this is also indicative that they’re a good app development company. They should be able to provide you with well-researched and innovative solutions for your requirements, and this is why they should be given preference over other companies.

Factor 6: Experience

If an app development company has previous experience in the eCommerce industry, that’s a good sign, as this is their primary area of technical expertise and specialization. However, if they haven’t developed such apps before but are still happy to take up your project – they could be more flexible and provide better results for your specific needs.

In terms of skill set, make sure that the team you hire for eCommerce mobile app development has at least one iOS and one Android developer, so the web interface works properly on both platforms. Moreover, they must also have sound knowledge of trending technology, offline data storage techniques, and multiple server-side API integrations for a better user experience and to match your business goals.

Additionally, make sure that the app development company is experienced in working with UX designers to deliver good quality apps. They need to understand which eCommerce mobile app development features are important to users and how they will interact with them to create an effective app.

Factor 7: Understanding Business Goals

An online shopping app development company worthy of your time must be adept at understanding specific detail points. They should recognize what you want to accomplish with the eCommerce project, guide you through the process, and help you prioritize features. The agency should know how to set achievable targets that align with your business goals. You need an app that will look good on the device it runs on, is easy for users to navigate, and is updated regularly.

Factor 8: Realistic Expectations

Avoid an eCommerce application development company that makes unrealistic promises and requests payment before project discussions. You can’t expect a one-stop app agency to do everything right – unless they possess the skills, of course. The best app development companies listen to and understand your requirements before promising their work on your project.

Factor 9: Development Process

Check the company’s development process through the following set of questions:

• Request their workflow process development. Are they using version control systems (for instance, Git), feature testing, and are quality assurance available?
• Look at how they use Agile methodologies. Are they using an iterative approach?
• Are they adapting their process according to the progress of the app’s development?
• Are all app development team members engaged in the project, or is only one developer dedicated to working on it?
• How do they communicate with you? Do they listen to your problems and suggestions while developing your app?
• Does the company provide any guarantees on the end product?
• Check the total cost of ownership. Does it cover all the costs related to the project?
• Do they offer post-project maintenance services?
• If you need it, ask if they provide full-cycle development on apps.

Once done with the above steps, you can compare the development processes of the different selected mobile app development companies and proceed with an eCommerce MVP for your app first.

Factor 10: Support

If the company has poor communication or no level of organization, it will reflect poorly on your end-product. A good eCommerce mobile development company must have top-quality customer support service. This means that you should be able to contact them any time of the day if you have a problem with your application. Look for an app development company that offers post-production support. With good post-launch maintenance services, you won’t face any issues related to your mobile app performance, so keep this factor in mind while deciding.

Online Shopping App Development Cost

Estimation of eCommerce mobile app development cost is a critical step in your business. The exact answer to “how much does it cost to develop an app” varies due to the many features involved: for instance, UI/UX design complexity, on which mobile platforms the app is to be deployed (Android or iOS), how long it takes to develop an app, whether they offer cross-platform support, and more. However, an approximation can be gathered by first releasing an MVP.

On average, an online shopping app development cost ranges between $30,000 and $170,000.

What to Remember About eCommerce App Development?

An eCommerce mobile application is an essential element of any business that depends on its customers buying its products or services online. When you launch a new business, the first thing that comes to mind is how you can develop your online presence and increase brand awareness. The next step is choosing an eCommerce development agency for mobile application development. But before you hire an app developer, make sure to find out what exactly they know about eCommerce businesses.

Ecommerce companies are dynamic; their goals are always changing. There should be some flexibility to ensure smooth transformation of goals into actionable plans, which may demand periodic changes in-app functionalities or other processes. It is important that your mobile app developer understands this need for change. They must be able to implement changes quickly without much red tape or without compromising quality.

For any company out there building an eCommerce mobile application, having the right app developer is key to the success of your project. Your eCommerce mobile development partner should provide:

• A portfolio that demonstrates their ability to turn great ideas into amazing apps and help you establish a competitive advantage through design and technology;
• An understanding of what makes a great user experience;
• Mobile application consulting services that will empower you with knowledge and insight on how best to leverage your app’s features and functionality;
• An Agile process for experimentation and iteration so you can conduct various tests until you achieve optimal results;
• The ability to deliver high-performance applications in terms of speed, usability, stability, and responsiveness.

Choosing an online shopping app development company requires a lot of research and analysis. The main factors to look for include experience in eCommerce mobile app development, skillset, pricing models, and ongoing support. Moreover, a good way to find out more about the quality of work your prospective company offers is by checking online reviews from their previous clients.