The Advantages Offered by Custom eCommerce Applications

In the modern consumer world, we can be reached at any time, wherever we are, thanks to the mobile phones that we all carry with us. This has given rise to a whole new way of shopping for goods and services - the eCommerce mobile app.

This type of eCommerce app offers a range of advantages to anyone selling anything online. Research shows that 8 out of 10 business owners that use them believe that the convenience and increased speed they offer creates extra business revenues.

So, if you’re an eCommerce business owner and you aren’t yet using a custom app like this, it’s certainly food for thought.

Why Should You Be Using a Custom eCommerce App?

There are a number of eCommerce app-building platforms out there to use, including the likes of Buildfire and Biznessapps. These platforms offer complete customization to create a highly-personalized, consistently branded experience for your customers. Others include:

• Jotform Apps
• Salesforce Mobile
• Quixy

Apps such as these allow you to offer the complete online retail service. Typically, the experience is smoother and more immersive than one provided via a web browser, with customer support also being accessible without leaving the app.

Let’s take a look at some of the major benefits they bring…

An Improved Customer Experience

First and foremost, custom eCommerce apps can be created to offer an improved customer journey. A well-designed mobile app will actively encourage your buyers to return time and again, as a 360° experience is one people enjoy. In-app notifications keep customers informed.

The smoothness of the experience is not just limited to the buying side of things either, but also aftercare. Shipment tracking, for example, is made simple, with in-app notifications and direct links to shipping information without having to go and log in to an external website.

Having a good customer experience on both your eCommerce website and custom app is imperative to keep customers coming back. To learn more about how UX design can improve your conversion rates, check out this resource on powerful UX design principles.

Increased Brand Recognition

Thanks to the way that custom mobile apps are able to foster strong relationships between consumers and vendors, your brand can’t help but benefit in terms of recognition.

The biggest social media platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook can all be integrated into a custom eCommerce app. This allows your customers to openly talk with others about your services and products, offering feedback and highlighting their experiences with you in a public arena.

Push Notifications Boost Revenue

Another great thing about custom eCommerce apps is that push notifications can be used to boost revenue and help customers. For instance, customers can receive automatic messages on their mobile about giveaways, sales, and discounts that boost sales.

Other useful push notifications include:

• Abandoned cart notifications
• For-your-information (FYI) notifications
• Triggered push notifications (when a certain action is taken)
• Interest-Based Geo-location notifications
• Reminder notifications

While it is possible to turn these notifications off, not many actually do, with the messages coming through being hard to ignore. It’s an inexpensive process too when compared to SMS push notifications.

Perhaps most crucially though, the customer gets to feel special in that they get these exclusive updates - all the time boosting your brand and bottom line.

Building Customer Loyalty

Customer loyalty can be boosted further with special promo codes able to be offered, with loyalty point systems and look books all having a similar effect. Wish lists can also be included in your custom app, which is a great way to raise awareness even further.

People do struggle to decide what to buy for their friends and family on special occasions, but a wish list can be compiled by the customer in the app and shared to provide inspiration.

This does two things; 1) it keeps your brand front of mind and 2) introduces your brand to a new group of potential customers.

Boosting Your Average Order Value (AOV)

Mobile eCommerce apps improve the user experience, which typically results in a boost to your average order value (AOV). The smoothness of the buying journey makes it more comfortable for the user, meaning that you tend to get better results compared to desktop screen browsing.

Other metrics that can be tracked include the following:

• Gross Profit

• Conversion Rate

• Cart Abandonment Rate

• Cart Conversion Rate

• Cost of Goods Sold

• Customer Lifetime Value

• Churn Rate

The detailed analytics that can be tracked via an eCommerce app help you better understand your customers, allowing you to fine-tune your approach over time. Session length, content interaction, and click-through rates all represent highly-usable data.

This can then be used to create personalized content and make your customers feel like you’re speaking directly to them.

An eCommerce Strategy That Shouldn’t Be Overlooked

While many ready-made eCommerce applications don’t have all the features and functions described, custom-built apps can be created exactly to your needs.

As such, it’s an eCommerce strategy that shouldn’t be overlooked, because as we can see, the benefits to the consumer and business owner are numerous.

Of course, finding the right eCommerce apps can be very costly and time-consuming, but with the Eventige Media Group team on your side, we’ll guide you through the process, ensuring that you get the right solution, whether your needs require a custom-built option or not.

So, why not add an extra dimension to the eCommerce experience you offer to your customers by getting in touch with us today?