With the rise of smartphones, online customers have been buying more goods with their mobile devices instead of computers.
Mobile apps are more popular than mobile websites and can provide businesses with more customer information compared to a website visit. Also, customers are more likely to remember and return to a mobile app which is more visible on a phone screen compared to an Internet browser’s bookmark.
What does the growing popularity of apps mean for e-commerce websites? Mobile apps are also affecting how shoppers behave, and an e-commerce business needs to understand these trends to get the most out of mobile apps.
Loading Quickly
Every e-commerce owner should know that slow loading times can quickly kill your business as more impatient customers turned towards another store. Remember that not every mobile user will have access to a top-notch 4G network all the time. Your business needs to make sure that everyone with a mobile device can easily access your website or app.
Know your Customers
“Data” is the current big buzzword around mobile ecommerce apps. Business can track where a customer goes on its app better than a website. This means that a business can better understand what each individual customer is interested in and personalize their app for them. One major challenge with apps compared to websites is that it is harder to build an app which will work with every kind of phone. Consequently, an ecommerce website needs to figure out which phones their target demographics use and build an app for that phone.
Engagement
Mobile apps are not just useful as a way to conduct sales. They are also a great marketing tool. Recent data shows that customers spend 90 percent of their time on apps compared to on a mobile website. While this number is somewhat skewed by how customers use apps to check places like email or Facebook instead of going on a browser, it still showcases the incredible marketing power which apps possess.
Ecommerce businesses have multiple approaches for how to attract customers using apps, but one cost-effective approach is content marketing.
While there are numerous content marketing guides out on the Internet, the idea should be for your business to regularly put content on the app which will be interesting to potential customers.
Continuing Rise
The growing popularity of apps will only increase in 2017 as the app experience improves and customers get more comfortable with using apps in place of websites. While some businesses are trying to expand their mobile websites, creative fronts should look into developing a mobile app that will be engaging, easy to load and can both provide and utilize data for your benefit.
Courtesy of Business
