Online shopping is now an integral part of our lives. From ordering drugs to sunglasses, groceries, and office tables, there’s nothing we can’t get while sitting at home. That’s because the lockdown caused by COVID-19 has sparked immense growth in eCommerce development. While most businesses offer eCommerce websites, the only downside to it is heavy traffic can slow down the load process and start lagging. The ultimate solution to this issue is an eCommerce mobile application.
There are multiple custom mobile app development companies who can assist you with this process. There’s a wide array of options to choose from, such as freelancers or in-house development teams and software agencies. But the main question to answer is, do you have an eCommerce mobile app idea that sells itself? If not, that’s alright! This is where most businesses struggle.
With the help of these eight simple steps, you can develop an eCommerce mobile app that can change your game.
Table of Contents
Step 1: Research
The backbone of every good product is research. Investing in research is the best thing to do since you get to determine what your competitors are doing, how the market has responded to the product, the gaps that are still existing, and what the customers are looking for. You can also analyze customers’ buying patterns and behaviors with the right research. If your eCommerce mobile app is for a wide range of audiences, this is how you can check whether you’re building the right product or not.
Step 2: Setting the Goals
Once you have conducted thorough market research and understood the needs regarding all aspects, it’s time to set achievable goals to help you build this product. These goals act as Guidelines for all the teams involved and ensure everyone is on the same page. If you’re setting these goals for the first time, here are three fundamental questions your goals should answer:
- What is the problem you’re trying to solve?
- Who are you selling this product to?
- How do you understand whether this product will succeed?
Step 3: Choosing the Right Platform
Now that you have set goals and everything aligned, the next big step is choosing the right platform. But before you do that, it’s pivotal to know the ins and outs of your business so that you can make a well-informed decision about which technology to use. Another vital factor to consider when choosing the platform is the overall development cost budget you have in mind and your future scalability goals.
Here are some components of a tech stack you have to consider:
- Frontend development (the interface of the app)
- Backend development (the processing side of the app)
- Development (platform that offers interfaces and libraries)
- Support (other technologies that’ll help make your app perform better and be more secure)
Producing every element of the app separately can be quite complicated since there are many technologies to choose from. To make your life easy, you can either opt for a service provider who can develop the app for you, such as a React Native app development company, or choose an all-in-one platform that combines front-end and back-end development and other technicalities. The most famous eCommerce ready-to-use platforms include:
- Shopify
- BigCommerce
- WooCommerce
- Abode Commerce.
Step 4: Defining the Unique Features
Remember when we emphasized researching well during the first step? Now is the time to put user feedback, trends, and expert opinions to use to ensure you’re outdoing your competitors and maximizing your chances of success. Cross-check why you made this mobile app, what problems it is catering to, and whether it solves them.
Assuming you still find gaps in the problem-solving elements, this is the ideal time to make these changes and ensure you add some unique features and define them.
Step 5: Creating Exemplary UI/UX Design
Once all the back-end and functionality elements are sorted, maximize the time being spent on the UI/UX of the app to make it seamless. UI stands for user interface, which is the mobile app’s design, how your app will appear to the user. On the other hand, UX is the user experience, which is how your mobile app will interact with the users.
UI and UX are always mentioned together because they go hand in hand; the UI of your app should be well aligned with the UX, creating a smooth and seamless overall user experience. If you’re unsure how your app should look, conduct in-depth industry research to see how competitors are doing. Remember, this is done to take inspiration, not replicate the idea. Ultimately, your app’s UI/UX should be as unique as the above mentioned features.
Step 6: Building the Mobile App
Now that you have everything ready, it’s time to put one and one together and build your eCommerce mobile app. This is the most important stage of the mobile app development process as you’re putting everything together and making amends to ensure the product is seamless.
The best trick here is to follow a continuous evaluation process where you keep evaluating the product as you work on it. This method allows you to eliminate any problems occurring side by side. This prevents production delays, reduces risks, and ensures the resources are allocated efficiently.
Step 7: Gathering Authentic Feedback
Before the product is launched in the market for everyone to download and use, the beta version is provided to a test group responsible for providing authentic feedback about your app. The test group uses the app rigorously in multiple scenarios to check its ability and detect any issues and bugs. Based on the feedback received, you can make amendments to the mobile app and fix the bugs to ensure the final version is free of UI/UX issues. After all, the last thing you need is for your customers to find glitches in the newly launched app.
Step 8: Iterating
Do you think your work is done once the app is live? Creating and managing a mobile app is an ongoing process that needs to be revised constantly. Since the marketplace dynamics are ever-changing, drastic changes also occur in industry trends, technological advancements, and customer demands. This requires eCommerce businesses to update their app constantly and adapt to the new demands. If not, your app can become obsolete over time.
Bottom Line
Creating an eCommerce mobile app that sells doesn’t just depend on a good idea but also on how well the idea is executed. With the help of these eight steps, anyone can make a dependable and seamless eCommerce mobile app for their business. However, if you think the overall process is too overwhelming, you can also opt for a custom mobile app development company instead, such as Trango Tech.
They’re an all-in-one digital transformation company that offers a wide range of services, from mobile app development to eCommerce development services, staff augmentation, MVP development, and much more.
Visit their website now if you’re eager to learn more.
