Table of Contents
With the growth of online sales, the eCommerce industry sees the fastest growth in mobile app development, driven by the need to satisfy customer desires. Consumers require the ability to purchase goods and services at any time and from any location, including traveling. As a result, more online shoppers prefer mobile eCommerce applications over websites, owing to their superior speed, convenience, and adaptability.
It is now simpler than ever to understand how to develop an eCommerce app. Thus, in this article, we will address the development process architecture and other critical information necessary to understand how to develop an eCommerce app.
Where should you focus while building an eCommerce app?
Tight Security
All eCommerce apps are designed to enable users to purchase merchandise simply by tapping on their smartphone screens. The first and most important factor to remember is the protection of the user’s personal information. eCommerce applications contain a significant amount of sensitive information during the purchasing process (like shipping and billing addresses, credit card numbers, CVV codes, and emails), protecting that information from stealing must be the primary concern.
Personal data leakage is one of the most vexing problems currently facing the entire IT industry, and the development of eCommerce applications is no exception. The security features of a software product dictate its marketability. If you fail to convince users of the complete security of their personal information, you risk an app’s eventual doom. Modern encryption technologies allow the development of very secure eCommerce applications.
The amount of money business owners determines the protection level of any mobile application are willing to spend on firewall protection against intruders. So, the protection can be quite costly during the development of an eCommerce app, but it is still worth doing.
Scalability
Scalability refers to an application’s capacity to accommodate an increasing volume of traction. When an application grows in popularity, it acquires additional users and requests to process. When trying to understand how to develop an eCommerce app, it is hardly fair to restrict its technological capabilities in scalability. It is preferable to have any unnecessary variety upfront than to endure a frozen application later. The scalable application’s performance can be maintained or even improved as load increases.
Stability
Instability and crashes are unacceptable features for a mobile eCommerce application. Stabilizing the app should be a top priority if you want to spend your capital correctly and increase revenue volumes. Most users tend not to waste their time on inconsistent or unbalanced applications.
Of course, making a flawless product without any difficulties or glitches is difficult. It is essential to conduct quality assurance checks, collect customer feedback, release bug fixes, and gradually develop the app. This is a standard sequence that operates for any company involved in a professional eCommerce mobile application creation. Numerous iterations can be time-consuming during the development stage. But a well-crafted product will relieve both owners and consumers of any headaches. After all, this is about delivering a smooth user experience, which is worthwhile of the developers’ time and effort.
Core Features of an eCommerce app
To ensure that all development goals are met during the app development process, close collaboration between UX design, product development, and the sales team is needed. The first and most critical aspect of an excellent mobile eCommerce application is its functionality. You need to remember the essential functions that the mobile app must have for users to accomplish their objectives. For that reason, here are the core functionalities that any type of eCommerce App should have:
- Registration – Users must register to gain access to your application and begin making purchases. To keep your operations easy, all users should have an account, which allows them to configure their profile, use the shopping cart, and utilize the payment-checkout feature once signed in. We suggest making the registration process as simple as possible to expedite the whole process.
- Reviews and ratings – Enable customers to leave honest reviews on the products and services they purchase through your eCommerce application. By encouraging users to leave feedback and rate your app, you will increase your brand trust and product sales. Additionally, you can dramatically boost purchases, raise revenue, and eventually enhance the user experience.
- Wishlist – This is a list of products that customers have requested. By creating a wishlist functionality, you provide customers with a simple way to acquire items they want later. Plus, you’ll allow customers to save and view their favorites, gaining a deeper understanding of their customers’ needs.
- Voice search – The voice search feature is one of the biggest IT trends that can significantly improve the customer experience for your eCommerce app users by finding information that they are looking for quickly. In eCommerce, voice search is forecast to boost revenue to $40 billion by 2022.
- Payment System – Integration of one or more payment services is typically associated with back-end growth. Your customers are rarely aware of the amount of work required to create the payment section. Nonetheless, consumers still appreciate payment options that operate without interruption. As a result, developing a payment system is critical throughout your journey of “how to develop an eCommerce app”.
- Customer Online Support – Users can become perplexed by size charts, delivery methods, or simply have difficulty placing an order. To help the app, an online chat or call center is needed. Additionally, chatbots can be deployed to prevent customer service from being overburdened with easy and repetitive requests such as signing in.
The steps towards developing an eCommerce app
Here we want to cover some steps for developing an eCommerce app. Pretty much everyone knows that the methods used to create such apps are very close to any popular eCommerce store out there (like eBay, Amazon, AliExpress). We’ll walk you through the process of developing a mobile eCommerce application that succeeds in today’s business environment.
Choose your market niche
The initial step in the question of “how to develop an eCommerce app” is to choose a niche. Your market can encompass various factors, like the goods you want to sell or the categories you plan to create virtual stores. For instance, you may prioritize essential grocery items such as rice, butter, milk, and eggs for your online eCommerce food store. In that case, you need to reorganize your secondary parts to accommodate additional items such as clothes, shoes, and books.
A detailed market analysis should follow the niche of your company. Market research is similar to fortifying your business idea against all potential market risks. A thorough market study will inform you of all critical market data, such as opportunities, audience behavior, expansion opportunities, and the business’s future. Keep in mind that reliable data will always assist you in driving your business in the right direction.
Write down your core features
The development of eCommerce apps continues with the mapping of critical features. You must recognize that users are becoming increasingly mobile-dependent. As a result, it is crucial to provide them with as much comfort as possible through app features. For instance, an eCommerce application with disorganized goods would disengage and repel users. Several critical components for any innovative mobile application focused on eCommerce include the following:
If the critical features have been clearly defined, the next step is to begin developing the app.
Produce the Design Assets
One of the defining characteristics of successful eCommerce applications is their user-friendly interface. A design that reads the user’s mind and offers intuitive keys and buttons will win customers’ hearts. The wireframing of the app, the placement of critical elements, and the simplification of check-out processes are all essential considerations of design. However, these features should be discussed with clients because they can affect the cost of developing an app.
Simplicity is achieved by high-level functions such as a cart, simplified menu, and wishlist. A minimum amount of product information is provided upfront, with additional information available to those who need it. A minimal graphic style, a single color, and an easy-to-use GUI help keep things tidy and straightforward. Additionally, during this step, you can develop your brand identity and plan a logo or name that matches your design aesthetic.
Core Development
The next move is to decide which platform your eCommerce mobile application, whether it is iOS, Android, or a Progressive Web App (PWA). Although most on-demand services are Android-based, the iOS app store is brimming with creative and innovative applications. It is widely accepted that iOS applications perform well in North America and most of Europe, with a few notable exceptions. A modern mobile app development company will determine this during the market research stage, giving the mobile app development process a philosophical direction.
Deployment and Further Support
Finally, the time has come to deploy your eCommerce application. The first deployment stage provides a good amount of information about the marketing efforts necessary for the final app launch. Like social networking advertising, Google Ads, video ads, and various other tactics that will help the app reach the right audience.
The way an eCommerce business handles and reacts to its customers is what propels it forward. Therefore, be prepared with creative and compassionate customer notifications daily to please and engage them. Following all of the above measures deftly will ensure that your app is unique and hits the road to success in weeks.
Cost of an eCommerce App Development
With everything being said, purchasing a pre-built eCommerce application is not a good idea. To gain popularity among your users, an app must provide customized experiences. Thus, you should always consider the cost factor while developing an eCommerce app.
When it comes to mobile eCommerce, it is advised to go for native app creation rather than a hybrid approach, as you’ll be able to connect with your potential audience. Your project team will be composed of UI/UX designers, iOS or Android developers, and customer service engineers. You can optionally augment a team with a project manager and full-stack web developers.
You must also determine whether you want to create an MVP and build iOS and Android app concurrently or separately. Additionally, you should decide whether you wish to outsource your application development or hire local software engineers. Most of the things that we’ve just mentioned are directly related to the eCommerce development costs. In most cases, according to our data, most of the time, it takes from 600 to 900 hours depending on the number of features you want to develop or create. In comparison, the price range varies from $30,000 to $200,000 as it all depends on the level of the app’s complexity and the vendors who are to be developing it.
In Conclusion
People are becoming more reliant on online shopping, so if you have an idea that can develop an eCommerce app that will simplify their lives, go for it! You can just bear in mind that the competition level in the eCommerce industry is intense. So it is critical to provide unique customized experiences to consumers and make online shopping as transparent as possible for them. But what if you have an intense desire for your product, but you just don’t understand how to estimate the development cost? Or even more, what if you can’t say how to effectively gain the most efficient digital product out of your capital?
Then JetRuby might have just what you need. We have developed a technological flow that most of our clients undergo during the past 10 years of constant collaboration and cooperation with various startups. The first step of which is called a Product Development Strategy. It is an accessible business consulting service where our experts will produce a general plan covering the future product development and the action plan with high-level features. Already got interested? Leave your project details below, and we will contact you in under 24 hours!
