Quick Summary: Cutthroat competition among e-commerce businesses leaves a very narrow path to success. Every step of your mobile eCommerce app development process needs to be precise and in the right direction. This blog will walk you through the 7 steps of app development to come up with a competitive and successful mobile eCommerce app.
There is quite a difference between just building a mobile app and building a successful mobile app for your eCommerce or retail business. This blog will tell you all about how to build eCommerce. It will answer questions like “how much does an eCommerce app cost” and “what are some of the best practices for eCommerce app design”. I've put together all the steps needed to build a successful eCommerce mobile app. So, let's dive right into it.
How to create an eCommerce application?
1. Market research: Give customers what they want with an e-commerce mobile app
Rich market research lays a solid foundation for your application. It all starts with a little self-control. You need to figure out if your app will be as comprehensive as Amazon and Alibaba's, or if it will cater to a specific niche like Sephora and Nike. It is of utmost importance that you clearly identify the domain in which you will operate. All strategies, features and analysis will depend on the playing field you choose at this stage. Only after mapping the correct product category should you move on to the next step.
2. Competitive Research: Fill in the gaps others have to gain dominance
Once you've completed your market assessment and identified the right target audience, it's time to refine your research with competitive analysis. Since you have already done some fieldwork during your market research, it will be relatively easy to find worthy competitors. In addition to the usual competition that sells the same product as you, you can also try to list apps with a similar Unique Value Proposition (UVP) to yours. It can give you great insight into the challenges you may face.
For example, IKEA and Sephora are by no means competing apps. But the fact that they have AR as one of the main features of the app allows them to get some key things from each other.
3. Platform and Technology Selection: Set the foundation for a smooth application development process
As you move from the research phase to the planning phase, you will find yourself faced with the dilemma of choosing between a native and a hybrid application. A native app is an app designed for a specific mobile operating system, such as Android or iOS. A hybrid app, on the other hand, is one that relies on a single code base and runs on multiple mobile operating systems.
4. Discover CMS: The perfect backend for better scalability and performance
By default, eCommerce applications have extensive databases and catalogs of inventory. There is a lot of information associated with each product along with related images and videos. It is simply impractical to store all this data in the application. Therefore, you have to rely on the CMS to pull this data. And it should be one that must be mobile-friendly and improve the user experience.
5. Enumeration of core features: The cornerstones of your app's success
So far, we have taken care of all the steps that lay a solid foundation for creating a successful mobile app development. You've done all the research and you've also taken care of the backend. Now is the time to fill the app with essential features followed by those that will give you a competitive edge.
First, you will have to take care of the basic features that are always present in all mobile e-commerce apps. Or at least they should be. We are talking about secure login, diverse product catalog, shopping cart, secure mobile payment options, etc.
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