How to Build an Ecommerce App: Trends, Cost, & Tips

If you manage a business and are looking to get more revenue, you should consider building an e-commerce app. It will undoubtedly cause potential clients to get involved in your business. The current e-commerce field goes beyond desktop experience. According to Statista, in 2018 more than 50% of world web traffic was produced through smartphones. The clients who shop using mobile applications, feel more content with their acquisitions compared to conventional retail clients. So far as more humans attend the Internet stores using their smartphones, the mobile industry appears even more promising. Thus, Amazon is one of the major players in the e-commerce area. Together with Alibaba, they have become an integral component of humans today.

In this article, we will examine the aspects of mobile e-commerce app development for businesses related to e-commerce. Also, we will list the features of the best app for e-commerce and the ways to build software of high quality. Finally, we will review the costs for a mobile e-commerce application development.

5 Key Aspects of E-commerce Applications Development

Before progressing any further, let’s do a detailed analysis of the key elements you must consider while creating an application for e-commerce.

Market & Business Analysis

Formerly running the software, defining a customer personality will assist you in making your brand stand out. It will also help you to build a versatile application with all the essential features. Thus, you should consider who is your potential buyer.

Examine the performance and habits of your focus group. Identify their age, as well as preferences.

It is necessary to know the competitors involved in the same sphere. Gather all the following details concerning them – how they draw on clients, their business plan, and their methods of work. Although you must not blindly copy their approach, but take notes to get an excellent outcome in your area.

E-commerce Application Design

Develop a user experience that allows your customers to quickly find out the feature they are seeking out in the application. With the proper use of design components (text aligning, allocation of images, choice of colors) you may draw customer’s attention. And to assist him with concentrating on the things that can make him a buyer.

One of the effective design methods is user experience mapping. It is an interaction mirror between a customer and your product. Such a map helps you to draw your user experience and anticipate the disagreements before you build an e-commerce app. Solving such issues will assist you in delivering a desirable product to the end-user.

Front-end/back-end development

Front-end is the user side of software that enables a customer to browse it. Thus, designers put a lot of effort into making the app look its best and be easy to use. The back-end is the server-side of software. If it is not maintained sufficiently, the app has minimal chances to withstand the competitors. Yet, the programmers are aware of which technologies to use so that the software functions properly.

The purpose to select innovative technologies are:

• Make the app appear at its best;
• Cause the software to load more quickly;
• Escape any delays in work.

Once you have determined your audience and objectives, you can proceed with selecting the type of software. It can be either a progressive web app (PWA) or a native application.

The former option provides the same usability as the latter one, though users do not need to download them to their devices. E-commerce web applications are a good choice if your website has sufficient mobile traffic or if you are on a tight budget. 

In its turn, native applications must be downloaded to mobile devices and customized for each operating system individually. Thus, such software may take advantage of any features that a smartphone can provide. It offers an excellent user experience, works quickly, and has access to photographs, contacts, etc.

Testing

To build an app, you should identify user-friendly design and features. Moreover, you have to ensure that they are well functioning and do not contain bugs. Thus, testing is essential for providing an excellent user experience. You must test software in several web browsers and use various gadgets, such as a smartphone, and a computer. Also, make sure that your app functions properly, ensures safe payment transactions, and can be delivered to the end-user.

5 Features of an App for E-commerce

1. Safe payments are available from within an application. By providing your client with a choice of safe ways of payment, you simplify such activity as shopping. Moreover, you deliver positive emotions to the buyers.
   Advantages for customers: They may pay for the product safely online, or use digital wallets and payment cards.
2. Controlling the delivery status. By providing your customers with an option to control the date and time of order delivery, you increase their interaction with your webshop.
   Advantages for customers: They may find out when will be the shipping of the product they bought.
3. Custom item recommendations. You can supply your clients with the custom item offers if they are looking through or have bought something at your webshop. Moreover, you can use such technologies as big data, machine learning (MA), and artificial intelligence (AI) that will make you a leading player in the market.
   Advantages for customers: Buyers can make use of the relevant offers that correspond to their preferences, and buy some products quickly.
4. Collecting points for shopping. Provide your buyers with the opportunity to earn points for making purchases and get a further reduction in prices. Such a feature will encourage them to use your app while shopping.
   Advantages for customers: Downloading an application to their smartphones and using it while traditional shopping is easy and profitable in terms of regular discounts.
5. Presenting the items with Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality (AR). These features imply you can either offer a simulated product in the real environment (AR) or create a simulated environment (VR). Thus, a customer can see, touch, and smell what he is looking to purchase.
   Advantages for customers: They will not doubt whether some item is worth buying thanks to the real interaction with a product.

We can offer AR/VR solutions that would connect a buyer with your company. Reach us to know more about such an advanced feature and the way we could implement it in your project.

2 Ways of How to Build E-commerce Mobile Apps

Modern tech is being developed to solve arising business problems and we will review an e-commerce application architecture that involves 2 approaches. Thus, today the microservices architecture guarantees versatility, business agility, and quicker market entry.

In its turn, a monolith is a conventional method of developing apps as a single and impartible entity. When you add new functionality and adjustments to the same codebase, it will expand after a while. All features are controlled and maintained in one spot.

A monolithic app is accessible to build, test, and use. When all processes pass through one app, some general issues can be smoothly solved. For example, logging, processing, cashing, and safety are smoothly addressed since storage and resources are common.

The monolithic approach has performance benefits. Let’s examine the standard scenarios for beginning with a monolith.

• You are producing a concept validation. Brand-new commodities will develop once you determine what will be helpful for your customers. A monolith is ideal for this because it provides a quick iteration of the product.
• Predictable complication and scale. As your app does not need improved scalability, and the complication is attainable, then a monolith architecture fits the most.

A microservice approach contains each business capacity as a separate service. Enterprise application customarily has a server-side app, client-side user interface, and a data bank. Every app process works as an individual and poorly coupled service that has unique data bank and logic. Upgrading, testing, and development occur within each service. Contingent on the requirement, one service may be reprocessed in some workflows.

Let’s review exemplary practices for microservices architecture.

• Strict demands. Microservices may provide maximal flexibility, swiftness, and expandability. Apps with strict requirements are best maintained by a microservices architecture that can serve specific services.
• Experience in microservices. To begin with microservices, you will require developers who have expertise in distributed design. And Containers and DevOps engineers are recommended because this term is firmly connected with microservices.

Cost of Developing a Mobile E-commerce Application

No doubt, the final app development cost depends on many factors. And some of them are features, number of operating systems, third-party integrations, and others. Since it may seem difficult for you to calculate the cost for the project, get to know how to estimate a software project easily. To be so useful as we can, we have made up an assessment based on the tendencies we have observed, examining the universal application development plan.

1. If we review the simplified version of the application that includes only the MVP functions and simplistic UI design, the predicted cost can go to $60.000 for development. Yet, hardly any assistance and control are needed there.
2. As far as we examine a mixed package of essential characteristics comprising several premium functions, the rate can vary from $60.000 to $80.000.
3. If we consider the application to be created with improved features, then the price may be from $80.000 to $120.000.

To release a simplified version of the software, you may hire:

• 3 developers
• Project manager
• Back-end programmer
• Quality assurance developer
• UX/UI designer

To release a premium version of the application, you may need:

• 2 back-end programmers
• Project manager
• Front-end programmer
• Quality assurance developer
• UX/UI designer

Conclusion

Nowadays, it has become pretty challenging to build a competitive application that can draw humans’ attention. Yet, we assume that the information examined in this article may help your application to stand out from the crowd. Now you know which things you should take into account before building an e-commerce app. Also, you are now aware of the ways how to do it, as well as the necessary costs required to develop an e-commerce app. It means you can estimate exactly your budget. Besides, you should pledge 30-40% of the cost on other possible expenses, such as maintenance and support, and other services.

Finally, Mangosoft helps companies to develop their business by releasing quality e-commerce software. So, you can either employ our developers to cooperate with you or order our services so that our team is fully engaged in this.