The sky is basically the limit for e-commerce businesses. People are purchasing more online today than ever before. This statement applies to all industries worldwide. The Internet has enabled you to reach consumers anytime, anywhere, from any device. However, the type of devices you use can make a big difference to your success!
According to a recent study, 97% of adults in the US have a cell phone and 85% of the population own a smartphone. Moreover, they are used a lot during the day.
As entrepreneurs, we must recognize this and adapt to it.
How can you use this information to increase online sales? The answer is simple – your business needs a smartphone app! We’ll tell you why…
Your e-commerce business will never reach its full potential with just a traditional or even mobile-optimized webshop.
Here are 12 facts to prove it.
1. Mobile commerce (M-commerce) has become very popular, and for good reason!
Sales from smartphones fully rule the e-commerce sector.
If you look at your customers’ buying habit, you will see that most of them are already browsing and shopping on their smartphones and tablets.
Indeed, 72.9% of all e-commerce sales worldwide are from mobile devices, and that number is growing.
The number of e-commerce smartphone apps is growing at 54% per year – the highest rate of any(!) other app category in the App Store or Google Play!
We don’t think there is any question that they are needed! 100% we do!
2. Consumers prefer smartphone apps
Whether your business has an app or not, a mobile-friendly website is a must!
According to some surveys, 78% of consumers prefer to use an app for shopping than a mobile website. Yes – 78%! And that number is growing every year…
Let’s see the top reasons why people prefer smartphone apps:
Among the responses, convenience and speed are the two most important factors. Smartphone apps offer a better shopping experience, generally because they are optimized for dynamic, changing, impulsive life situations.
No matter how fast or responsive a mobile website is, the app’s features always provide a more optimized user experience. An app can take your online sales to a new level!
3. The app is a competitive advantage
Without a smartphone app, you are at a disadvantage.
If a consumer has to choose between your online store and a competitor’s, the existence of a smartphone app and the service it provides may give them a reason to buy from you.
An app is a competitive advantage today, but it won’t always be the case. Sooner or later, everyone will have a webshop app in the coming years. Those who move early today will have an advantage over anyone who delays for a while.
4. Higher conversion rates
At the end of the day, everything you do should increase your KPI and serve the bottom line.
Tracking conversions is a great start. Let’s take a look at the difference between smartphone app and mobile website conversions.
Looking at these numbers side by side, the app is the clear winner.
Consumers view 286% more products and add 85% more products to their cart when shopping from an app than from a mobile browser.
As shown in the graph, mobile apps convert 130% more than webshops on mobile devices.
5. Improving marketing communication
With a smartphone app, you can communicate more effectively with your customers -for example, with push notifications.
60% of users open a push notification, while only 20% of emails are delivered. After opening a message, 40% of people click or interact with the push notification, compared to only 5.4% of emails.
This is because the user has almost nothing to do, it is much more convenient for them than email.
6. Increasing the average order value
A smartphone app also increases the average order value (AOV).
With push notifications, the message is displayed directly on the user’s screen and an alert is sent. When this message is opened, the user is taken directly to the app, even directly to the recommended product: making shopping much easier and faster.
Considering that smartphone apps allow customers to view more products per session, this is logical.
The average order value for apps is higher than for mobile browsers and desktop screens.
7. Provide a personalized shopping experience
Personalization is a key element for the success of e-commerce.
Today, more than 63% of consumers want a personalized experience when shopping online. This is an improvement from 57% a few years ago. So overall, this is another upward trend.
You can combine this personalization strategy with push notification campaigns: instead of sending the same push notification to everyone with your e-commerce app, you can send targeted, personalized notifications based on the user’s preferences.
The app allows the users to make regular purchases much faster.
8. Building and improving loyalty
A great way to get your customers to spend more money is to build a loyalty program.
In addition, consumers are 82% more likely to shop on sites offering loyalty programmes.
A loyalty program encourages your customers to spend more money to reach the next reward level or unique gift/discount.
9. Reducing the cart abandonment rate!
Cart abandonment is a serious problem for e-commerce. It is one of the most important KPIs to track.
These are the most common reasons for cart abandonment.
– Extra costs such as shipping and taxes – 60%
– Forcing the customer to set up an account – 37%
– Long and complicated checkout process – 28%
– Unable to see or calculate the total cost – 23%
– Webshop crashed or contained errors – 20%
– Customer does not trust the payment system of the webshop – 19%
Apart from financial reasons, the most common reasons for shopping cart abandonment are related to user experience. But good apps eliminate these problems
As can be seen, smartphone app cart abandonment rates are the lowest compared to mobile optimized webshops and desktop webshops.
The entire checkout process can be completed with a few taps.
10. Providing improved customer service
People will spend more money if you have good customer service. 73% of consumers say that a good customer service experience encourages them to browse longer and spend more.
Offer a “Call us” button or “Chat” button in the app.
You can implement live chat support directly within the app, but there are also a number of pluggable 3rd party options available (e.g. Messenger integration)
11. Increasing the retention rate!
Studies show that it can be up to 25 times more expensive to attract new customers than to resell to existing customers. Increasing the customer retention rate by just 5% can increase profits very significantly!
12. Integrating the app with your existing webshop!
It’s important that orders from the smartphone app arrive in your existing webshop order processing system wherever possible. This allows you to serve your customers in the usual routine without any changes. No need to introduce new, time-consuming processes.
Of course, it is recommended to separate the sales sources in the statistics, so that the possibility of separate analysis and process optimization is preserved.
Conclusion
Today E-commerce needs a smartphone app.
Here is a summary of some of the most important KPIs:
– Increased conversions
– Higher average order value
– Reduced cart abandonment rate
– Higher customer retention rate
If you’ve never created an app before, we can help!
If you want us to develop your new ecommerce app, contact us with confidence! We’ll give you a consultation first, provide you with a quote, and if you like it, we’ll design, build and host your smartphone app webshop!
