Photo Credit: Jason A. Howie via Compfight cc
by guest blogger Girl Powered
As the world continues to become more reliant on mobile devices, shopping is now seamlessly conducted via smartphones and tablets. With the help of mobile commerce apps, consumers are able to purchase goods right from their devices, view competitive prices, compare products side-by-side and pay for items straight away. According to research featured by Kissmetrics, it revealed that 78% of business searches in 2014 via mobile devices result in a purchase, which goes to show that consumers are comfortable with online transaction via their smartphones. In fact, this was a huge spike from 2013’s 40% and 20% only in 2012.
With your own mobile commerce application, you are providing your potential customers a more convenient way to view and purchase your products and/or services. Here’s what you need to take note of when creating your own mCommerce app, which many top eCommerce sites are practicing right now:
1. Create a connected system from your website to app and vice versa
To encourage customers to purchase, offer them a way to systematically access their accounts from your website to the app. Via their account, customers must be able to view previous transactions, including the items searched and their respective shopping carts. Encourage customers to build their account with you by providing discounts whenever they subscribe to your website and newsletter.
Adding this feature to your app is a win-win situation for your business, as you are able to encourage more customers with an organized database while retaining their information safely for future marketing purposes.
2. Include access to most ePayment systems
Since transactions will be occurring online, it’s important to consider all, if not most, ePayment systems possible to accommodate all kinds of paying customers. Aside from credit cards and Paypal, there are ePayment systems that are now built-in to smartphones, such as Samsung Pay. Based on an article by O2, the Galaxy S6 comes pre-built with Samsung Pay which allows the user to use their device’s account to purchase items online. It is secured by the fingerprint sensor that is embedded on the Home button similar to that of the Touch ID on Apple products.
It will be best to partner with the top ePayment systems and banks to make your payment portal and app more intuitive, convenient and user friendly.
3. Add layers of protection and security
To make sure you have the trust of your consumers, it is imperative to add layers of security to your application. Either maximize the built-in security features of devices, as previously mentioned, or partner with the top security services currently working with some of the most reputable apps today. Guarantee to your customers that your app is secure and protected by getting certification from various business agencies, including BBB, ISO and CompTia.
4. Avoid the slow loading apps
One of the most prevalent user complaint is lagging, freezing and slow loading applications. There are many factors why apps load slowly on devices. One of the most common problems is the trend on automatic carousels or slider photos. This feature requires more processing power from smartphones for it to load the code and the photos all together, thus a user with a low-end device will find it difficult (or time to load.
Recent news reports have indicated that Apple is giving app developers new tools to help speed up apps that will be available for the Apple Watch. This may be something you may want to consider if you are to expand your platform reach to wearables. Click here to read a post by Bloomberg Business.
5. Continue to encourage social engagement
As part of your overall marketing strategy, you must be able to include social links on your application where people can share, like or comment on certain pages of your app. By doing this, you can help drive traffic to your app. If it’s viable, provide incentives to those customers who share your app information by offering exclusive deals or discounts. Always try to leverage on the power of consumer voices.
Girl Powered has been blogging about technology, innovation, app development and website design for more than three years. As a frustrated web and iOS app developer, she has been practicing on creating her own mobile application using various platforms. Watch out for her blog!
