Rebelling

There is little doubt in the minds of digital media experts that mobile apps are going to be the future of e-commerce. So, many businesses are revamping their strategies in a flurry, while asking themselves important questions such as ‘What should be the basis of a mobile app strategy?’ and ‘How can we front-load it for success?’

The answers lie in the ways in which customers buy your products and services. Today, they are open to fresh and flexible ways of carrying out transactions, and therefore, it becomes important for your business to adopt a mobile app strategy that’s strong.

The Mobile App V Mobile Web Question

Before developing a mobile app strategy, due consideration must be given to the benefits of doing so, the possible disadvantages, and accompanying costs that will follow.

If the level of engagement is high on your mobile site, and you do not have the necessary budget for a mobile app (building and maintenance), it would be prudent to devote time, money and effort on further optimising the mobile web experience instead. The mobile web is particularly advantageous when it comes to reaching out to newer audiences.

However, mobile apps allow for deeper interaction with customers. Personalisation of content in an app is a powerful tool to have in your mobile app strategy kit. Mobile apps target specific audiences whereas a mobile website will end up targeting a larger, vaster audience, thereby diluting your brand’s reach.

Customer Experience and Efficiency

Evaluating if there is room to simplify the tasks that customers perform online and streamlining their brand experience will come in handy when deciding to build an app. It will help determine where an app can add value and how it will make the customer’s journey with it smooth. Paying special attention to the interplay between apps and web is also equally important. It would be disastrous if the two different mobile experiences were to destroy each other.

For an app to garner more attention and subsequent downloads from customers, they must be fresh and current, populated with good content, requiring much innovation and marketing investment.

Quality Execution

Once your strategy is in place, you need to ensure that your app will be properly executed. It is very important to ensure that your team has good user experience capabilities, and the ability to build high-quality apps with a specific timeframe and budget and skill to integrate the app with an existing platform, channel or API.

The journey does not end with building the app; it is just the beginning. Once the app has been built and is good to go, you must start paying close attention to the users’ reactions by evaluating ratings the app receives, and the number of downloads in the app store. Frequent UX audits are also recommended to gauge which functionalities can be improved and which features are driving repeat visits.

In summation, it is noteworthy how far mobile adoption has come in the e-commerce industry in a short span of time. More and more brands have taken to it and exploited its many possibilities remarkably. Ittisa’s apps are built keeping in mind the fact that an app’s success stems from the combination of engagement, superb UX and transaction. It is by keeping the end goals in mind that you will find your app at the top of the rankings.