• 88% of the people say that having a Mobile device with real-time information makes them more open to shopping (Source: Latitude).
• About 1/3^rd of e-commerce is driven by mobile shopping (Source: Internet Retailer).
• By the end of 2017, over 2 billion mobile users will make some form of m-commerce transaction (Source: Invesp).

Numbers don’t lie. Statistics clearly indicate that more people than ever before are turning to their smartphones to shop. M-commerce apps have truly gone mainstream! Built right, a mobile app can help you reach your target audience and expand your business. Here, we have whittled down the 7 must-have features for a customer-friendly shopping application. Think of it as your no-frills guide on how to make the most of your app.

1- Stunning Product Image Gallery

Unlike a physical Store, a mobile store doesn’t give customers the luxury of being able to walk in and pick up your products. Their decision to buy or ignore is largely contingent on how you display your products in your online store. Showing off the best side of your products with stunning images bring more customers to the checkout page. With Instappy, you can give your app a unique look and feel with your own customised product photo gallery.

2- Run Deals and Offers

Gone are the days when shoppers used to que up in the stores to grab the best lot during the festive sales. With the advent of m-commerce apps, shoppers can check out hundreds of ongoing deals on their smartphones right from the comfort of their homes. Who doesn’t like the idea of saving a few dollars on a purchase, be it in the form of discounts, exclusive offers, free shipping, various bonuses or coupons? It’s just how human psychology works. Nothing brings more repeated customers than running deals and offers, especially during the festive season. Instappy powered retail apps come with the option of displaying the featured deals on the prominent sections. Not just that. With a galore of beautiful, fully-customisable templates, Instappy enables retailers to deck up their app for the festive season and make the most it!

3- Digitise the In-Store Experience

6 in 10 shoppers use their mobile devices to look up information while shopping in the physical store. (Source: Consumer Electronics Association)

The expeditious success of m-commerce apps has not made traditional retail stores obsolete. On the contrary, brick-and-mortar businesses can use mobile apps to engage with customers and rev up their in-store shopping experience. With an in-store mode in your m-commerce app, you can provide users with detailed, interactive mapping of the store, helping them to easily find what they’re looking for. You can also think of embedding QR codes over some sections of your catalogue, allowing your shoppers to scan it and get more information about that product.

4-Stay Closer to Your Customer

Sending high-value push notifications can increase app retention rates by 3-10 folds (Source: Urbanairship).

Push notification is what makes an app way more effective than a website in reaching the target audience on-the-go. An achingly powerful marketing tool, push notifications work perfectly to notify customers about the time sensitive marketing content like special offers, new arrivals and exclusive promotions. It also helps the businesses to keep shoppers in the loop of upcoming sales or give them real-time updates when a product comes back in stock. Instappy lets you schedule and send push notifications to your audience across any timezone on the globe.

5- Social Media Login

Enabling customers to sign up on an app with their pre-fed social credentials, social media login feature provides a frictionless and easy registration process. Done right, businesses can leverage the power of social login to convert visitors to customers with just one click. On top of that, it also gives you access to useful information about your audience without making any fuss. Choose a mobile app maker that lets you fully customize the look and feel of the social login interface to match your applications.

6-Secure and Seamless Checkout

Great user experience – check, smooth navigation – check, excellent product display – check. You’ve left no stone unturned to pull your visitors to the checkout page, but it’s not working. You wonder, what’s holding them back. May be, they want to ensure that their payment information is encrypted, and fully protected. Instappy powered retail apps come loaded with secure payment gateway integration without any set-up or maintenance cost. This feature will make your customers love to buy on-the-go.

7- Product Filtering and Search

Most of the m-commerce apps fail to provide the product search experience that aligns with the users’ expectations. Advanced search feature gives your buyers a smarter way to find specific content within your app as fast as possible. By empowering buyers to add filters such as brand, price range, and material, you can help them specify their search to a few products, matching their needs and preferences.

There are many bells and whistles you can add in your app but including the most essential features mentioned above will help your store to stand out in the competition and deliver excellent user experience. With a smart mobile app builder like Instappy, you can create a stunning and interactive shopping app and take your business to the next level!

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