Benefit of Adding a Mobile App to Your ecommerce Offering Keeping in touch with customers is a great way to promote a business because it generates many advantages. Building a custom mobile ecommerce app makes it possible to reach customers instantly in most cases. Companies can inform their customers about sales, new products and company milestone, as well as order status, custom quotes and invoices. Proprietary apps reduce cart abandonment rates, increase sales conversions and make it easier for B2B customers to place big orders on their phones. Why Your Company Needs a Mobile App Mobile ecommerce, or mCommerce, is rapidly becoming the default method of doing business. Almost two-thirds of B2B organizations now feature websites that are optimized for mobile sales. [1] More than 176 million Americans own smartphones, and the rates are similar in other countries. about 75 percent of buyers research B2B and B2C products using their phones and mobile devices instead of desktops, and almost one-third of all ecommerce is mCommerce. The benefits of mobile app development include greater visibility for the company that developed the application it. People carry their phones everywhere, and most people who have apps use them to conduct business. Some of the top benefits of mobile apps for ecommerce--both B2C and B2B--include: Direct Marketing A mobile app can serve as a direct marketing channel where companies provide prices, general information, search capabilities, messenger connections, news feeds, ordering forms, etc. Phones are also the only way to easily use “push” notifications to their user base. Value for Customers Customers feel special when they have a direct connection to their favorite companies. Decision-makers can enhance those feelings with special offers and automated loyalty rewards. Brand Promotion Apps can be used to promote product brands in custom ways. Trendy products can be promoted as stylish, hip or functional. App features make it possible for customers to read reviews, view photos and videos and connect with social media. Differentiate a Business from the Competition Apps can make a business stand out from its competitors. No company can offer what a proprietary app does unless the competitor develops its own app to mimic the functions of another app completely. Few companies will go to those lengths when they can develop their own unique app instead. GPS Marketing Mobile apps can identify where customers are continuously. Companies with brick-and-mortar stores can market to their app customers when they're nearby. Location-based services, or LBS, are positioned to provide more real-time data about customers each year. Companies can build stronger profiles of their clients’ habits and interests. AR and VR Technology Augmented and virtual reality are compelling features of reality apps. VR- and AR-enabled chats can change the way companies do business and how customers interact with software. Customers can use intelligent chatbots to help them perform many digital tasks, which leads to better customer experiences. One-click Ordering Apps enable one-click ordering based on a user’s buying habits. Push Notifications Apps make it easy to send notices about sales, product and price updates and reminders when stock levels are replenished. Strong Security Custom apps can increase security and enhance privacy. Companies need to ensure that they are using the strongest possible security practices when they hire a developer. The best strategy is to hire a developer with proven experience in writing code, developing apps and encrypting data. Phenomenal Mobile ecommerce App Statistics Mobile apps offer custom interfaces that make it easy for customers to perform all kinds of business functions. Apps can store customer information that makes it easy to order, connect with company resources and get help for customer service issues. Buyers tend to abandon shopping carts at online stores 68 percent of the time when using desktops and 97 percent of the time on mobile websites. [2] However, the abandonment rate is only 20 percent for customers using mobile apps. Other important statistics to consider that support developing an app include: [3] The App Store handles about two million apps, and Google Play has more than 2.2 million apps. People spend about 52 percent of their online time on apps. Women spend more time using apps than men. The average value of orders placed in apps is between 130 percent and 140 percent higher than orders placed on mobile devices and desktops alone. [4] Enlisting a Development Partner for Your Mobile App Development Apps make it easy to interact with companies on mobile devices, and the right developer makes it easy to build a custom app for your company. Clarity, an expert in B2B platform development, uses the latest app development tools including the Visual Studio and Xamarin, which makes it fast and easy for you to build custom apps. These resources reduce development costs, simplify testing and enable close collaboration on your mobile ecommerce app projects. Give Clarity a call today to see their B2B ecommerce mobile app. References: [1] Handshake.com: 9 Amazing Facts about B2B Mobile Commerce https://www.handshake.com/blog/mobile-commerce-b2b-facts [2] Influecive.com: Why Mobile Apps Are Benefiting ecommerce Sales https://www.influencive.com/why-mobile-apps-are-benefiting-ecommerce-sales/ [3] Business2community.com: 2017 Mobile App Market: Statistics, Trends, and Analysis https://www.business2community.com/mobile-apps/2017-mobile-app-market-statistics-trends-analysis-01750346 [4] Rubygarage.org: 8 Reasons Your ecommerce Store Needs a Mobile App https://rubygarage.org/blog/benefits-of-mobile-app-for-ecommerce