5 Tips for Creating a Successful Mobile Retail App

As we become a nation glued to our smartphones, the opportunity for brands to create mobile apps is now growing. Mobile devices are playing an important role in how shoppers are engaging with brands and making purchases. Mobile ecommerce trends are showing that social media platforms, like Instagram and Facebook, are successfully marketing products to potential shoppers daily, so it’s no surprise that sales via mobile, are soaring.

If your brand doesn’t yet have a mobile app, you could be missing out. Shoppers want to be able to access easy-to-use, customer friendly apps from their favorite retailers, for a quicker shopping experience.

Here are five tips which provide advice on how to create a successful mobile retail app. If you get it right, you could find your brand attracting repeat mobile sales.

1. Have an effective mobile app strategy in place

To excel in the mobile shopping industry, retailers must treat it as a priority. Ensure you have a mobile specialist working on the project, who will constantly oversee not only the creation of the app but the everyday running of it after it has launched. It’s key that whoever is the project manager must fully understand mobile ecommerce trends.

There are many unprofessional apps out there, which put customers off from the first go. Do your research fully, making sure your app will provide a fantastic mobile shopping experience. If you have a strong plan and strategy in place via an expert team, this will help avoid any additional problems.

2. Analyze the right features to incorporate

An important part of providing a strong shopping app experience is to ensure it uses the key features. Many mobile users enjoy receiving push notifications, which allow them to receive relevant and targeted offers from brands they have chosen to have on their phones.

As all phone screen sizes differ, remember that some users will want to be able to zoom in on product images. Others will want to scroll through various alternate images and watch catwalk videos, especially if it is a fashion brand.

However, the most important features are those which help run a seamless checkout procedure. A two or three step checkout process is easy for a user to follow. Anything more can get frustrating.

3. Be aware of your target audience

Always have your target customer in mind. You don’t want to be wasting money on app development that your audience won’t use or appreciate. Before you start working on the app process, why not reach out to your customer base via email or social media, asking them what they would like to see?

You could run a survey via Survey Monkey, which is incentivized with a small prize.By taking on feedback, you’ll be equipped with all the insights to create a better app for your brand.

4. Less is more

The common mistake most brands make is to get too advanced with their branded apps. Anything mobile related is meant to make the customer’s life easier, picking up their phones and making purchases via their screens. Your retail app should be simple and fuss-free.

Avoid having cluttered interfaces. It’s all about creating beautifully streamlined apps which have clear and concise layouts, and foolproof navigation.

5. Focus on customer relationships

Throughout the creation process, always remember that the whole point of the app is to put the customer first. Think of the success of the app as something that follows. Note that a typical customer will use their mobile phone every day and it is often more than just a phone to them – it can be their life. Make sure the app fits into what else they use their phone for, and that it offers customer support when they need it.

Overall, you want to launch your app with minimal glitches, and to receive positive feedback from day one. The in-shopping experience must be as simple and straightforward as possible, while at the same time providing an attractive shop front and making sure the user has access to everything they need about the product/service.

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