A native mobile app for online stores and businesses is an integral tool for businesses to reach their customers. Today, nearly one in every three online orders being placed through a mobile app, and it is safe to assume that this number is only likely to go up in the future. However, an poorly-designed mobile app that fails to add to the shopping experience of your customers can do your business more harm than good. In this post, we take a look at some important features of shopping mobile apps that need to be carefully deliberated upon. We will also discuss the benefits of using AppMySite as a mobile app creator for existing e-commerce websites and help you get started on the process to build you own app:
1. Splash screen
The very first thing that the user sees when your app has been download and installed is the splash screen, akin to a launch screen. Conventionally, the splash screen only has the logo of the app and the name of the app, and sometimes a promotional marketing tagline. The logo is placed prominently on a monochromatic background, which is in alignment with the app identity and colour scheme. You may choose to add an illustration or an animation during in the app screen, maybe something of prominence or a recurring theme in your app. The splash screen usually lasts for a few seconds and gives your device the time to set up the app according to its hardware features.
2. App icon
The app icon is what distinguishes your app on the play store and cements brand recall value among your users as well. What’s more, every time your users scroll through their phone, launch the app, and use the app, they see the app icon as well. Needless to say, the app icon is the app’s biggest brand ambassador. While many online stores and website usually use their existing business logo as the app icon, it is important to understand that the app icon serves a different purpose and should be designed on a different resolution as well. Thus, it is recommended that you design an icon that resembles your existing logo, while simultaneously communicating a new message.
3. Banner image
The banner image is a piece of element for shopping apps. Usually, the banner image consists of a dynamic and prominent visual image that promotes some kind of offer or sale. The banner image can viewed as a standalone advertisement for your online store and can be used strategically to engage new, existing, and loyal shoppers. Reports have shown that well-designed and well-placed banner images result can improve user engagement and also help online retailers execute seasonal offers and sales. The banner image, thus, needs to be designed exceptionally well, because it can attract customer attention, communicate popular offers, and nudge them to make a purchase. AppMySite, an expert mobile app builder for WooCommerce, helps you design the perfect banner image to help you maximise your promotions.
4. Categories
Online retailers usually offer numerous products to their customers. Naturally, the best way to organise all these products is to segregate them into relevant categories to facilitate a seamless shopping experience. However, it’s important to note that the mobile screen size is considerably smaller, and thus, the product categories need to be decided ergonomically. Ideally, the home screen of the app can have a few main categories, followed by relevant sub-categories, and if needed further categories. Furthermore due attention should be given to fact that the products are assigned to relevant categories to help customers quickly find the product they are looking for. Thus, if your online store has a WooCommerce mobile app for Android, make sure you create relevant categories for your customers.
5. Navigation
An essential part of the mobile app is the ease of navigation. Essentially, this means that the user should be able to quickly perform important actions like browsing, ordering, reviewing, and payment etc. The shopper should be able to easily jump from one product category to another, go back to the home page with a single tap, view the shopping cart easily, add products to the cart with a single tap, apply simple filters to find the product of their liking, change address and payment information, and edit their profile easily. It would help if you analysed the behaviour of your app users to identify the most popular actions and the biggest pain-points to provide them a glitch-free navigation experience.
6. Product Screen
One of the biggest mistakes that online retailers make is to not pay enough attention to their product screen. Incomplete product information might give rise to doubt and prevent customers from placing an order for the same. Some elements that are integral to the product screen are product image, brand name, product name, description, features, price, user reviews, expected delivery time, existing offers, and important terms and conditions. The challenge, more often than not, is to provide all this information in a single screen without compromising on the design. At the end of the day, a customer will take a decision based on the product information they see and you should leave no question unanswered in order to improve trust and transparency.
7. Shopping Cart
As your customers near the end of the process of order completion, you need to provide them with simple and easy-to-follow steps to confirm their order and make the payment. The shopping cart screen is a critical part of this process, as it helps the customer verify their order and review the items they are about to purchase. The shopping cart screen needs to be simple, clutter-free, and intuitive to use. It should contain all essential information like the products that are currently in the cart, their price, product features like colour or size, the number of products ordered, the shipping charges that are applicable, and existing payment options. What’s more, the screen should have prominently-placed CTA buttons which indicate the next step or allow the customer to change their order.
8. App store information
While this may have featured towards the end of this list, the app store information is in no way any less important in making the right first impression. How you choose to describe the app, the screenshot that you display, the category you choose to list your app in, they key words you use, and your user reviews – all of them help potential customers decide if they want to download and install your app.
In fact, if your app is published from a verified developer account, it naturally established credibility as well. AppMySite, a leading mobile app builder, enables you to build a mobile app that’s fully synced to with you WooCommerce store. When your app is ready, you can publish it Google Play and Apple App Store.
In conclusion
All the above-listed features can be easily found in the mobile apps created using AppMySite. AppMySite is a leading mobile app creator that helps you build a mobile application for your website. All you have to do is connect your website and app to sync your entire WooCommerce store to a native app interface.
Unlike other online app builders, AppMySite delivers a high-quality, aesthetic, and feature-rich native app that is designed to be published on Google Play and App Store. The best part is that the affordable payment plans help businesses of all sizes to launch an app for their business.
