Custom Ecommerce Blog by Ydeveloper

Mobiles are one of the most remarkable mediums to attract traffic. And with 20 percent of sales being channeled from mobiles, the message is all the more loud and clear to eCommerce owners: adapt mCommerce or die. Small wonder, most of the eCommerce businesses are going the mobile way. However, the big question right now is, what about mobile apps? Is it the right fit for your business or having a responsive web design is good enough?

Here are six factors, which would tell you, why a mobile app is a must-have for your Yahoo! Store.

1. Regular Purchases: 

First know the kind of products you are selling. Whether the products fall under the repeat purchase or one-time purchase category? If they fall in the repeat purchase category, such as baby diapers, pet supplier or groceries, then having a mobile app will do well for your business. Customers, in all probability, would download such apps to regularly buy goods from your store. However, if you are into selling goods that are just a one-off purchase then having a responsive website is good enough. The goods that fall into this category include cars, laptops, couches, wedding dresses and more.  An app may not be the right fit for such goods. 

2. Special Offers: 

If you are running lots of promotional offers and loyalty discounts, then you need go ahead and build a mobile apps for your Yahoo! store business. No more, no less. Unlike the relationship between a mobile site and a customer, the relationship between the customer and mobile apps is more lasting.

And if your business is into running seasonal offers, issuing of discount codes and informing customers of the new or restocked items can be best done through mobile apps.

3. Speed: 

When it comes to customer conversions on mobile, speed is important. In fact a delay by a second can lead to 7% loss in conversions. So compared to a mobile site, a mobile apps works faster. Mainly because most of the content is available online and they are independent of the browser capabilities of the mobile device.

Plus, mobile apps also stores credit card information and shipping details, so it’s able to offer 1-click checkout to their customers. So, if you are checking out clothes on a site, before picking one, or reloading last week’s grocery shopping list, speed is crucial. It’s for you to decide whether your business needs an apps for that added speed or the speed of a mobile-optimized site is fast enough.

4. Location, Camera, etc: 

If your store needs to use the native capabilities of a mobile device to scan barcodes, provide customers with location, or using the accelerometer, then mobile apps is the best bet. 

5. Easy Referrals:

If your mobile apps uses an easy referral system, it would be easier for you to reach more and more customers. You can reach Joe’s friend Jack’s Facebook newsfeed and then influence him to install the app on his phone. Such a seamless journey is not possible on a mobile-optimized site.

6. Constant changes to catalog: 

Do you update your catalog frequently? If so, install your mobile app and be able to view new inventory details immediately.

Factor in all these points to decide whether your business will perform better by a mobile app or a mobile site.

So, all the best on all your mobile endeavors.