Today, it’s pretty hard to go a day without a smartphone. We’re so used to these devices, that we’ve started using them for everything, including our daily tasks. If we look at the statistics the number of smartphone users in the US only is over 250 million and surpasses 3 billion worldwide.
A common thing that people use their smartphones for, is online purchasing. Online retailers can’t run their business anymore without having a mobile application. In fact, with all these users, that could be reached and turned into potential buyers, mobile commerce has become the future of e-commerce.
Back in 2017, the number of downloaded apps worldwide was 178,1 billion and when on their smartphones, people use apps way more than browsers. This has made it a common practice to target users with promotions via mobile apps.
The e-commerce landscape is constantly changing though, so if you want to be up-to-date and meet the increasing customer demands, you have to be aware and keep up with all the changes. Many of the trends in the sphere stay on the list for no more than a year.
That’s why we had a slight look into the future to find the 7 upcoming trends in e-commerce mobile app development that would be helpful if you want your app to be ahead of the game.
Augmented And Virtual Reality
There’s no doubt that this trend is here to stay. The benefits of technologies like VR and AR for e-commerce are endless. If you want highly engaged customers then this would be your perfect solution.
With Augmented reality, digital elements come to live just with the help of your smartphone camera. It has an advantage over VR because it doesn’t involve any supporting devices. AR provides the missing piece for e-commerce that used to make customers doubt a purchase – the way it would look in real life.
Now they can learn about its features and benefits through AR showrooms and consider if it’s right for them. These showrooms are best for companies selling furniture, clothing or accessories.
Augmented reality provides customers with the opportunity to interact with a product. The AR apps are almost unlimited and definitely can tear down barriers of buyer reluctance. Even physical stores now have virtual fitting solutions, which allow you to see the clothes on you, without actually having to wear them.
E-commerce businesses might like to adopt this technology as soon as possible, while it provides a competitive edge because in the future it’s going to be necessary for sure.
The Internet of Things
IoT is here to make the world a connected place. It can benefit your e-commerce mobile app by providing personalized data on each customer. The connected IoT devices collect and exchange information. This allows machine learning to determine people’s patterns of behavior accurately. In fact, you’re able to get data not only on their online behavior but also on what they do offline.
The technology would make your marketing strategy way more efficient, as you provide customers with specific ads and offers based on their likings. The number of IoT devices is expected to grow to over 70 billion in 2025, so you might consider this while creating your e-commerce strategy.
The Internet of Things has massive potential in online retail. Amazon is among the companies that incorporate IoT. They use it for more secure deliveries that don’t expose your packages to thieves, for instance.
Voice Search
Speaking of Amazon we instantly tough of their Alexa, as it’s now integrated into the IoT on the Echo. However, such technologies show that voice recognition and commands are on the rise. Starbucks, for example, has already implemented this technology into all their online products.
Voice search and commands improve the user experience of your mobile app. Especially if they’re shopping on the go and can’t use their hands to type. This makes more customers gravitate towards voice-optimized apps, so don’t stay left behind.
New Payment Methods
As you probably know debit and credit cards are still the most common payment method when it comes to e-commerce. However, don’t stick to that. The more payment options you offer, the better and more convenient your mobile app is for the customers.
Today, digital wallets and instant lay-by services are also gaining popularity. Such include Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Afterpay. Cryptocurrencies are also becoming a preferred payment method among some targeted groups. With that said you need to provide your customers with different payment options so that they are most likely to finish their purchase.
Chatbots
Chatbots are powered by Artificial Intelligence. They replace some human customer support employees, by helping companies interact with customers. Their main advantage is that they could instantly answer typical questions all the time.
These AI-powered chatbots are able to simulate a conversation with your customers in a pretty natural way and solve their problems faster. There are customers that want their questions answered right away or they won’t finish their order. For such cases chatbots are crucial. They are always a part of the seductive UI design tips for m-commerce.
Satisfying all customer’s needs is what you want your mobile app to do, so it’s definitely something you can’t skip.
Cloud Integration
Cloud storage is something many people have started looking for nowadays. This has made online retailers host not only their data but their whole mobile apps in the cloud. The approach has a number of benefits not only for mobile e-commerce but for all mobile apps.
The main thing is that it increases your app’s performance. Furthermore, it reduces the costs associated with hosting. We all know the principle – the faster your app is, the better the customer experience gets, so anything that can achieve that should be welcomed.
Better Customer Experience
This one is timeless. In fact, all of the tends ever come to improving customer experience. It’s definitely the main brand differentiator, surpassing even price. If you run a smaller company and can’t afford the flashy trends like augmented reality, just focus on improving customer experience in any way possible.
Simple things like speeding up your mobile app could actually make a huge difference. You could also integrate multichannel customer service so that it’s easier and provides customers with faster and better responses.
A Bright Future For M-commerce
With the constantly increasing popularity of mobile devices, online retailers should definitely consider having a mobile e-commerce app developed.
These were only seven of the upcoming trends in e-commerce mobile app development. Some of them are slowly becoming crucial to surviving in our technological era. Just like a retailer without an app, maybe someday an m-commerce app won’t stand a chance without AR features for instance. The listed trends can help you boost sales and improve customer loyalty.
Of course, you would need all the basics first, like seamless navigation and great features, but innovative trends are what make you stand out among your competitors and provide a user experience on a whole new level.
