Gone are the times where you open a boutique shop and create a digital presence and cross your fingers for a sale to happen. The new normal has provided a peek into what the future holds for businesses who depend heavily on in-person / foot traffic while offering their services and/or products
Personal services like salons or dental would still require in-person services while other kinds of businesses need to adapt to a model to harness the power of digital transformation. For starters, can happen in either of two ways depending on the offering by the business
1. Product offering entirely dependent on digital platforms
2. Product offering partially dependent or assisted by digital platforms.
We are aware of the first model would be like, i.e selling the products entirely on the website/mobile app vs instore. This is why companies like Amazon or Shopify flourished while the other businesses scrambled with the pandemic situation. The second model can be enhanced by assisted digital platforms, like food order-pickup apps, aftercare apps, DIYs, etc. This is an interesting proposition for the customer as the app would help to answer faqs about the product or service of the business.
Given our current situation, digital transformation has become a necessity not another option for brick and mortar retail businesses. So why not a website that helps to shop, why would the retail business need a mobile app?
Here are 3 important reason why your retail business needs a mobile app
1. Customers prefer mobile apps.
As of 2019 end the mobile share of eCommerce business little over 70%. Our shopping habits have changed in recent times. Customers are pretty much using mobile for every other digital activity and so their online shopping. Having a mobile-friendly website is a must! However, a website suited to mobile is not the same as having a seamless mobile app experience. Studies show that 88% would not return to a mobile website after a bad experience. And most of the consumers expect the site to load up in 2 seconds on mobile. 80% of the customers prefer a mobile app to a mobile-friendly website.
2. Competitive advantage
Customers look for products and services that are easily available to them. Right now, several countries are in lockdown and it looks like there is going to be less of in-store shopping vs online shopping for a while. And for foreseeable future mobile apps are going to be your major source of consumer engagement. If a customer is torn between your business vs your competitor having that mobile app accessibility will get you the competitive advantage.
3. Convert better
It's no secret that mobile apps have a better engagement rate. Consumers take time to view and interact with product images, add them to cart more than they do on the website. Studies show that there is an 85% more conversion in adding items to the cart than mobile, this leads to better conversion while buying the product. Overall, there is a 135% better conversion with respect to product interaction/adding to basket/ and buying when compared to that of a website. If you are selling services via mobile, then you can use this to your advantage as mobile apps increase marketing communication.
Whether it's offline or online, consumers expect a better shopping experience. If you are not sure how mobile apps can benefit your retail business write to us here and we will do a free consultation and feasibility study for you.
