Ecommerce apps, worth a punt?

Mobile commerce is widely hailed as one of the biggest opportunities for online retailers this year. But does that mean we should all invest in mobile ecommerce apps?

Although the concept has been around for some time now, the sales-based evidence that mobile is taking off started to really cut through through in 2012.

Among the many estimates, some reports suggest mobile sales will grow from $2bn this year to $62bn in the next five years. If this is the case, retailers should invest a significant amount of time and effort to mobile technologies.

There has been much debate about whether ecommerce professionals should optimise their sites for mobile or develop ecommerce apps. One of the strongest arguments is that you shouldn’t choose between these two options.

Your site should definitely be optimised for mobile regardless. If you were to only have an app, those without it would have a hard time navigating your site on a mobile device and would no doubt be less inclined to download your app.

In this market, not having an optimised mobile site looks sloppy – the question is – should you invest further in an app or not.

Apps for ecommerce

According to research by Compuware, 85% of consumers favour apps over mobile websites but it also found that they have very high expectations of these apps.

ASOS, one of the UK’s most successful ecommerce businesses released it’s first app in 2011. It has recorded a 800% year-on-year growth in mobile sales and so responded with purpose built apps.

It now has three apps, one for browsing and purchasing, an editorial app which digitises its print magazine and an app which lets people shop by scanning items in the magazine.

As we know however, what is good for one is not always good for all – ASOS as we have mentioned is one of the biggest online retailers in the country.

So what are the considerations when thinking about an app?

Benefits

One of the main benefits of having an app lies in functionality. Native applications open up possibilities of what you can offer your users.

“There are certain things which, at present, are not possible using a mobile site on a browser,” says Thomas Laband, the MD of mobile solution specialists Sevenval.

“If you want to introduce a barcode scanner or if you want to incorporate the hardware aspects of a phone such as a camera then you need to think about building an application.”

Other benefits include strengthening brand recognition – your logo or icon will be visible on the phone’s home screen a lot of the time. There’s often less clutter than a mobile site and faster speeds.

Also there’s the ability to offer offline functions (for example the ASOS app allows people to browse the new collection offline).

These all sounds like fantastic reasons to head off and create your own app, however there are plenty of arguments against doing so also.

Drawbacks

It can be costly creating apps which operate on the different apps stores and control of how your app is distributed is in a third parties control.

“Apps are distributed through an app store which has market control and when you publish an app, you want to do so in the Apple, Android and Microsoft stores,” says Laband.

“If you want to update them you must update all individually and if the provider has an update you must change your app too. Overall this is not very cost or time effective.”

There is also the issue of having to advertise and market your app once you have created it. This is an extra expense and you are up against tough competition.

“The Apple App Store is a crowded place with nearly 800,000 apps vying for our attention,” says Ben Dyer, CEO at SellerDeck.

“This is a problem, if you look at the most popular retail apps they are all from the big hitters, eBay, Amazon, ASOS, Next and for good reason – they have the brand presence to stand out from the crowd.

Unfortunately small and medium size ecommerce businesses simply don’t have this power and I’ve seen many companies produce brilliant apps only for them to be lost in the noise.”

So who should consider an app?

Obviously the decision of whether to create an app or not is down to each individual retailer but it would be wise to make sure you have certain things in place before you jump into app development.

Do you have the capital to invest in it? Creating an app will cost a lot more than simply optimising your website and that’s before you’ve even marketed it.

Do you have a large, established user base of loyal shoppers? These are the kinds of people that download and use apps. If you are just entering the market and haven’t quite got your brand out there, your app may go unused.

Do you have a niche? Is there something which differentiates you and what your app can offer, from what is already out there? “Apps can work for the smaller businesses if you’re smart,” says Dyer.

“For online retailers operating in a distinct niche with a regular loyal user base then an app can be extremely powerful. One example is an printer toner company I’ve dealt with. It developed an app and marketed it directly to its user base as a way of re-engaging with customers.

“The results were great with a regular stream of purchases and a quick channel to push special offers. The reason its app worked while so many others have failed is simple: it has a captive audience.”