How to Make a Shopping App: Team of Developers & Process Points

Shopping is an integral part of our everyday life. Think of the numbers: global e-commerce sales reached $4.9 trillion in 2021 and are projected to reach $7.4 trillion by 2025. This proves that developing shopping software is a prospective area to generate income.

Keep reading to find out how to create a shopping app, the required features and expertise, and the actual costs to build such software.

Should Your Online Store Have a Mobile App?

Research shows that 5.22 billion people used a mobile phone in 2021. During the same year, mobile e-commerce sales reached $359.32 billion, demonstrating a 15.2% increase since 2020. The number is believed to constantly grow.

However, each situation is unique. You must consider hiring a team for shopping application development when you see that the majority of web traffic on your resource comes from mobile devices. That’s the best way to understand it’s time to launch a mobile app.

Which features do you need to create a shopping app?

Before you make a shopping application, you should determine the main and nice-to-have features of the software. This is needed to understand the development scope and leave some room for future updates. We’ve gathered a list based on the most successful shopping apps.

Main Features of an Online Store Application

Below are the core features that will be required to get a working e-commerce application.

• One-step registration. The users should be able to create an account using their social media with one click. The easier the usage, the better the experience. Just like that.
• Advanced search panel. If you make a shopping app, you probably have an extensive catalog of products. Add filters and categories that can simplify the user’s journey when searching for a specific item.
• Complete product description. This must include technical characteristics, images, videos, and space for a nice written description. 
• Product reviews. There has to be a section where buyers can leave their reviews about the product. Text, visuals, and a rating must be included, and everyone should be granted access to this section.
• Wishlist. Your potential customers will often browse the app without intending to make an immediate purchase. If they see something they like, there must be an option for them to save it for later. This increases the chance of purchase later on.
• Multiple payment methods. A good e-commerce app accepts various forms of payment: bank cards, PayPal, Google Pay, and other instruments. Don’t forget to consider supporting multiple currencies to meet the demands of the global market.
• Order management. This is one of the most essential components of the customer journey. Customers must be aware of all management features, tracking options, and returns within their app. It will minimize the load on your customer support team.

Additional Features to Make a Shopping App Better

Here are some beneficial features that can be added to your software after you finish building the core functionality.

• Augmented reality. This is a nice way to let your customers test the product before buying it. For example, companies like IKEA use this approach to let people virtually place furniture in their homes. According to the statistics, 63% of consumers loved using AR in their shopping journey.
• Personalized customer experience. Personalization involves offers and recommendations based on the client’s interests, that helps grow the sales greatly.
• Push notifications. These are needed to inform customers about product availability, flash sales, personalized offers, and others. It is a strong method to market new products and keep customers engaged.
• Item availability reminder. Sometimes a client wants to buy an item that’s out of stock. There must be a feature that notifies them when the product is on sale again.
• Sales and discounts. This includes the discount mechanisms and visual depiction of special offers to attract a user’s attention.
• Loyalty programs. You should come up with a mechanism that rewards your most loyal customers with discounts, promotions, gifts, or anything else you’d think of. This way, you can easily convert the most active customers into your app’s ambassadors.

High-Quality Admin Panel is the Way to Effective Sales

Mobile shopping app development involves creating an admin panel used to control the whole system. Although it may include any features you want, certainly consider adding the following.

• Product management. This includes adding, editing, and removing products from the application.
• Order management. This feature is needed to monitor orders and help customers resolve issues if any occur. It means editing order data, tracking payments, and others.
• Analytics. Data like the number of visitors, abandoned orders, popular products, and any other information will help you improve the shopping app.
• Built-in CRM. This is where all your clients’ data is stored. It is needed to quickly communicate with customers, research their interactions with the app, and build deep marketing campaigns based on their info.
• Marketing tools. The most basic tools include discounts, promotions, and coupons. You could also add a feature to create social media ads from within the admin panel, but this is a more advanced one.

Which expertise do you need to make a shopping app?

No wonder, you will need a professional team for your e-commerce mobile app development process. Typically, it would include the following expertise.

5 steps to efficient mobile shopping app development

We’ve assembled a brief ecommerce app development tutorial covering the main steps of the process. This will help you understand how to build a better application.

How much does mobile e-commerce app development cost?

While all online shopping app development projects are estimated individually, it is possible to provide an approximate rate based on the average time and rates.

Types of Work	Android	iOS	Back-end	Price
Developing Features	400 hours	400 hours	230 hours	$41,200
UI/UX Design	100 hours	100 hours	—	$8,000
Testing and QA	160 hours	160 hours	80 hours	$16,000
Project Management	120 hours	120 hours	70 hours	$12,400
Total	780 hours	780 hours	380 hours	$77,600

This price is calculated in accordance with the average hourly rate of a Ukrainian outsource development team, which is about $40 per hour. Note that these numbers are only approximate. The final costs for your project may vary significantly.

We usually determine the costs for our clients’ projects after getting all the requirements, analyzing the market, and determining the required technologies. It is a good way to get a precise estimate.

Ilya Budko, Chief Executive Officer

Consider Weelorum Your Trusted Partner in Developing Your Mobile App

Weelorum is your best choice when it comes to e-commerce app development. The team has many years of experience creating Android and iOS applications with memorable designs, cutting-edge technologies, and top-notch solutions. Our case studies prove that.

We help you bring your ideas to life from A to Z, making sure you’re guided by the best practices throughout the whole process. It is our goal to help you get a market-winning shopping app that is ahead of the competition. Let’s get in touch to discuss your project now!

Final Thoughts

Developing a shopping app for any platform comes with an identical SDLC with somewhat similar challenges. You need to set a clear difference between the must-have and nice-to-have features to know how to make a shopping app properly. Our experts will help you with that. They will carefully guide you through all the necessary steps and give useful tips on how to create a shopping application. 

Partnering with a professional team will help you reduce expenses and get a maximum quality rate to build a client-oriented solution. You’ll need a reliable and experienced partner – just what Weelorum has to offer.

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