The boom in the mobile commerce or mCommerce space is increasing by leaps and bounds with the growing demand for mCommerce apps. Mobile has become a new essential for consumers as they find comfort in buying products and making payments online through smartphones. Today, mobile influences consumer preferences and buying habits, which in turn raise the demand for mobile retail store apps.

Let's take a look at some statistics on online product purchasing via mobile phones:

• 62 percent of mobile users made an online purchase through their mobile device in the last six months

• In 2017, global mobile commerce revenue amounted to $288.12 billion

• 80 percent of online shoppers used a smartphone inside a brick-and-mortar store to check product reviews, compare product prices or locate alternative store locations

These statistics suggest that the mobile retail space will witness more sales and revenue as compared to web and physical stores in the coming years. However, with skyrocketing mobile retail sales, thriving and staying in front of the competition will be a challenge for retailers. The only way to succeed is to understand changes in consumer behavior and preferences.

Mobile consumers expect end-to-end mobile support for all their shopping needs. Thus, a retailer must allow its shopping app to sell products, tackle transactions, fulfill orders, respond and resolve customer queries, promote business and products and so much more. The app must be built keeping customer expectations in mind, ensuring it is aesthetically appealing, usable and trustworthy when compared to other prevailing apps.

Since customers lack time and patience, they look for apps that provide offline product access capabilities, engaging customer experiences, easy to use features, seamless onboarding and navigation and uncluttered user interfaces. Mobile apps have become a crucial way to drive revenue for business, propelling retail app development to build more interactive interfaces using cutting-edge technologies and tools. In order to stay relevant, retailers must leverage the following seven important features for their mobile retail store application.

1 - Quick Registration Process

The registration process for your eCommerce app must be easy and simple. Customers want ease and convenience, and having a lengthy, time-consuming registration process will put customers off your mobile app. If your app demands a lot of information from customers, ensure you cut down on the trivial details to retain consumers' interest in your app.

2 - Multiple Payment Methods

The prime idea of taking to mobile to sell your products is to localize your website and make it more accessible to a wider user base. An app with multi-payment and currency support is one of the foremost requirements of localizing your retail business. With many popular online payment methods, it is important to understand what the buyer prefers and how effective the solution is.

3 - Product Review & Ratings

Nearly 92 percent of shoppers buy products after reading online reviews. Product reviews and ratings have a profound impact on shoppers' purchasing decisions. You might wonder if negative reviews might lose you customers and sales. In fact, having negative reviews can often be positive. Negative reviews are seen as uncensored, whereas positive ones are sometimes considered fake. Some applications even use some popular review platforms like Yelp, Facebook, and Facebook plugins to generate user reviews.

4 - Wish List Facility

Consumers find wish lists fascinating, whether they be for fashion, books, or gift ideas. They let you shop, save and share on the go. Apps that aren't providing wish list functionality are likely to lose customers easily. Wish lists help your customers bookmark items they desire and will most likely buy in the future. It's no less than a remarketing campaign for your app.

5 - One-Step Checkout

The checkout process must always be quick and easy. Your app must enable users to complete orders with a minimum amount of information and the fewest steps possible. For example, avoid making your customers enter shipping addresses every time they place an order. Save their addresses and other related details to save their time, thus enabling more sales.

6 - Push Notifications

Push notifications are a great feature that can ensure the success of your retail store app. It enhances engagement as it alerts your customers about ongoing promotions, offers, and seasonal discounts. They not only scale your sales up, but also boost your profits.

7 - Offline Capabilities

Smartphone users often switch between apps and networks while expecting the app to work even when network connectivity is lost. An offline app reduces data usage which is also an attractive feature for users, helping improve overall user experience and app performance. Google Maps is perhaps the best example of offline app functionality done right, allowing users to store maps offline. However, implementing offline access for your app can be difficult as it requires the pre-cache of all reference data to the device, and those data sets can be dynamic and large.

Wrap Up Thoughts

The market for mobile commerce retailers is opportune, and the retailers who are able to implement the above-mentioned features within their apps will be able to capture consumers' attention and stand out among competitors. Look out for more features and inquire about user expectations. Simultaneously, find the cost of app development. Lastly, build an innovative and sophisticated mobile retail application.

What are the other feature considerations you think retailers must focus on while building mobile retail store apps? Let me know in the comments below.

About the writer: Shahid Mansuri is the co-founder of Peerbits, one of the leading retail mobile application developments companies in the United States, where his visionary leadership and flamboyant management style have yielded fruitful results. He believes in sharing his strong knowledge base with leaned concentration on entrepreneurship and business. Being an avid nature lover, he likes to flaunt his pajamas on the beach during the vacations. Shahid can be reached on Twitter, LinkedIn & Facebook.

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