Category: Mobile Commerce

The lockdown period gave a major spin-off to consumer behavior such that online ordering became an overnight habit. But the question is, will it be just a pandemic hangover or a forever manner?

An invisible virus brought a complete halt to all our lives. From washing hands thoroughly, wearing masks, social distancing and now vaccines, we may be able to speed up the recovery from the damage this pandemic has caused. However, the end is distant and uncertain. The deadly pandemic impacted all areas of our life and we could see new behaviors emerging in work, learning, communication, lifestyle, travel, health, entertainment, and the drastic one – shopping.

The moment the pandemic stepped into our lives, from businesses to consumers, all have taken refuge in the world wide web. Online selling and buying started becoming the new normal, in fact, the only mode of survival during the pandemic. Only those already online or businesses that re-evaluated their development strategies and invested in a smart eCommerce solution saved its face from the fall and rose stronger. So, what happened?

Well, eCommerce was here for many years but pre-COVID-19 the majority of the people refrained from purchasing online due to lack of trust, fear of fraud, and not being able to buy products at a good bargain. Preference for perishable/essential items and items with a big price tag, online, was also less. Hence, businesses relied on footfalls to check their growth and test the effectiveness of their marketing strategies. Online traffic was never considered as a measure of their success. Not long ago, a face-to-face meeting was considered inevitable to finalize a deal or maintain trust in clients. However, COVID-19 changed all that overnight.

Also Read: 7 Steps to Prepare Your Ecommerce Business for Continuity and Unexpected Future Post-COVID-19

The Behavioral Change: Temporary or Permanent?

The outbreak of online ordering that happened during the lockdown appears to soon become a permanent thing looking at the way the consumer preferences are changing due to:

Digital penetration: With the ease and availability of smartphones and cheap 4G network, online ordering started becoming more convenient than shopping offline, risking life among the crowd. The way digitalization has enabled consumers from distant places to order their necessities at their doorstep during such unprecedented times has helped build trust and loyalty in online shopping.

The COVID-19 fear: The fear of getting COVID-19 has not ended yet which is a good thing as it is one of the best measures to curb the spread of the pandemic. The more the fear, the less will people come in contact. Thus, it is the fear that caused the paradigm shift in consumer behaviour as people began shopping online more than going out. Although everything is back on track, a majority of consumers still prefer shopping online which may follow in the coming years too.

A Note for Retailers

With the emergence of new world order, i.e., consumers ordering online, retailers need to make a few changes in their way of business to survive and sail through the pandemic and the future ahead like:

• For starters, offline retailers must approach an eCommerce solution provider right away and develop their online presence to safeguard their futures.
• Embracing an omnichannel ecosystem and merging their online and offline operations would bring more benefits than they can imagine.
• Retailers already having an online presence must along with their eCommerce mobile app development company, revamp their eCommerce solution with innovative and latest ways in terms of features, content, appearance etc., to keep customers hooked to their store.
• A boost in social media presence would cause no harm as customers are always hanging out there, and reaching out to them where they are, is a chance no retailer must miss.
• With growing online competition, it is important to maintain the store visibility, and hence; retailers must focus on capitalizing on their existing customer data to drive traffic to their online store.
• Multiple payment options, easy navigation, simple checkout process, order tracking, personalization, all these features are what customers are looking for in any online business solution, therefore; ensure you have it all covered while getting your mobile commerce solutions developed at the hands of an experienced mcommerce app builder.

In A Nutshell, COVID-19 Brought with Itself Winds of Change

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced a new world order, changing the course of workflow and creating space for more creative innovations, digitally. So, if you are looking to reclaim your business, we at Mobicommerce are here to help you. Power your online store digitally today for greater reach and accessibility in the future.

Shopping earlier was what you want to buy, and sellers show it to you but today, it is more like sellers already know what you are looking for and they display it and you simply have to pay for it. Got the point? It is nothing but eCommerce personalization that is taking over traditional commerce.

eCommerce has revolutionized the shopping experience so much that now, shopping offline feels like a challenging task with no fun. Although there are various features in eCommerce that are making it a preferred mode of shopping, personalization is something that is winning hearts and luring people more towards online shopping that we got to see more in the previous year not because it gained fame recently; but because of the deadly pandemic.

The year 2020 witnessed a major shift of everything offline to online from office meetings, social gathering, celebrations to the most important shopping. Hence, the adoption of digital commerce is not at all a new concept that sprouted in 2020. It simply accelerated due to COVID-19. Thus, in order to keep customers, continue with the online saga, retailers are now taking eCommerce personalization more seriously, and it seems that it will soon take over traditional commerce.

For a long period of time, eCommerce has been seeking the holy grail of personalization – a consistent, cross-channel experience that adapts to customer requirements and goals in real-time. To achieve this, retailers have started adding conversational commerce elements like messenger chatbots, artificial intelligence (AI), and customized information etc., to their online store. But, before we weave stories around it, let us understand what we mean by eCommerce personalization.

Also Read: 7 Steps to Prepare Your Ecommerce Business for Continuity and Unexpected Future Post-COVID-19

What is eCommerce Personalization?

eCommerce Personalization refers to the way of making customers feel special by creating personal interactions and experience on eCommerce sites and improving their shopping experience by showing them content, product recommendations, media etc., based on their previous actions, browsing behaviour, purchase history, demographics, and other personal data.

Personalization is becoming an important part of eCommerce as it is the best way to bring in more customers, achieve customer loyalty and repeat purchases, keep shoppers engaged, drive sales, increase conversion, and to boost growth and productivity.

eCommerce Personalization and Conversational Commerce

There are various ways to offer eCommerce personalization to the customers, and integrating top-notch technologies to the online platform is the first step towards it. Offering eCommerce personalization is becoming easier and attainable with conversational commerce that is nothing but an automated technology powered by rules and artificial intelligence (AI) that enables online shoppers and brands to interact through Messenger chatbots, RPA (Robotica ProcessAutomation) and voice interfaces like Alexa by creating an interactive environment that compensates for the missing human touch typical of a physical brick-and-mortar store.

In short, conversational commerce and eCommerce personalization are like two sides of the same coin but, their purpose is similar i.e, to provide a personalized shopping experience to the customers. In fact, conversational commerce act as a medium to provide a personalized experience to customers that is now slowly overtaking the traditional way of commercialization.

Thanks to the latest technologies, data collection, understanding customer behavior, providing them with what they need or are looking for, giving them an individualized shopping experience, all have been possible due to the duos.

Personalized Commerce Is the Next Frontier

Customers love personalization, and with online retailers competing with each other, they are implementing personalization strategies better from one another in order to please customers. Moreover, with personalized customer experience being something that customers do not get in any traditional commerce; it is quite natural for them to bend towards online shopping more than offline. After all, a salesperson asking you what you like and displaying products is better than a technology showcasing what’s on your mind based on the data collected and stored from your past interactions with the store.

So, what can be done to give a personalized shopping experience to the customers? Well, here are some of the strategies that you can implement on your online store and see the magic happen.

1. Create Personalized Homepages – Homepages are the first impression, and hence you got to do it right. Greet them in the way that you get to win a position in their heart. If gathering their information via cookies, make use of it in improving their shopping experience.

2. Offer Personalized Guides – Like, in traditional commerce where a salesperson assists you in shopping, you too can offer a personal shopping assistant for every customer on your online store. Take a quiz about their taste, style choices, size, and budget, and provide on-site assistance when they shop next time.

3. Display Recently Viewed Items – Not necessarily everyone visiting your store will shop, but while browsing, some may like a particular product of yours but forgets to wishlist. Hence, with the “Recently Viewed” section on the homepage, you can remind and urge them to make the purchase.

4. Personalize Product Pages Based on Location – Knowing where your customers are by asking them directly or via cookies, you can provide a more accurate shopping experience for customers that they will remember forever.

5. Create Special Campaigns Based on User Behavior – No two visitors are the same, and hence offering the same to everyone doesn’t make any sense. Personalizing your on-site messages will attract customers more than you can imagine.

6. Get Personal in Email Marketing – There’s no limit to the personalization you can do on emails. Starting from the subject lines, wishing your customers on birthdays and anniversaries, offering discounts up to reminding them about completing a purchase, you can personalize emails the way you want.

7. Make More Personal Recommendations – Personalized recommendations have emotional value. If done right, they can directly hit the customers at the right spot.

Now, let’s understand various benefits one can achieve with eCommerce personalization

1. Improve Customer Experience – Of course, a personalized shopping experience means a customer’s interest in your online store will double up, leading to more sales and conversions.

2. Save Time & Resources – Messenger chatbots are the real time saver. From providing a personalized shopping experience to pulling leads, as well as engaging customers with conversations, they can handle all freeing you for other important tasks.

3. Know Customers Better – With personalized interaction via chatbots, you will get to know your customers better to serve them the best.

4. Increment in Sales – The more personalized experience a customer receives from your end, the more it will keep coming back to you which means; a boost in sales.

5. Be Unique – The online competition is tough, and to stand out, you need to have some unique elements in your store that can be personalized for attracting customers. So, build an app using eCommerce mobile app builder that allows you to create a user-friendly environment with unique elements.

Summing Up

With incremental shift happening in customer’s behavior due to growing digitalization and the pandemic effect, an online presence with personalized experience is becoming a necessity more than just a trend. And, if you are in a notion that only big brands can afford classy technologies like AI, chatbots, messaging apps, PWAs, native mobile apps, voice assistants, etc., then guess what? They do not come at a fancy price that a small business cannot afford, in fact, one must gear it up all if one really wishes to survive the competition and the future ahead.

Need expert advice? Mobicommerce – an eCommerce solution provider in the Middle East and other countries is at your service!

More than the craze of shopping via mobile, it is now the trend of selling via mobile. Wondering why retailers are keen on getting into mobile commerce? Let’s unlock the answers.

E-commerce, mobile applications, online stores are the latest trends happening in the world of business today. Everyone is running a homemade business trying to find a way to sustain their businesses in one way or the other. Where big players are capturing the markets with online shopping festivals, and mega year-end sales with jaw-dropping discount offers; small businesses are struggling with not only getting new customers but in maintaining the existing ones as well. After all, who won’t drool over such attractive offers?

Now the main question arises why mobile commerce? Does my business really need this? We know you need more convincing and so we have curated some of the key advantages of mobile commerce which will make you dive into it right away.

Mobile Commerce: Introduction, Importance, and Its Advantages

Mobile commerce or m-commerce is simply the process of buying and selling of goods and services through wireless handheld devices such as smartphones and tablets. Online retailers build their eCommerce app through which they are able to sell their products anytime and anywhere and using which customers can shop on-the-go thereby making it easier and convenient for both to achieve their desired goals.

As far as why is considered then, the use of mobile phones and the internet are increasing day by day so taking advantage of this technological advancement is a must for every business. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing has shot up the usage of mobile and the need for a mobile presence to such a level that it is now becoming a necessity for any business to survive. However, there’s nothing wrong in it as mobile commerce is very much advantageous for a business as a wide number of people can be reached with much lesser efforts and ease.

Building an eCommerce app is no more an act of big players of the market. The mentality has changed now and with the cost of developing a mobile app gone down, small-scale retailers are finding it more convenient to sell compared to the traditional website and hence are now taking a leap by building an e-commerce app for their store.

Now let’s see what are the advantages of mCommerce:

Improved Customer Experience

Shopping experience matters the most in online retailing and guess what? The overall customer experience is much better using mobile apps as compared to the e-commerce website. The smooth navigation, ease of use, and most importantly the freedom to shop on-the-go is what makes customers feel more convenient in shopping via mobile apps. Therefore, a mobile app for your business is the first and foremost thing to do if you want a wide customer base.

Also Read: How to select top mCommerce App Development Company for the Middle East Market

Quicker Purchases and Transactions

The purchases are made much faster via mobile apps. The easy linking of bank accounts with mobile numbers, browsing and filtering the choice of products, quicker checkouts, ease of inputting OTP for multiple payment options like Paytm, UPI etc. make the purchase hassle-free and faster which also plays a very important role in the boosting of purchasing using mobile apps. So, integrating mobile apps with the latest payment gateways will help the business to attract more customers.

Personalised Experience

A mobile app is an excellent tool for providing personalised experiences to customers. Since it is installed individually on smartphones, it becomes very easy for the business to understand the personalized interest of the person using the phone. From the user’s location, choices of the users, browsing history, shopping patterns, social media usage etc. personalised content, as well as a shopping experience, can be easily provided to the customers. Also, with the help of predictive search analysis, the seller can understand the behaviour of the customer more clearly and provide suggestions based on their searches, likes, and dislikes.

Moreover, using the push notification features, the seller can connect personally to the customers and push them to make the purchase or remind them about the abandoned cart to complete the payment.

Customer Engagement

Offers, sales, contests, games, all of these attract customers, and it becomes easy to lure and keep your customers engaged with such things via mobile apps than traditional websites.

Higher discounts, free coupons, referrals, polls, lucky draws, etc. are some of the easy and luring ways to not just promote your brand; but also, to keep your customers engaged, stay loyal, as well as come back to you.

Satisfaction Surveys and Analytics

Customer preferences keep changing from time to time, and hence it is important to conduct surveys, collect feedback, and study analytics in order to serve them better. Create attractive surveys in short time intervals, collect feedback in the form of comments, polls, etc. to help understand the needs of the customer in the best way and keep track of your analytics to know where you stand and where you need improvement all of which is easier to do via mobile apps.

Better Customer Support

You can get creative in ways you can imagine while building your eCommerce app. Since mobile users are multiplying day by day, you can offer better customer support via your mobile app than your eCommerce website because it becomes easier to implement innovative ideas to interact with customers like chatbots, automated voice messages, customer support calls with less waiting time etc. on a mobile app than the website.

Don’t Miss: Mobicommerce: A leading mCommerce App Builder in the Middle East 

Role of Mobile Commerce in Increasing Sales and Customer Engagement

Add exciting pop-ups – When the users are trying to exit the site of your business giving a small pop window with some interesting offers will resist them to look more and end up buying one or the other items.

Provide festive offers – Festivals are the most attractive ways to capture the customer’s attention. By offering various discounts and festival specific items will keep customers to stick to you in the future as well.

Run campaigns and ads – Customers are always hanging out on social media and hence you ought to be there where your customers are in the form of campaigns, ads etc. Highlight and promote your brand by running ads and campaigns and keep them reminding about your presence, products or services, etc.

Wrapping Up

Mobile is the future and online shopping is becoming a daily routine now due to the pandemic and growing technology, therefore, if you as a retailer do not want to get lost in the crowd then approach a professional ecommerce mobile app builderright away to build an eCommerce app of yours to achieve all the above-mentioned advantages.

Mobicommerce and mCommerce:

When we talk about mobile commerce app builders, there are three ‘E’s that are essential to ensure that they would deliver you a robust and flawless mobile solution. These three Es’ are Excellence, Expertise and Experience. In addition, when we talk about mobile commerce app solution providers of the Middle East, Mobicommerce has been a renowned name for delivering flawless and robust mCommerce solutions with their domain experience, technical expertise and excellence of IT infrastructure as well as customer-centric protocols.

With elite clientele in more than 35+ countries from different industries and business domains, Mobicommerce has been delivering benchmark e-commerce and mCommerce app solutions since its inception in the year of 2014. In the short span of 6 years, Mobicommerce has one of the rarest pools of expert and certified developers in Magento and also has an impeccable IT infrastructure in 6 countries that are Dubai, India, USA, Germany, UK and Canada! Founded by the visionary entrepreneurs of the renowned DesignNbuy, Mobicommerce has become a leading mCommerce App development Company not just in the Middle East, but across the globe.

With satisfactory clients in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, Mobicommerce has a proven track record in all across the Middle East and the reasons why it is one of the leading mCommerce App Development companies are as follows:

5 Reasons why Mobicommerce is a leading mcommerce app builder in the Middle East:

1. Culture Understanding (Personalization and Localization capabilities):

Although the trend of personalization and localization is recent as it is one of the biggest factors to boost lead conversion ratio and to ensure delightful digital experiences, we at Mobicommerce have been practicing it for a long time and that is why we have been able to successfully understand the Middle East market.

Personalization and localization are completely dependent upon the user persona and the market understanding of the UX designers and the mCommerce app developers. Our resources at Mobicommerce have a wide experience of working on different projects from numerous domains and because of such immense exposure to the Middle East market, they have developed a fair culture understanding and thus, have managed to deliver e-commerce and mCommerce solutions with optimum personalization and localization capabilities. All the clients that have collaborated with us have been successful in the market because of the lowest possible shopping cart abandonments and the highest number of satisfied and delighted customers.

Also Read : How to select top mCommerce App Development Company for the Middle East Market

2. Rare pool of expert and certified developers:

Experience and expertise are the two traits that are found in all the resources that work on your mCommerce app project at Mobicommerce. What makes our resources rare and experts is their technical expertise and domain understanding. Working under suitable and harmonious culture and environment, our resources get immense exposure to the Middle East market and thus, they have been able to understand the client requirements with optimum clarity and their market exposure helps them in predicting the project challenges well in advance. Thus, when you approach Mobicommerce for mCommerce app solutions, you get the most realistic deadlines and cost-effective solutions as there would be minimal reworks and change requests!

3. Entrepreneurial mindset and customer-centric approach:

Because of the immense market exposure and their technical expertise, our resources have not only been expert developers but also technical consultants to many of the enterprises from the Middle East. Because of their entrepreneurial mindset, our resources can easily understand the client and market requirements and can also contribute towards the project of the client with valuable suggestions. Apart from that, our resources are hardwired to keep complete transparency with the clients and are trained to perform with optimum productivity instead of cutting corners.

4. End-to-end mCommerce and e-Commerce services:

Whether you need a Progressive Web App (PWA) that would help, you better engage with your customers at minimal efforts and cost or you need a full-fledged e-commerce multivendor marketplace solution that works seamlessly on both web as well as smartphones, we can deliver it all! All you need to do is hire Mobicommerce as your Technology Partner and we will cater to all your e-commerce and mCommerce development, consultancy, updates, maintenance, migration, version upgrades and support requirements! To put it in a nutshell, Mobicommerce is your one-stop solution for all your digital commerce requirements!

5. Impeccable IT infrastructure:

Mobile Commerce applications are no longer a one-time project as the market, customer expectations keep evolving, and thus, these projects are long term if not continuous! Innovation is the key to progress in modern times and we at Mobicommerce are on the path of self-evolution right from the start! With top-notch equipment, periodic technical and cultural trainings and constant refinement of processes and protocols to make it more customer-centric and value adding, Mobicommerce has the best IT infrastructure that is essential for sustainable and successful long-term relationships.

Parting Words:

When clients collaborate with Mobicommerce, they get the complete package that goes beyond development and IT services! With the zeal to innovate and to provide optimum satisfaction to all our clients, we at Mobicommerce have an implied condition of walking the extra mile to ensure that we deliver flawless and robust solutions to all our clients without cutting any corners. To put it in a nutshell, if digital growth of your brand via Mobile Commerce Applications is your agenda, than Mobicommerce App builder is your ultimate growth hack!

If there is one thing that this pandemic has taught us than it would be the importance of digitalization. For all those businesses who had managed to continue their operations and grow during these dire times were the ones that had a strong online presence. Whether you talk about the USA or the Middle East, e-commerce saw unprecedented growth all across the globe. For instance, reports found that E-commerce expenditure of the Middle East exceeded the expected figures by approximately $52 billion from March to July!

Also read: COVID-19 Effects: E-commerce and the Change in Consumer Behaviour in the UAE

While many think that these changes are temporary, but studies show that these buying habits will change consumer behaviour completely and that they would rely on online buying platforms more even in the post-pandemic world. But if you are planning for digitalization of your business, there is one platform that you must have and that is a mobile commerce platform or a mobile application for your business! The reason for that is simple; people are literally living-off their phones and if you wish to become a trusted brand amongst your customers, you must be present on their home screens.

However, the Middle East has its own culture and its own set of expectations and if you wish to make a mobile application for the people of the Middle East, you must choose a mobile commerce app builder that understands the Middle East market and your business expectations. To help you make an informed decision, below are a few of the traits of an ideal m-commerce app builder for the Middle East:

Traits of an ideal mobile commerce app builder for the Middle East:

1. Market Understanding:

The Middle East has its own set of protocols and procedures as well as customer expectations. The rules and customer behavior also differ in various regions of the Middle East! For instance, Saudi Arabia and UAE had the highest mobile broadband levels in the year of 2016. At 114 % and 111 % mobile data usage respectively, these Gulf nations were more connected than any other country in the world. On the contrary, Egypt only had a 36 % mobile broadband level in the same year.

Similarly, each governing body of the Middle East has its own set of rules for their regions as well. Thus, when you choose a mobile commerce app builder for your business, they must know about the market and the rules and regulations that they must follow. When the mobile app developers working on your platform have such market understanding, they can save your application from unwanted troubles, banishments or fines and also help you make your mobile app relevant for your target customers.

2. Proven Track record:

To ensure that the Mobile Commerce app builder that you choose for your m-commerce platform has the required technical proficiency to accomplish your m-commerce platform, ask for their portfolio and analyze how the platforms are performing in their respective markets. Also, ask for client contacts and references and go through the company’s reviews on different review platforms. Apart from that, what you can do is personally interview the developers that are going to work on your project and ensure that they have the required market understanding and that they have the required domain knowledge as well.

While each project and business has its own set of requirements, when the developers are experienced and have the required technical proficiency as well as the domain knowledge, they can help you understand the challenges that you might face with your project and can provide you a realistic development timeline.

3. Localization capabilities:

Personalization of a platform is one of the biggest customer winning factors for any mobile commerce platform. Thus, the m commerce app builder that you choose for your platform must provide you with enough personalization and localization options. To deliver personalized experiences to your customers, it is essential that your developers understand the customer expectations well and has a clear picture of the user persona. This knowledge will help you with better customer segmentation and ultimately help you gain deeper customer insights that will help you make informed decisions. Apart from that, the platform must also represent the local culture of the region that you are targeting and thus, the mobile commerce app builder must provide your mobile platform with enough localization factors such as language, font, payment portals and others.

4. Scalability and App Support:

The development of the mobile application is not a one-time project anymore. With constantly changing customer expectations as well as market requirements, appreneurs have to keep evolving their platform with frequent innovations and software updates. While innovations will help you gain a competitive edge in the market, updates will help you align your mobile commerce platform with your customer expectations. Thus, when you choose an app builder for your m-commerce platform, ensure that they provide the required scalability and post-development app support.

Recommended: 10 Top-ten app development companies in the Middle East

Parting Words:

The cost of developing a mobile commerce platform is relatively high no matter what domain or region you belong to. With an ideal m commerce app builder at your corner, you can ensure that the money that you spend on your mobile commerce platform is an investment and not an expense. Make an informed decision and ensure that the eCommerce mobile app builder that you choose for your project contributes towards your application and establishes a value-based partnership that creates a win-win scenario for both.

It will not be very late to say that the Covid-19 Pandemic has brought a 360-degree turn in the way we shop for our daily essentials, mainly groceries and also, it is an only retail category without which we can’t even pass a day. But, the thought of visiting a grocery store has built fear in people so much that it seems online grocery will take over even post-corona. So, is grocery eCommerce really the future?

The online shopping revolution for non-perishable commodities started way back globally, yet, many of us preferred going to super or hypermarkets and hand-pick our groceries for various reasons, mainly to choose the best of all options and having the ability to inspect the items before purchase. Now, the scenario is different. With Corona crawled into our life, the online grocery shopping seems to be the safe option which has led to the emergence of it and the sales of which are doubling up like never before.

Boom in Online Grocery shopping trends

Online shopping trend was picked up by consumers who do not enjoy the hassle of traditional shopping experience specially, to stand in long queues. Now, the current pandemic has further pushed consumers to buy their groceries online which are creating a huge scope for newcomers with innovative purchase models to create their own space in this global business market.

Recommended Blog: Know Why a Mobile App is good for The Health of Your Grocery Business

There is no doubt about social distancing becoming the “The New Normal” in the post-COVID phase, making most of the grocery shopping digital. We know that a business is all about trust and as far as grocery shopping is concerned, the majority of the consumers prefer to buy from the same Kirana store only because there is a trust for quality and service. Therefore, to get the groceries delivered by the same trusted local grocery shop at one click will be something consumers will look forward to.

So, if you are a grocery shop owner, you must consider the below points to act fast and expand your local business by opting for grocery store app development right now.

For business continuity post-COVID: The crisis is going to end at some point but we don’t know when and since now you are getting enough time, it is advisable to prepare for the future which will be nothing like before. Henceforth, if you want your business to keep going, thinking online will be the right thing to do.

To be safe for you and your family: Continuous interaction with innumerable customers also puts you at risk. You need to keep the business running and remain safe for your family at the same time as well as ensure safety standards are being followed by streamlining the logistics. Hence, going digital will help you have a win-win situation overall.

Foreseeing changing business trends with innovative digital marketing ideas: Your customers will remain loyal to you if you cater to their changing needs. Quick delivery options, safety procedures, lucrative discounts and innovations will ensure your brand gets the required foothold in the competitive market.

Making your brand: Your local supermarket or grocery shop can get a brand name by going digital. Word of mouth and good online reviews will attract new customers for your business. You can grow your business by catering not just to people living in your vicinity but beyond if you expand your delivery area limit. A good grocery website builder will help you structure your business with minimal investment and lesser workforce.

For customers, who are still not convinced why to forgo conventional grocery shopping practices in these testing times, here are the top 5 reasons why switching to online grocery shopping now and in the future seems to be the right option.

Keep you safe from crowds and thus getting infected: The last thing we want is to enter a crowd of strangers and risk our lives. Although you might take all the necessary precautions, you can’t be sure if the person standing next to you is healthy or not. When online grocery apps can give you verified and quality products delivered at your doorstep, why take the risk? Also, you have the option of sanitizing the container and the items without any hassle.

It will help you maintain your budget: COVID-19 has definitely slowed down the world economy and the repercussions have already started showing up with many people losing their jobs. In such a situation, you don’t want to overspend which is likely to happen when you physically visit a store. With online shopping, you have the option at any given time to cancel a product and keep a tap on your bill.

Encouraging Digital Payment: Digitalization in payment methods started over more than a decade with the introduction of credit and debit cards but, cash transaction is still a preferred payment method for small purchases in local grocery shops. In this period of Covid-19 spread, cash transactions have been identified as one of the main reasons for spreading the infection, so by opting for online payment modes, you can avoid that risk as well.

24*7 availability: With more women coming to work front, managing household chores has become more tedious in a nuclear family set-up. Grocery shopping is mainly planned for weekends which consumes nearly 2-3 hours of your day. Online grocery shopping gives you the convenience to shop at any point in time so that you can spend your day-offs with your loved ones, not at departmental stores.

Your bit for the environment: The world has undergone a renovation with humankind sitting inside their homes. Pollution levels have dropped and water bodies are much cleaner now. So, it is our responsibility to maintain this by reducing carbon emissions as much as possible. We can avoid commuting again and again by buying our monthly groceries at one go, thus protecting Mother Nature from unnecessary air and noise pollution.

In a nutshell, 

Whether you are a budding entrepreneur, an offline grocery shop owner or a consumer, we are sure that by now you can agree that a grocery eCommerce app is the most convenient and recommended way to shop or deliver groceries by all means, especially when such bad situation strikes.

We hope with these tips, you will now be able to make right and smart choices to stay relevant in this new phase. Our expertise in Grocery shopping app development will ensure that you get your app designed just the way you want and in time so that you continue to lead the business.

Mobile phones are no longer limited to communicating, via them, we can shop an aeroplane today. Although it sounds exaggerated, looking at the way mCommerce is growing and with PWAs becoming dominant, that day may come soon.

Smartphones make the most of our day. From the moment we open our eyes to off we go to bed; we are scrolling our mobile screens jumping from one mobile app to another. The shopping-on-the-go has gotten us so much that now downloading mobile apps and browsing through them seems to be time-consuming as it happens, they take time to load or ask for an update while you are about to pay for the product you purchased. It kills the mood, isn’t it? Enter, PWA (Progressive Web Apps), the superhero of mCommerce.

Progressive Web Apps, what are they? 

The monopoly of mobile apps was challenged in 2015 when PWAs came into action. Due to its powerful combination of two technologies – native applications and web apps which results in its functioning as both an application as well as a website, PWAs started getting all the attention. With no downloads required, PWAs which can be run over any browser from desktop to mobile versions offering the same kind of experience just like any native app started making mobile shopping, even more, easier and convenient giving way for mCommerce.

mCommerce vs eCommerce

Without a doubt, mCommerce is leading the race. In fact, the graph of mobile shoppers is constantly rising with no pause or turning back and hence; a majority of retail e-commerce is expected to be generated via m-commerce in the future.

Due to the increased mobile engagement, businesses started to launch native apps of their website to attract more customers, provide easy and convenient shopping, give a personalized experience, and much more. But, unfortunately, customers started getting annoyed from native apps too due to the installation, high space and data usage, connectivity issue, frequent update requirement, and slow loading issues which are posing a risk for mCommerce, therefore, as an answer to which PWAs came into existence.

How Progressive Web Apps are shaping the future of mCommerce?

First of all, PWAs need not be installed on mobile devices. They can be simply launched on any internet browser without compromising in its speed. In fact, its reach is 3 times higher than you get from native apps. It gives native app-like experience with push notifications and user-friendly navigation allowing you to browse and shop products on the go.

Recommended Blog:  Why Progressive Web Apps Are Important for Businesses?

The best thing about PWAs is that they are offline ready. The customers won’t have to experience a break in their shopping routine even in a slow internet connection unlike in native apps where you have to wait for good network connectivity.

PWAs are super-responsive. They can fit into any device be it a desktop, a mobile, a tablet, or even something that hasn’t been created yet!

The need for updates which annoy the most gets eliminated in PWAs as they automatically update themselves.

PWAs work for both – Android and iOS and hence the extra effort that is required in coding for Android and iOS separately in native apps is null in PWAs, which means, you save time, money, and resources with progressive web app development.

Does it mean an end for native apps? 

Absolutely not. Native apps are not going to vanish all of a sudden. It is true that PWAs have the potential to make apps a thing of past, outstripping Google and Apple’s biggest app store operators but not so soon as PWAs are still in their infancy and Google or Apple will certainly not pull the plug on their stores this decade. Nevertheless, PWAs have the potential to change user behaviour of all smartphone users. The shopping behaviour of customers from classic mobile apps to a website that looks like an app is completely opposite and hence the difference in the results.

But it is possible that native apps may start experiencing slower death in the coming years because approximately 94% of apps used are devoted to social engagement, entertainment, and information causing less download and usage of them later, which means, only five apps account for 85% of the overall app activities. The real struggle for retailers lies in driving initial and repeat use of native apps because the majority of downloaded apps are accessed less than five times – and after 30 days, retention is, on average, below 10% even for constant mobile users, all of which is posing a risk for the future of native apps.

Need proof?

Impressed with the capabilities of PWAs, some of the famous merchants have started leveraging progressive web apps for mobile commerce and here’s what they have achieved so far:

• Alibaba’s PWA witnessed about a 76% higher conversion across browsers, 14% more monthly active users on iOS and 30% more on Android, and 4 times higher interaction due to the “Add to Homescreen” prompt.
• On the other hand, Flipkart – India’s biggest e-commerce platform, adapted PWA and experienced 3 times more user engagement, 40% higher re-engagement and 3 times lower data usage.
• While Jumia, Africa’s most renowned and the largest eCommerce site, witnessed a 33% higher conversion rate, a 50% lower bounce rate, 12 times more users and 5 times lower data consumption upon introducing PWA into their online business.
• Similarly, when Trivago, the world’s leading hotel search engine increased its user engagement by 150% with PWA, AliExpress turned their fortune wheel and reached 104% more users, a 74% increase in time spent and 84% increase in iOS conversion rate with their PWA.

In a nutshell,

The shopping experience for customers’ needs the most attention and is something to be taken very seriously by retailers if they really care about customers as the sales of the business depend on it. Progressive web apps with its app-like experience on the mobile web and amazing features are so far capable of winning customers more than native apps which must be taken into account by retailers and hence should think about moving from native mobile apps to PWAs by now.

If you are worried about where to find the best progressive web app builder then don’t worry, look for MobiCommerce and you will know for yourself.

Europeans are skipping the trek to a supermarket which requires pushing a shopping cart down an aisle after aisle and then waiting in the long checkout line to finally bring home their groceries and love the idea of saving time by shopping at the convenience of their home. Why? The reasons are many let’s take a look at it all.

No sooner did the trend of online grocery shopping hit the market, Europe witnessed a sharp rise in grocery mobile app downloads and its usage in the past few years. The reasons are many like inflationary price rises, convenience, time-saving, more premium and fresh goods all under one roof etc., which grocery shopping mobile apps are making it possible and easier for customers to get their groceries on-time without any hassle.

But it is not just because of any random grocery mobile app, the European market has risen up, it is in fact, due to the compelling reasons the European retailers have given consumers to switch from their neighbourhood grocers to the web or mobile app like;

1. An entire supermarket squeezed into an app

Browsing a supermarket in search of a product with a shopping stroller is something which nobody enjoys. European retailers gave their customers freedom from it by allowing them to browse an entire supermarket on their mobile screen and add products to their shopping cart the instant, save them for later, wishlist or even book out of stock products in advance all via a grocery mobile app.

2. Personal recommendations & customizations

Not all products a customer is looking for is available in a supermarket, hence, European grocery mobile app development cracked a way to it by giving personal recommendations to their customers based on their purchase behaviour to further ease their shopping of daily grocery needs. This made customers fall in love with grocery mobile apps even more. Moreover, the supermarket app development took a step further ahead with customization feature which helps customers to modify the packaging, weight, size, etc. of their products.

3. Escape from long queues

Who doesn’t love a grocery shopping where checkouts take seconds and payments can be done without taking out a wallet for the purchased groceries? The grocery app development in European market won hearts by allowing customers to shop groceries without the need to wait in long queues with heavy shopping bags.

4. Daily offers & special treatments

Compared to offline grocery shopping, grocery mobile apps began to give daily offers and discounts on products which attracted customers towards it like a magnet. Apart from that, when European customers started getting special treatments like membership and referral benefits, they look the jump to grocery mobile apps right away without giving a second thought which spiced up the online grocery app market in Europe like never before.

5. Service that appeals to customers

For any shopper, how a particular brand treats a customer matters the most because once they like it, they become loyal to them forever. Today, Amazon, BigBasket and other such major grocery deliveries have come into action which is having good and regular traffic of customers due to the convenience they are providing in getting fresh daily essentials at the doorstep, eliminating the need – to wait in long queues, carry heavy grocery bags, move from one grocery shop to another in search of products, etc.

The grocery app development in Europe took it very seriously and developed grocery mobile apps with all necessary features for customer service like feedback section, rating & reviews, delivery slot selection, chats and support to solve customer queries, order tracking, multiple payment options, free delivery, and much more to serve customers at its best.

6. Boon for busiest customers 

Half of the European population has no time for going grocery shopping personally due to their busy lifestyle which is the main reason why grocery delivery app development gained momentum in Europe suddenly and swiftly. People loved the concept of getting groceries at their doorstep more than wandering multiple shops with giant shopping bags struggling to find time from their hectic schedule.

Bottom Line

Consumers of today love their smartphones, which explains why 91% of them are always on them 24/7. Therefore, it should not be surprising for industries to understand why grocery mobile app development is the need of the hour.

Looking at the rise of online grocery shopping, more and more European retailers have now begun to develop on-demand grocery delivery apps equipped with all necessary features that benefit both retailers and customers. Since a grocery mobile app is helping businesses achieve their objectives and gain higher returns within a less period of time. So, it is in this way, the grocery app market gained popularity and become a sensation in Europe within a blink of an eye which is not going to disappear anytime near soon.

You can find related articles here:

1. Know Why a Mobile App is Good for The Health of Your Grocery Business
2. On Demand Online Grocery eCommerce Software Solution

Ever since shopping through a mobile device has garnered popularity, eCommerce businesses across domains are going through their websites on mobile to see if the experience their customers have on desktops is similar to that on mobile.

Yes, it is 2020; however, the shopping experience on mobile is still not where it needs to be. There are still many eCommerce stores that deploy poor UI/UX design tricks (e.g., pop-ups) on their mobile sites to repel their potential customers.

Statista reports 3.8bn smartphone users by 2021, out of which 49% shop on mobile. Despite that, only 12% of consumers find mobile shopping convenient. That is a lot of room for improvement for eCommerce businesses.

When it comes to mobile, there are two options that they can explore, namely: Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) and native apps. Interestingly, consumers spend 3X-to-4X longer on native apps as compared to the time spent on mobile sites and desktops.

Similarly, PWAs achieve 50% higher conversions in the eCommerce sector. The benefits of both options are in front of you. But what is most apt for your business? To help you decide, let’s do a comparative analysis between a PWA and a native app.

1. Look and feel

Native apps offer the best UI/UX experience through the right amount of animations and effects, efficient gesture control, appealing layouts. Users can instantly browse through the app.

Meaning, the design, and settings of a PWA are similar to those of native apps. It combines the look and feel of mobile apps and the best UX website elements.

2. Functionality

PWAs are responsive and load promptly, thereby eliminating any jerky transition that can hamper the user experience. They can be used offline. Native apps can take time to load and/or not load at all if there is no internet.

PWAs and websites share the same speed and responsiveness capabilities, complete with database access and automatic data. A native app functions separately.

3. Installation and updation

Users will have to visit the app store, search for your app, and download it. However, a native app is easily discoverable on the internet and also gets automatically updated.

A PWA eliminates the issue of app fatigue. It doesn’t need to be discovered, downloaded, or updated. Users can go to the browser on mobile and search for you.

4. Security and compliance

PWAs offer faster access to built-in device features such as camera, phone book, biometric sensors, a recent location, microphone, and more, which could be troubling.

A native app, on the other hand, makes use of device functionality and hardware responsibly and asks for the users’ permission before accessing anything on mobile.

5. Optimized for search

Since PWAs are web-based, each page on the web app is indexable. That means, PWAs enjoy a high searchability rate on search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. Further, users can share the PWA with just a brief URL.

A native app needs to be optimized for app stores, which includes using descriptive meta titles, using the right keywords, uploading high-quality app screenshots, encouraging positive reviews.

6. Learning and development

To develop a native app, one must know different languages such as Swift and Objective-C for iOS, C# for Windows, Kotlin, and Java for Android. This is time-consuming and expensive unless you opt for a Magento eCommerce development company to build you a customizable solution

PWAs save time and money because it needs to be developed once – irrespective of the operating system or web browser.

Successful PWAs in the market

PWAs sound feasible from all aspects – financially, discoverability, usability. Many eCommerce brands have deployed the technology, two of which are:

1. OLX

PWA of global online marketplace OLX allows users to avail of a chat option for negotiating product prices, along with features such as Add to Cart, push notifications, and offline functionality. OLX managed to improve CTR by 146% and reduce bounce rates by 80%.

2. Trivago

The Germany-based hotel booking marketplace app launched a PWA a few years ago that comes with multilingual support and features like offline functionality, push, speed. With their PWA, Trivago increased user engagement and CTR by 150% and 97%, respectively.

PWA vs. native app – the choice is yours

When choosing between the two, you must decide what purpose you are planning to serve for your potential customers. Sure, a PWA can offer an app-like experience to consumers on mobile. If you just want that, then it makes no sense to invest resources in developing a native app.

However, if a PWA can’t add anything to your existing mobile app experience, or if you want a specific feature to be available on mobile and PWAs don’t support it, partner with a mobile commerce development company.

Do your research and see how having either of the two apps will impact your eCommerce store.

Magento is known to empower multiple businesses from different domains with the best eCommerce and mCommerce solutions for them to quickly innovate and grow. In February 2019, the flagship Magento Commerce solution got a facelift which simplified the upgradation process and improved scalability for B2B and B2C retailers across the globe.

The platform was improved after witnessing an increase in consumer demand for faster and superior end-to-end shopping experiences. The reason the step was taken was that it is vital for brands to maintain control of their business and be responsive to the changing market needs.

The now refined Magento Commerce solution now stimulates innovation and enables enterprises to offer the same conveniently. Without further ado, let us take a look at the enhancements that will now fasten the global growth of B2B & B2C retailers:

1) Functionality extension and rapid innovation

Magento has added new modular features to ensure the retailers can upscale faster and leverage growth innovatively through Page Builder, Multi-Source Inventory (MSI) and PWA Studio.

You may also like to read: Boost Conversions By 3x With Next-Gen Magento Mobile Commerce Solution

The Magento Commerce platform initially offers MSI out of the three features, and that is used for improving performance for bulk management and selecting the source of the distance-based inventory seamlessly.

The ability to conveniently manage orders and inventory is a boon for retailers who deal with high-volume production daily.

2) Performance and scalability optimization

Performance and scalability improvements in the Magento Commerce platform are a boon for those enterprises that manage copious amounts of company accounts – each associated with 30 times the number of associated addresses.

Such optimization also helps in reducing the average time spent on processing orders from the backend admin panel and allows the product management team to upload higher quality images on the online store without compressing them – thus enabling a far more efficient user experience.

The improved version of Magento Commerce has also made some security updates to ensure secure payment gateways and shipping APIs.

3) Curation of new content for better shopping experiences

There is no doubt the role of the marketing team across eCommerce businesses has become more significant with time. And that includes constantly churning out online content and using the best of the best tools to design, test and launch that content.

Fortunately, Magento’s Page Builder, a drag-and-drop editing tool for website content, enables retailers to create end-to-end desirable shopping experiences without the help of developers or creative teams. The onus of using Page Builder falls on marketers who can very well leverage it to ensure a smooth flow of the purchase cycle.

According to the early adopters of the module, marketers can easily create and edit content pages ten times faster than before. Launching new products or sales on the online store is not a problem anymore!

4) Global shipping options available

The improved Magento Commerce solution now makes shipping a more significant part of the consumer’s purchase cycle. Logistics giants such as UPS, FedEx, and DHL, along with multiple regional carriers, will now help retailers and brands to execute cross-border delivery strategies.

More delivery options, such as Click & Collect, increase the chances of consumer conversion and help businesses to generate more revenues, which was proving to be tedious otherwise.

Endnotes

Magento takes pride in being openly innovative and continually offering new modular capabilities that enable retailers and brands from B2B and B2C markets to consistently transform their business, and add new technologies to meet consumer demands and industry standards.

Magento Commerce platform improvements roll out worldwide from the second quarter of this year. Two Magento modules – PWA Studio and MSI – are already available on Magento 2.3.

Till then, B2B and B2C retailers should utilize the remaining time to create a strategy to capitalize best on using the improved Magento Commerce solution for global growth and to achieve more revenues.

It’s really important today to integrate technology with a Salon to embrace changes and innovation in the industry. Customers are now quite a tech-savvy to make your salon services easily accessible to them a beauty salon mobile app is extremely crucial. One cannot ignore the fact that today your salon must possess a beauty salon app as consumers today would first google your salon before paying a visit like in the day of old. Having a decent online presence would definitely work in building prestige for your brand. Next comes in the convenience of interacting with your salon and mobile apps cannot be beaten in their portability as well as versatility with minimum clutter but an immersive experience. Additionally, it has become essential for Beauty Salons to provide an enterprise mobility solution to their Admin and Staff to even out the everyday working and Salon appointments.

1. Mobile Reservation

Image Source: https://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com

It’s a very well known discomfort to the salon owners, to handle appointments via calls. Add to it the added hassle of keeping a separate caller to manage the bookings, fixing stylists, and so on. Mobile reservation gives you.

• the facility to implement an upfront commitment fee when booking an appointment
• Manage your appointments efficiently with a beautiful built in calendar.
• Provide your customers with email alerts, notification informing them of their scheduled appointments
• Offer the customers a convenient way of managing the appointments booked by them, i.e canceling one or rescheduling one, etc.
• Save time as compared to traditional over the call bookings and thus handle more customers and also increasing the likelihood of repeat customers manifold.

2. Loyalty Cards

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Rewards are coveted by everyone, irrespective of any criteria. and that could be the tool of difference in successful repeating of customers. A simple reward program of membership points that offers them points on their regular visits which they can use to avail free salon sessions. You can implement your own mobile version of a traditional stamp card for building brand. Your app can have a separate section where users can maintain their coupon activities. Develop several levels of perks to better reward your customers and also keep them engaged in regular appointments. Have increased consumer loyalty on account of constant incentive increments.

Recommended blog Impact of Online Reviews on Business Branding and Sales

3. Push Notification

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“Out of sight, out of mind” isn’t a saying without base. To be relevant and constantly in your customers active thought process, you need to stay in touch with them. This is where push notification comes into play. You can target specific users and locations with radial and geofencing technologies just from the lock screen of your customer’s smartphone without them even needing to log on to the app. In addition to this you can also provide the customers with updates easily and relevant information regarding the salon or their appointments. You can engage clients far more frequently with push notifications as compared to any other means of promotion.

4.Mobile Payments

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There are quite a few benefits of offering your customers the option of mobile payments. You save the hassle of a separate book keeping for client appointments. Not only does it bring convenience to you but also your customers have the option of a simple and fast way of payment. Some beauty salon app builders also provide the salon owners with a convenient app extension to simplistically handle their consumer transactions. The amount can be easily transacted to your business account via integrated payment services like Paypal. Increased convenience of payment leads to rise in customer loyalty and builds customer faith. It also leads to increase in sales

5) To Accumulate Rich Data on Customers

Every consumer today is looking for a more and more personalized experience. The beauty industry is strictly governed by personalization. Consumers look for beauty service providers who know and understand their preferences and their needs. They seek beauty salons that provide personalized grooming crafted specifically for them. For a salon this can be done only if it has a database holding the psychographic data of a rich demographic that helps them grasp customer preferences and behavior. With the help of enterprise mobility solutions, you can collect Customers information, and subsequently use it to offer them better services and products in accordance with their requirements, also push deals of promotional value and discounts which might be of their interest.

6) To Increase your Bottom Line and Profits

Your salon’s presence on a mobile or even any web platform can boost your revenue. You can witness increase customer influx on account of easy and convenient access to salon services. Your salon’s bottom line profits are bound to surge with increased brand loyalty, customer retention, awareness, more personalized beauty services and a free flowing communication with your consumer.

Summary

Women spend about $3,756 a year on their beautification and enhancing their appearance in salons with products, states a study by Groupon. And this poses a potentially huge market to target. For the owners of the beauty salons it’s time to make the most of the opportunity, get your own salon app via a salon app builder. Nothing beats going live in your own app. As of now, apps contribute over $40 billion to the industry – that’s a staggering figure. App based businesses are expanding with a remarkable success!