Standout Features for Your Retail Apps

Retail businesses have seen a trajectory like no other since the eruption of mobile internet. The checklist you needed to open a retail business 20 years back is binned by many bold retailers who chose the direct to consumer model to optimize their revenues. What was considered as an alternate source of revenue for retailers is now a must have. The world of online businesses has evolved so much that we have seen some retailers choosing online only models.

Fast internet, vast availability of products, smooth deliveries and secured payments are some key factors in shaping the online retail business. It sure wasn’t easy for retailers to build an infrastructure that could accommodate a stream that had a large potential. But with all stakeholders diving deep into it with great synergy, the online retail business has seen success like no other.

Why are businesses and consumers heading towards shopping online?

What are the reasons people choose to get things delivered at home instead of going out? Why is online retail a much bigger space than anything else out there? Why do retail app development solutions need to be cutting edge and full of sophisticated functionalities? Let us take a close look at some key reasons:

Convenience:

The sheer convenience to be able to shop anything and everything from anywhere and everywhere has spoiled the shopping habits of many. You could be lying on your couch or at the desk of your workplace, it won’t be a problem for you to shop your favorite goods or even groceries. The much complicated process that involved having to carry heavy bags and carts to standing in long queues to checkout is replaced by merely tapping on your phone screens a few times.

Secured Payments:

The payment gateways have been very safe and secure for you to make payments through your debit or credit cards. The one time password and 2 factor authentication eliminates any attempt of fishery and makes your experience smooth. Apart from a secured payment medium, most retailers offer a pay at home or cash on delivery option that takes the game to a whole different level.

Optimized Profits:

By ditching the conventional retail distribution channels and by reaching out to your consumers directly, you are eliminating the need to pay any percentage of margins to any third party agency that acts as a marketer or distributor to your products. There existed a manipulative monopoly of distributors who had a stronghold in the market. The Internet has made things very transparent and retailers can now interact with your consumers directly and vice versa.

Offers:

Because of being able to eliminate any third party margins, companies are now able to offer their products at a better price to their consumers. The cost that they save by not involving any middleman is levied to the consumers in form of discounts, offers and loyalty rewards. This creates a unique brand value and gets you repeated business.

These factors have changed the way retail businesses were done in the past. If you keep the right balance between what the consumer wants and how you can offer the best experience through your retail apps to them, you can reap unbelievable benefits from this phenomenon. In the USA alone, eCommerce spending has crossed the $5 Trillion mark in 2022 and is expected to surpass $7 Trillion by 2025. Some trends have taken over the trade and they are pretty much industry standards and very common among all retail apps while some unique trends have helped brands create their unique identity and customer loyalty.

2022 Trends for Your Retail Apps

Here are some of the mobile app development trends for ecommerce businesses that are very popular in retail apps:

Personalization:

A whole new tab right below the product details that shows similar products or suggested products based on the behavior of the consumers has been a very successful trend. The algorithm tracks the clicks and sessions and based on that, it suggests best suited products to the customers. This saves a lot of time for the consumers to find their favorite products. 

Real Time Customer Support:

The auto chat feature is very effective and it addresses the majority of frequently asked questions. This feature not only creates a unique identity for your brand but also serves as a real time customer support tool. It acts as a personal assistant to your consumers and it’s always nice to have someone answering all the precious queries from the consumers. The auto chat functionality is very much a trending one at this point.

Quick Checkout:

Sometimes consumers are on your app just to make a single purchase. They know what they want and do not wish to indulge with any other functionality. For this type of consumers, your app must have a quick checkout facility that enables the consumer to select a product and go directly to the checkout. The industry standard for quick checkout is 4 taps. Any more than 4 taps are too many taps.

Versatile Payment Integration:

Providing a safe payment experience is no longer a feature. It is unanimously considered a basic necessity for any online retail app. Along with a safe and secured payment experience, a very popular trend is to integrate all the leading wallets and payment mediums to offer a very versatile payment experience to your consumers. Many modern e-wallet apps have been offering huge discounts to acquire customers. Integrating all the popular e-wallets will not only give your consumers attractive offers but also will provide a very satisfying payment experience. 

AR Integration:

Another trending tool these days is the integration of augmented reality. Many apps now offer a real time preview option with the help of AR. This is mostly important for apps selling apparels and wearable. However a smart integration of AR can enable customers to have real time previews of things like furniture as well. Having real time previews can result in greater customer conversion rates. 

Easy Share:

Social media connectivity is a must have for any retail app. Asking for opinions from friends and family is a common practice among shoppers. Having an easily locatable sharing tab and using the social media sharing correctly can help your consumers share their favorite products to their friends and family which will subsequently bring organic traffic on your app.

The Final Word

The ever evolving world of online retailing is taking giant leaps by every passing year. Innovation alone is not going to help retailers. Offering a smooth and interactive user experience in your app is just the first step. Ask genuine questions about technologies before you choose app Development Company. AR and VR are indeed the future and tapping on the new trends will help retailers stay clear of the queue. You no longer can think about matching the real life store experience with that to your app. You now have to go a step further and provide functionalities that one would not get anywhere. 

Pinal Goda

Pinal is a React Native Developer working with Gtech Web Infotech Pvt. Ltd., a leading mobile app development company in India. Being capable of building cross-platform applications that are highly proficient and offer intuitive user experience is her forte.