Custom web app development costs more than website development. Therefore, before talking about the cost, you need to understand whether you need to invest in creating an application at all, especially if your business already has a website. The US market statistics clearly demonstrate that people are more willing to buy through mobile applications.
Customers who use the application will return to the store 2 times more often. They will view 5x more items due to the better interface and end up buying 1.5x more items than through the site.
The benefit to the store is obvious. Despite this, only 1 out of 10 stores makes an application. It turns out that app development can give you a huge competitive advantage.
What should an e-commerce application include?
If you have a small budget, you should first release an application with the necessary features, without which it does not make sense:
· Entrance
· Registration
· Catalog
· Profile view
· Product search
· Checkout
· Payment
After the release, it is very important not to abandon the application, but to constantly update it, listen to user feedback, and add new features. For example:
· Notifications
· Loyalty program
· Different payment methods
· Reviews
· Search filters
· Support Chat
· Recommendation system
· Integration with social networks
Spend a lot of time creating a loyalty program. It greatly increases profits if done correctly.
Native or cross platform?
Cross-platform development allows you to cover both operating systems with one code. The cost is reduced by a third. Naturally, this approach is not without drawbacks. In cross-platform frameworks, support for new iOS and Android features appears late. Performance will be worse, but for simple applications, the difference will not be noticeable.
There are many tools that allow you to create cross-platform applications. We recommend looking towards React Native or Flutter, in our opinion these are the most powerful technologies.
Should you work with freelancers?
A freelance team will cost you much less than a studio. To create an application, you need a UX / UI designer, front end developers, back end developer, QA and project manager.
You can save 15-30% of the budget, but this will entail serious risks. It is very easy to make a mistake with the choice of performers. Reviews on freelance exchanges are very easy to wind up, and you can check the qualifications of a freelancer at an interview only if you have a proven specialist who owns the technology you need, who can conduct a technical interview with him. And this will not give you a guarantee that the contractor will be responsible and will not constantly miss deadlines.
We do not recommend using the services of freelancers to people who do not have experience working with them. Especially do not hire people with low rates. Good professionals like Peiko.space are not cheap.
Ready solutions
Most apps for online stores are quite similar. Does this mean that you can just buy a ready-made solution and connect it to the store? Not so simple.
There are many templates for online stores sold on the Internet. We do not see any point in them, because the application must be unique, have exactly the features that your business needs. Even if you buy a good template, you will need a designer and a few programmers to bring it to mind and connect it to your server. There won’t be much less work.
However, there are studios that do not just sell templates, but customize the design and add the features that you need. This allows you to cut costs. Nevertheless, this option is not suitable for everyone, sometimes it’s easier to do from scratch.
Support
Just making and releasing an app is not enough, it needs to be constantly updated. You need to follow user reviews and add new functionality. Moreover, the application must quickly adapt to new versions of the OS. So always consider spending on support. You will have to spend about 20% of the money you spent on development every year on support.
