The dizzying growth of online shopping, and particularly m-commerce, is too complex to be reduced to mere numbers. But, consider this: in 2017, more than one-third (34.5%) of all online shopping was done on mobile phones and by 2021, this number is expected to touch 54%! M-commerce, or mobile commerce, is the natural evolution of e-commerce, a phenomenon that disrupted the retail industry nearly two decades ago. In this post, we’ll discuss a few factors as to why shopping over a mobile phone is quickly becoming the default shopping choice for customers all over the world and how online businesses can convert WooCommerce to Mobile App.
1. Increasing active smartphone engagement
Smartphones are also designed in a way to maximise user engagement and ensure that people can do a variety of things from a single device. If twenty five years ago people were told that they would be able to get the news, watch their favourite movies, shop, book a cab, and even do a part of their work through their phones, not many would have believed them. However, when people are able to do all this – and more! – on their phones, they are increasingly hooked to it, with adults in US spending as much as 3 hours and 35 minutes on it each day. The rise of artificial intelligence and voice assistants has further simplified interacting with smartphones for new users as well.
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2. Focus on convenience
One of the biggest reasons that people are willingly integrating technology in their daily lives is the convenience that comes along and the fact that things happen at lightning speed. Online businesses that create e-commerce mobile app exploit the fact that shopping for products online involves making a lot of impulse purchase decisions and that most of these decisions are taken within a few seconds. Thus, the process of searching for a desired product, placing an order for it, and making a payment, has been made so simple and accessible that it provides instant gratification to the shoppers. Today, a shopper can browse through products of their liking, compare product features, and place an order for the product of their choice – all in a matter of a few minutes, by as much as flipping out their phones.
3. Rise of related industries
It is important to note that the mobile commerce industry hasn’t grown in isolation. Complimentary and supplementary services, like secure mobile banking and payments, better delivery services, in-app payment mechanisms, geo-location and geo-targeting, and customer loyalty have made it possible for online retailers to extend a variety of shopping services to their consumers over the phone. That’s not all; there are platforms and tools that allow shoppers to scout multiple online shopping stores for the lowest prices and best deals – all within a few seconds. The emergence of these industries has fuelled the popularity and adoption of m-commerce at a breakneck speed, and also created strong economic inter-linkages between the mobile shopping industry and the global economy.
4. Advancement in analytics
While the advancements of many related industries and technologies have obviously propelled the expansion of m-commerce, one that deserves a closer look is the progresses made in analytics. The increasing accuracy with which technological tools and solutions are able to crunch large amounts of data and help customise the shopping experience for the customer based on their shopping history and behaviour has played an integral role in making shopping on mobile a deeply engaging and personal experience. The increasing capacity of recording customer activity and collecting data for analysis has definitely played a critical role in bettering the services provided over mobile apps, thereby, making m-commerce the preferred choice for shoppers.
Small online businesses should certainly convert WooCommerce to mobile app in order to ensure that are able to connect with their customers on the platform that will be the undisputed future of online shopping. Thankfully, with the many WooCommerce mobile app builders, creating a mobile app for an existing e-commerce website is a simple and cost-effective process that doesn’t require businesses to have any knowledge about how to create an app. AppMySite is one such expert online mobile app builder that can help businesses convert their websites into mobile apps. You can know more about the process followed by AppMySite here and learn more about the features of the apps created here.
