WooCommerce is the most popular ecommerce solution in the market. Going by ecommerce CMS market share alone, WooCommerce outnumbers all its nearest competitors like Shopify and Squarespace by a sizable margin.
Why is WooCommerce so far ahead? The main reason is its presence in the WordPress environment. WordPress is the most popular CMS in the world, and it’s free. Since WooCommerce is also available as a free plugin in the WordPress marketplace, it’s a convenient solution for website owners across the board.
If you have a WooCommerce store and you regularly check your web analytics, you may have noticed the percentage of mobile users visiting your site. WooCommerce is compatible with almost every mobile responsive them, but a mobile site may not always be the best solution.
A native mobile app is an ideal platform to offer your customers a smooth experience. In this article, we’ll explain how you can build a native mobile app for your WooCommerce store without writing a single line of code.
How to build an ecommerce app with AppMySite?
AppMySite’s ecommerce app builder is perfect for all your no-code development needs. It seamlessly integrates with your WooCommerce store and syncs all your site’s data to the app.
The following steps explain how the process works.
#1. Connect your WooCommerce store and app
Connecting your store to a mobile app may sound complicated. This is not the case with AppMySite.
Once you sign up, you’re required to install AppMySite’s plugin on your WordPress website. Doing this will connect your website and app. The next step is granting access to your site via application passwords. The following support articles will explain the process in detail.
Read: How to connect your WooCommerce store and app?
Once connectivity is established, you can proceed to design your app. In case there are issues with your connectivity, you can diagnose them with the in-built troubleshooter.
#2: Personalize your mobile app
AppMySite offers a ton of design features to help you customize your app’s elements, screens, and menus.
In case the design options do not offer enough scope, you can upload your own artwork for every element and screen. There’s a free image library as well if you don’t have any pre-made designs.
For the home screen, you can design different sections, manage section visibility & arrangement, select pages, and more. Visit the following article for further guidance on designing your app.
Read: How to design your mobile app on AppMySite?
You can also configure your app’s side menu and bottom bar. There are ample options to design both these menus from scratch with simple point-and-click options. This is a great way to make in-app navigation easy and fast.
#3: Test and publish your WooCommerce app
You can preview and test your app on AppMySite after you’re done building it. There are live device emulators that allow you to get an idea of how your app looks. You can scroll and click to see your app’s overall working.
There are also extensive options to test the app on real smartphone devices. You can view your app on a real smartphone device and see how it looks and works.
For Android, you can download the AppMySite app from Google Play Store, log in to your account, and start viewing your app. In the case of iOS devices, you’re required to download the app via TestFlight in order to test it.
You can submit your app to the app stores once you’re happy with how it looks and works. AppMySite apps are carefully constructed to get approval on the app stores. In case you run into issues with getting your approval, you can always reach out to AppMySite for further assistance and support.
What features will power your WooCommerce app?
Every ecommerce app needs a basic set of features for functioning. Some obvious features include a basic purchase process, payment options, product details screen, order history screen, and so on.
With AppMySite, you get these ecommerce essentials and many more features that simplify the experience of your customers.
In the following sections, we’ll discuss some top features you can power your WooCommerce app with.
#1: Complete website-app sync
Any time you update prices on your WooCommerce store or add one or more new products, the changes would be synced instantly in the app.
AppMySite’s WooCommerce integration ensures your store is always connected with your app.
This is a great solution as you only need to manage your website’s backend to update your app’s product data. Any product detail, from images to descriptions and even prices will be updated automatically on your app.
#2: Smart filter, search, and sort features
Product discovery is a key part of every ecommerce app. Your customers should be able to discover products via the most optimized user journey possible.
This is made easy with apps built on AppMySite. Your customers will be able to filter and sort products based on their preferences to find the products they’re looking for. There’s also a product search feature that further simplifies discovery.
These features make the overall shopping experience on your app much easier.
#3: Universal payment gateway support
Any payment gateway active on your website will be rendered automatically in the app. No matter which payment gateway you’re using on your WooCommerce store, it will be displayed automatically in the app.
You’re not required to take any additional steps to integrate a payment gateway with your app. Once your WooCommerce store and app are connected, your website’s gateway will be rendered in the app.
Any time you change your payment options, the same will be reflected in the app.
#4: Universal shipping support
It’s possible you’re using a plugin to manage shipping prices in your store. AppMySite provides support for all shipping plugins. In other words, any shipping method that’s active on your WooCommerce store will be visible in your app as well.
You don’t need to take any additional steps to integrate your shipping plugins with the app. This will be done automatically once your WooCommerce store and app are connected.
#5: Easy onboarding options
AppMySite offers easy onboarding options that allow you to fully customize how your customers log in and sign up to your app.
Read: Get complete control over app user onboarding with AppMySite
You can allow users to log in or sign up via their email, Google, or Apple account. There’s also an option to allow guest browsing if you want to make user onboarding smooth. In addition, you can even disable user login completely from your app.
During the design process, you can personalize the onboarding screens with a number of customizable options and features.
#6: Sync coupons and rewards
Any coupons you create for your website users can also be redeemed by your app customers. Since AppMySite establishes a deep integration between your WooCommerce store and app, all coupons set up on your website will also work in the app.
Besides support for coupons, AppMySite is also compatible with the WooCommerce Points and Rewards plugin. This means that if you have a points and rewards system set up on your website with the plugin, it will also sync with your app.
You can thus easily sync all your coupon and reward systems from your website to your app. There’s no need to create a separate coupon or rewards system as AppMySite allows you to manage this directly via your WooCommerce store.
#7: Seamless cart & checkout
AppMySite’s apps have a dedicated cart screen that lists all the products you want to purchase. On the cart screen, your customers will be able to modify items and see your order’s subtotal.
The checkout process that comes after the cart screen is seamless and effortless. Your customers can choose from any of the website’s shipping methods, synced automatically to the app.
During checkout, your website’s payment gateway will also be rendered in the app.
#8: Multilingual support
In case you want to promote your app in countries where English is not the primary language, you can make use of the Language support feature.
This feature will essentially allow your app customers to choose a language of their choice within the app. Once they choose another language, the app’s native labels, texts, and buttons will be translated automatically.
Depending on the plan you’re on, the language support feature will be enabled automatically in the app. You don’t need to take any extra steps to enable this feature. If you’re on the right plan, the option to select a language will be available in the app.
Read: Benefits of creating a multilingual website and app for your online business
#9: Unlimited push notifications
Push notifications are a great way to engage with your app customers. AppMySite allows you to send push notifications from within your account. There’s no limit on the number of notifications you can send to your app users.
Within AppMySite, you can choose whether you’d like to send the notifications to Android users, iOS users, or both. Additionally, you can schedule notifications to better manage your outreach efforts.
#10: Single-click chat support
Customer support is a key part of any online business. You will find it easier to retain customers if you provide them with ready customer support in case they’re having issues with their orders.
AppMySite allows you to integrate your website’s chat software with the app. Once the chat software is integrated with the app, your customers will be able to reach out to you via the app directly. You can respond to them and resolve their queries and issues on the fly.
The following support article explains how to integrate your website’s chat software with the app.
Read: How to integrate your website’s chat software with the app?
In conclusion
Building a WooCommerce mobile app can be challenging if you plan to manually connect your website’s REST APIs with a native app.
AppMySite automates this complex workflow in a no-code environment and enables you to convert your WooCommerce store to a native app. Integrating your store and app can be done through a seamless process, and you point & click to add features and power your app further.
