Mobile E-commerce Platforms for High Volume Growing Businesses

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up? You check your cellphone. How do you proceed then? You work out, watch your calories burn. You grab a quick breakfast, catch your daily shuttle to work and get on with the rest of the day. And these activities just account for the time before 9 AM generally.

Our lives revolve around our cellphones, don’t they?.

Do you know that mobile devices generate 48% of total internet usage? (Source: Statista). Mobile commerce is a huge trend these days with apps like Google Pay, PayPal, etc.

It is almost impossible to function for a person without a cellphone even for a day. People are so attached to their phones, that checking it after every 10 minutes has become a compulsion. Most people don’t even have to use cash anymore. With m-commerce, every product or service can be bought and paid for with digital currency.

Companies have been taking advantage of this trend. They have been coming up with exclusive mobile-based promotions to increase traffic in their mobile apps. They have been focussing on mobile marketing too.

83% of online consumers worldwide, use shopping apps on a smartphone. Mobile users rely on smartphones for online shopping. 50% of mobile device owners use their devices for online shopping. (Source: Scandit, Kaspersky Cybersecurity Index)

If that’s not an incentive isn’t big enough for you to consider, global mobile commerce sales should make up for 53.9% of all ecommerce sales by 2021. (Source: CBRE)

Don’t you want a piece of this action?

If you own online business it is not just a bare minimum to have a mobile app supporting mobile commerce. You need to provide your customers with that channel as an option. So if you are planning your business you need effective and comprehensive solutions that make it easy for you. Going for development right from scratch can be time taking. Instead, considering turnkey solutions is a smarter approach for mobile commerce. But with so many options which one to go for?

The following are some options you can explore:

1.StoreHippo

StoreHippo has been in the game for 5+ years now and has maintained steady growth as an E-commerce Platform Provider. Not only this, but they also make Mobile Commerce operations easy too. You can build a native mobile app for your online store for free without any complications. Build an app for iOS, Android app within minutes from their dashboard. It is free with the subscription of the respective plan you opt for.

Use of Progressive Web Apps (PWA) architecture is a plus that makes your stores work like apps on various devices. Thanks to PWA, even without an app, the website is Mobile-Friendly. Simplified M-commerce solutions give a substantial boost to traffic which helps your business get the proper Multi-Channel Presence.

Features to check out:

• The Mobile App for your store is built for free and is exclusive for your online store. You also get a mobile admin app while your users can use the store’s app to buy products.
• A lot of integrated customization options are provided. For example, you can set up different themes for different devices simultaneously.
• You can add customized plugins to enhance the functionalities as Shopify plus apps do.
• You can create Multiple Apps for different substores under a single store. This will help to manage your stores for different segments in a more organized way.
• Total control over the Mobile App.

Beware:

• Themes for the mobile storefront are limited, they can add more.
• You have the option of adding widgets but the built-in widgets are still limited.

2.Shopify

Shopify needs no introduction when it comes to ecommerce platform providers. But in addition to giving your store an online presence on desktop, they also power your mobile website. Shopify plus apps in their app store have given users a lot of options to focus on their ‘Multi-Channel’ sales.

Their app lets you handle your m-commerce website on multiple platforms, from a single point. With a simplistic and easy to use interface, you can do everything on your mobile that you do on your computer.

Features to check out:

• Managing your store gets easy. Just have to download the app on your mobile device and import your store.
• No coding expertise required.
• A lot of different Shopify plus apps in their Appstore, provide you with a large scope of customization.
• SSL makes mobile payments secure.

Beware

• Due to the usage of third-party apps, it can incur a lot of costs depending on the features you want.
• They charge extra for a native app for your Shopify store. Building a native app can get complicated and expensive because you will need a developer.
• The basic Shopify plus apps are free but have limited features.
• The App only supports English and Dutch language. So for those who are not versed in English, that’s an issue.

3.Magento

With a feature-rich ecommerce platform, Magento also offers various m-commerce solutions to make your business mobile-friendly. Being open-source has helped them to be a community-based platform where individual developers continuously keep on trying to improve and enhance their mobile-based platform.

With PWA studio, merchants and developers can try a lot of tools to engage customers and improve conversions. With other trademark Magento products powering their mobile commerce applications, it sure is an option worth checking out.

Features to check out:

• Users can develop a lot of addons on their own and make it available for others to use too.
• You can also customize it as you wish since its open source.
• Their community-based drives to enhance mobile commerce such as Magento’s mobile initiative are helpful to the users.

Beware

• Customization options are vast but you need to get the help of a developer to build a mobile app for your store.
• Getting the right support may be an issue as their mobile operations have multiple partners.
• Too much dependency on external add-ons can make managing backend too complicated.

4.Oracle Commerce Cloud

They are another SaaS-based e-commerce platform that provides m-commerce services. Its a flexible and scalable platform supporting B2C and B2B models. With automated optimizations for mobile devices, Oracle makes sure the user doesn’t have to worry about the nuances of compatibility.

With AI-driven personalization, designing storefront seems really easy and user-friendly. You can use the core product to build a feature-rich online store. Responsive designs help websites attain full compatibility with other mobile devices.

Features to check out:

• The responsive themes automatically make your m-commerce site compatible with handheld devices. It also helps speed up app development.
• Enhancement and use of widgets are easy, user-friendly.
• Integration with other Oracle apps is easy and enhance functionalities.

Beware

• As mentioned earlier, integration with other Oracle apps could be expensive and cost more.
• Your online store is mobile friendly and responsive but to create an app for your store, you’d probably need additional services of a developer.
• The entire array of Oracle products can be confusing and it may take some time for you to figure out what product you want for your mobile commerce based store.

5.Salesforce Commerce Cloud

Salesforce Commerce Cloud (formerly called Demandware) is a SaaS-based e-commerce platform that is known for its flexibility and scalability. It highlights a lot of tools and allows customers to browse products easily. They also provide a lot of in-built options to enhance your e-commerce site which later on can be transferred to another platform.

They have responsive design layouts making them for your m-commerce enhancement. Its simple to handle and users have been provided with options of advanced reports to target segments of your choice.

Features to check out:

• Easy and user-friendly interface to manage and customize your website.
• Effective and organized data management.
• Expert support is available to users in case they need technical help. They have a huge community of tech experts in various subject matters.

Beware

• There is a bit of a steep learning curve to enhance e-commerce and m-commerce functionalities in this platform.
• They don’t have any specific Salesforce commerce cloud mobile-based app. Also, to create a mobile app for your store, you will have to be dependant on their partners for the same.
• Their marketplace has a lot of options to integrate add-ons from third-party vendors but there have been issues in the quality of said vendors. Finding the right addon would take a lot of time to sift through them.

Conclusion

It’s imperative these days that your business has a mobile commerce operation. Online presence on a single channel isn’t enough now. Coming up with a mobile-friendly website is not just a consideration but a matter of survival. Just go through the success stories of Spotify or Evernote if you don’t believe me. It’s very easy, just choose the right e-commerce platform that doubles as a responsive website to work in a mobile device or create an exclusive app to cater to the ‘Mobile-Savvy’ crowd.

Check these m-commerce platforms out, sign up for their demos, see for yourself.