How to Convert Your Ecwid Site Into A Mobile App

As mobile ecommerce continues its rapid growth, more and more shoppers are taking their shopping experiences to their smartphones. In order to tap into this ever-growing pool of potential customers, you may be looking into creating a mobile app for your Ecwid store.

Many entrepreneurs are intimidated by the thought of creating a fully-custom native app, but a Ecwid mobile app builder can help create a high-quality, fully functional, and affordable mobile app to increase your reach and conversions.

In this post, we’ll explain the importance of having a mobile app for your Ecwid store and how you can use an app builder to make the process easier. So, if you’re ready to expand your customer base and make the most out of mobile shopping, read on!

Why You Need a Mobile App

Over 72% of the ecommerce market share was dominated by mobile in 2022, a significant growth from slightly above 52% within a span of five years.

This trend aligns with the overall preference for mobile internet usage, which continues to grow year after year. Currently, mobile holds over 50% of the market share, surpassing both desktop and tablet.

What's even more interesting is that 15% of Americans rely solely on smartphones to access the internet. This indicates the future of ecommerce, where customers are not just mobile-first but exclusively mobile users.

While optimizing your website for mobile is a necessary step, more steps are required to experience real results. Mobile apps deliver an enhanced user experience, leading to improvements in various crucial metrics, including:

• Increased conversion rates
• Higher average order value
• Greater product engagement per session

Additional data reveals that users of ecommerce mobile apps are twice as likely to return to the store within 30 days compared to those using mobile browsers.

Plus, mobile apps offer the full potential of mobile push notifications, which personalized notifications resulting in a 400% improved reaction rate!

On top of that, apps serve as an excellent tool to cultivate loyal, repeat customers.

Is it essential to transform your Ecwid store into a mobile app? It depends on your goals, but an Ecwid mobile app can yield tremendous benefits for your business.

Can You Create Mobile Apps for Ecwid?

You can’t roll out a mobile app straight from Ecwid. Ecwid is designed specifically for webstores. To create a mobile app using Ecwid, you’ll need something additional to bridge the gap, such as:

1. A third-party Ecwid mobile app builder.
2. A tech-empowered service to turn your Ecwid store into a mobile app.
3. A team of developers to build apps for Android and iOS and link them to your Ecwid store.

Can I Turn My Ecwid Store into an App?

You can transform an Ecwid store into an app by utilizing one of these strategies.

However, nearly all store proprietors should dismiss the third choice: hiring developers to build local applications. Why? Simply put, because mobile applications are costly. It takes between $30,000 to $150,000 to fabricate a local application. What's more, that is only for one working framework - you'll have to duplicate this cost by two to create applications for both Android and iOS (which you should).

Application improvement is tedious, unpredictable and costly from the start. Much more so when your developers need to make an API and associate the backend of your applications to your Ecwid store.

You likely don't have the financial plan for this, and that's before you consider how much it costs each year to keep your application running.

The Recurring Cost of Having an App

Most of us don't think about the money needed for yearly repairs when developing a mobile app. Fixing OS updates, Ecwid updates, bug repairs, upgrades and adding new features regularly cost a minimum of 15-20% of the initial cost each year.

Rainbow Apparel's VP of Marketing, David Cost, conducted a comprehensive study on the cost of apps and discovered it could easily cost $1 million every year.

"If we had an infinite amount of time and money, it would be best to make an exclusive native app. But, the cost of keeping this up reaches from half a million up to a million dollars annually."

David Cost, VP of Marketing, Rainbow Apparel

If we are conservative in our assessments, the expenditure of building apps on both mobile systems is estimated to be $150,000. If we are prudent in our estimates, the cost for yearly updates and repairs should be $30,000.

Usually, this is a financial burden that small store owners can't manage. Additionally, keeping up with multiple platforms instead of just your website makes it difficult. Anytime something needs to be done/changed, the process is that much more complicated.

The Best Way to Turn Your Ecwid Store into an App

The ideal solution is to turn your Ecwid store into an app utilizing an Ecwid mobile app builder.

A Ecwid mobile app builder will convert your current Ecwid website to a near-native mobile app, which users can download and install on their phones and tablets.

The best app builders offer a mobile app that provides 90-95% of what you obtain with a native app, yet cheaper and with less fuss. However, be aware that not all options on the market are suitable for building high-traffic, professional mobile apps that are a good representation of your brand.

How to Convert Ecwid to App

If you’re a huge company lucky enough to have lots of money and manpower – like H&M, Nike, Amazon, etc. – you probably have the means to get a custom-built shopping app.

However, if you don't have that kind of resources, then MobiLoud is your best option. It's hassle-free, cost-effective, and fast. Plus, it's much less expensive to keep your app running on an ongoing basis.

Here's what it looks like, step-by-step.

Step One: Preview Your App or Get a Free Consultation

You have two options available.

1. You can test out the MobiLoud builder and generate a free preview of how your site would appear as an app.
2. You can join a free consultation call with one of our app professionals to discuss your project and understand how the procedure will work.

In either case, you'll see that most of the labor to create your app is already handled, as long as your website is already adjusted for mobile.

If you require further support with optimizing your site, let us know and we'll be satisfied to lend a hand! This is an essential step toward ensuring the rest of the process will be as effortless as possible.

Step Two: Work With Our Team to Build Your App

When you’re set to start building, sign up to MobiLoud. Everything we have is backed with a 60-day money-back guarantee, and no long-term commitment is necessary.

You’ll collaborate with our team of experts to customize and design your app. Keep in mind that most of the work is already done. You don’t have to design an entirely new UI from the ground up, just a few changes will make it look and act like a native app.

Once you’re happy, we’ll get to work and build your mobile app. We take care of all the technical stuff - you don’t have to write code or have any knowledge of coding.

If you want our team to manage the entire process, start to finish, we can do that too. Our full-service package covers all the necessities to configure, design and publish your app, allowing you to be totally hands-off.

Step Three: Prepare for Launch

Once your app is fully developed, it's time to get ready to release it to the public. Having a comprehensive launch plan is crucial to attract people to your app.

We offer various resources to support your app's launch, including assets for app store descriptions, launch announcements for your website and email list, press releases, and more. Additionally, you can implement additional features at no extra cost, such as smart app banners and app-exclusive discounts, to motivate your existing customers to shop using the app.

Step Four: Launch and Submit Your Apps to the App Stores

Lastly, we will get your apps listed on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

The submission process for these app stores is known to be hard, especially for those that are inexperienced. We, on the other hand, have been through it countless times and have a thorough understanding of the process.

Our team will take care of the app submission process with Apple and Google. We guarantee 100% approval for your app and will deal with multiple applications if required and suggest any changes that may be needed. You won't need to do anything.

Once your listings are live, you can get downloads, and benefit from having your own Ecwid mobile app.

Wrapping Up – Why You Should Use MobiLoud to Convert Your Ecwid Store into a Mobile App

We're in the midst of a mobile revolution, and it's likely that a significant portion of your revenue comes from mobile users. If not yet, it's only a matter of time.

Simply having a mobile-optimized website for your Ecwid store is insufficient. To fully capitalize on the revenue potential of your mobile audience, it's essential to offer them your own branded app.

Transforming an Ecwid store into a mobile app has become incredibly simple, as long as you follow the right approach. Instead of spending tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on mobile developers, MobiLoud offers an accessible and user-friendly solution.

Let's highlight some of the key advantages of using MobiLoud's Ecwid app builder:

• It costs only a fraction of the price you'd spend on custom app development.
• You can launch professional, high-quality apps in less than a month.
• Your apps will maintain all the elements that make your website outstanding, including product collections, payment gateways, plug-ins, tools, themes, and more.
• Everything stays in sync across web, Android, and iOS platforms. Any changes you make on your site will be immediately reflected in your apps.
• You can have peace of mind knowing that you won't need to worry about submitting your apps to the app stores – we guarantee approval.
• Our team will support you every step of the way, taking care of all the challenging aspects so that you don't have to.

This straightforward app builder, which requires zero coding, empowers you to launch your own shopping apps and secure a position in the app stores alongside the biggest brands in the world.

Feel free to get in touch with us now to learn more about how we can assist you in launching an app for your Ecwid store. Schedule a free, personalized demo, and one of our app professionals will guide you through the entire process.