Embrace the mobile ecommerce trend and transform your HCL Commerce store into a mobile app to enhance your reach, increase conversions, and drive revenue growth.
Mobile commerce is on the rise, with a growing number of people using their smartphones for online shopping. If you're only focused on the desktop experience, you're neglecting a large portion of your customer base. Creating a fully custom native app can be expensive, but there's an alternative solution. Take advantage of an HCL Commerce mobile app builder to develop a fully-functional, top-quality mobile app for your business without breaking the bank.
Keep reading to learn how to turn your HCL Commerce store into a mobile app.
In 2022, over 72% of the ecommerce market share belonged to mobile - marking a significant surge above the 52% share in the five years prior.
This aligns with the general trend of mobile internet usage, which grows every year. Currently, mobile holds a market share of over 50% compared to desktop and tablet.
Further illustrating this shift, 15% of Americans today solely rely on smartphones as their means of accessing the internet. This represents the future of ecommerce, where customers are not just mobile-first, but mobile-only.
While optimizing your site for mobile is a good starting point, more is required to keep up with the ecommerce space. Mobile apps deliver a superior user experience, leading to improvements in several key metrics, including:
Additional data demonstrates that users of ecommerce mobile apps are twice as likely to revisit the store within 30 days compared to those using mobile browsers.
Mobile apps also provide the advantage of utilizing push notifications, which significantly increase everything from opt-in rates to open rates.
It's undeniable that mobile apps have become and excellent tool for nurturing loyal, repeat customers. And a mobile app tailored to HCL Commerce can yield significant benefits for your business.
If you're looking to create a mobile app for your HCL Commerce store, you won't be able to do it directly on the platform. HCL Commerce is specifically designed for webstores. However, there are ways to work around this limitation. Here are some options to consider:
With the methods outlined earlier, you can seamlessly transform your HCL Commerce store into a mobile app.
Bear in mind, however, that the majority of store owners won't be able to afford the third option of hiring developers to build native apps. Developing a native app can range anywhere from $30,000 to $150,000, and that's just for one operating system! To launch apps for both Android and iOS, which is highly recommended, this cost would need to be doubled.
App development is a tricky process right from the start. It becomes even more challenging when your developers need to create an API and connect the backend of your apps to your HCL Commerce store.
It's likely that you don't have the budget for this - and that's not even considering the yearly costs of keeping your app running.
The yearly expenses that come with launching an app are often overlooked. Maintaining and keeping the app up-to-date, including tasks like operating system updates, HCL Commerce updates, bug fixes, implementing new features, and making improvements typically amounts to at least 15-20% of the initial cost each year.
A lot of times, those costs can be even higher. David Cost, the VP of Marketing at Rainbow Apparel, realized this reality during their app launch, stating:
"If we had an unlimited amount of time and money, we would probably opt for a custom native app. However, the maintenance alone would range from half a million to a million dollars per year."
Let's take a conservative approach and assume that building apps for both mobile platforms costs $150,000. Based on this estimate, the yearly expenses for updates and maintenance would be around $30,000.
For most store owners, this amount is too substantial to invest. Additionally, managing multiple platforms going forward, rather than just your website, can be a significant source of frustration. It triples the workload every time you need to make changes to your site.
Converting your HCL Commerce store into an app using a mobile app builder is the optimal choice.
By utilizing an HCL Commerce mobile app builder, you can convert your existing store into a mobile app that users can easily download and install on their mobile devices. This provides a convenient way for customers to access your products and services, not only enhancing their overall shopping experience but likely increasing your revenue.
The best mobile app builders offer you a mobile app that delivers around 90-95% of the functionality you find in a native app, but at a lower cost and with less trouble. However, it's worth noting that not all choices available in the market are suitable for creating high-traffic, professional mobile apps that portray your brand effectively.
If you're a well-known brand with significant resources available—such as Target, Nike, Amazon etc.—you might decide to hire individuals to program your shopping app from the ground up.
However, if you don't fall into that category, MobiLoud presents itself as the top choice for app development. It's a simple, affordable, and fast solution. Moreover, the ongoing maintenance of your apps becomes much more cost-effective and manageable.
Here's a breakdown of the process, step by step.
There are two ways to get started:
Regardless of the option you choose, you'll discover that most of the app creation work is already done. It's as simple as ensuring your site is mobile-friendly.
If you need assistance with optimizing your website, don't hesitate to reach out. We're here to help with that too! This step is vital to ensure a seamless process moving forward.
When you're prepared to begin the building process, simply sign up to MobiLoud. All our plans come with a 60 day money-back policy and there's no binding agreement for an ongoing engagement.
You'll collaborate with our team to configure and design your app. It's important to note that most of the groundwork has already been done, so there's no need to start from scratch. Just a few adjustments are required to achieve a native app look and feel!
Once you're satisfied, we'll get to work building your mobile app. Our team takes care of all the technical aspects, so you don't have to worry about the complicated world of coding.
If you prefer a hands-off approach, we offer a full-service package that includes everything needed to configure, design, and publish your app, allowing you to take a backseat approach to managing the process.
When your app is fully built, it's time to gear up for its public launch. Having a well-crafted plan is crucial in order to entice users to download your app.
We offer a variety of assets to assist in promoting your app, including resources for app store descriptions, launch announcements for your website and email subscribers, press releases, and more. Furthermore, you can activate additional features at no extra expense, such as intelligent app banners and app-exclusive discounts, to incentivize your existing customers to shop using the app.
Finally, we'll launch your apps on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
The submission process for these app stores can be extensive, especially for those new to app space. Luckily, our team is highly experienced and well-versed in the complexities of this process so you can sit back and relax while we handle it.
We take care of the entire app submission process with Apple and Google and guarantee 100% app approval. If multiple submissions if necessary, we've got that covered and also offer recommendations and make any required changes on your behalf.
Once your app listings are live, you can officially get downloads and start experiencing the impact of having your own HCL Commerce mobile app!
Mobile is leading the charge when it comes to ecommerce. Most of your current revenue likely comes from mobile, and if not, it will soon enough.
Your HCL Commerce store needs more than just a mobile-friendly website. To maximize your earnings from mobile users, it's crucial to offer your own branded app.
Today, transforming your HCL Commerce store into a mobile app is a both a necessity and a breeze. Instead of allocating resources and funds toward mobile developers, MobiLoud offers an incredibly accessible and simple solution.
Consider these key advantages of using MobiLoud's HCL Commerce app builder:
This user-friendly app builder, which requires no coding, empowers you to launch your own shopping apps and position your brand alongside the world's biggest names in the app stores.
Contact us now to discover more about how MobiLoud can assist you in launching an app for your HCL Commerce store. Schedule a free, personalized demo, and one of our trusted app specialists will guide you through the entire process.