In the old days of eCommerce, a well-built website was all you needed. Now however, you need to have not only a website, but it has to be properly optimised. This applies not only for traditional browsers, but also for mobile (i.e. tablet and smartphone) browsers as well, you also need to be present on the prevalent social media sites as well.
In addition to all of the above, you reach a point in your business where you have to consider whether you should invest in having a bespoke mobile application or “App” built to support your practises. You might be thinking why on earth would you need that? Research has shown that mobile device usage for businesses is increasing every day and the way people access information is changing. More and more people are getting important information via WhatsApp and Facebook messenger, Instagram and Snapchat to name but a few.
As eCommerce vendors, our traditional methods of selling don’t really lend themselves very well to these platforms, and additionally our traditional access method of mailshots and subscription lists is changing in its landscape. People are reading emails less and less, and instead rely on targeted social media messages and app notifications, these are the new high streets.
So, we get to a point where we have to consider putting together an app-based storefront that not only showcases our available products and services, but also allows us to keep our clients updated and informed on our offers and enhancements. New product launches provide newsletters and subscriptions capabilities directly within the app, all in one place.
When looking for new vendors, businesses have started looking not only the traditional web presence, but also at the social media capabilities and mobile applications presence as well because they want access to your products, services and support as quickly and conveniently as possible.
Here we are at the start of 2020, maybe now is the time to look app…