Top 25 E-Commerce Mobile App Features | Business Perspective

Top e-Commerce mobile app features – what you will learn in this article

In this article, we cover the most important features users expect to find in e-Commerce mobile apps. Note that this feature list is extensive, and you don’t need to include every single one to make your mobile shopping app successful.

In fact, it’s best to start your mCommerce app development with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that includes only the core features of the app. That way, you can test your app on the market and gather valuable user feedback that will inform the direction of your product’s further development.

How will your business and users benefit from these top m-commerce app features?

In general, you need to equip your m-commerce app with a set of features that facilitate the buyer’s journey, deliver a great user experience (UX), and ensure that making a purchase is smooth and easy.

All in all, every feature of your mobile shopping app should contribute to its primary goal: increasing sales, building customer loyalty, and giving your business the competitive advantage it needs to thrive. If you want to learn more about mobile commerce basics, read the article explaining mobile commerce definition – what is mCommerce?

Top 25 E-Commerce Mobile App Features:

• Easy login & registration
• User-friendly product filtering and sorting
• Detailed product descriptions
• Product gallery
• Presenting your products with Augmented Reality
• Shopping cart
• Shipping options
• Order summary
• Secure and easy in-app payments
• Ordering an invoice and adding company data
• Returns and checking the return status
• Checking the shipping status
• The number of items users are seeing/left on the list
• Checking item availability in specific locations
• Item availability reminder
• Wishlist
• Personalized product recommendations & item feeds
• Membership options
• Loyalty programs
• Flash sales and discounts
• Easy customer service access
• Product scores and reviews
• Barcode scanning
• Integration with an online store
• Personalized content

1. Easy login & registration

Streamline the process of logging into your app by simplifying registration forms, allowing customers to use their email address as the login, letting them log in via external accounts such as Facebook or Google, or with an individual passcode. Easier access translates into a higher conversion rate and sales volume.

• • User benefits: Users don’t have to fill in a lot of data to start using the app. Such an easy entry point makes a mobile online store much more accessible.

2. User-friendly product filtering and sorting

If you offer a wide range of products, you need to implement functional sorting and filtering options. By reducing the number of steps a customer needs to take to find the product they need, you’ll increase sales and deliver a positive user experience – as a result, building a sense of brand loyalty in users.

• User benefits: Thanks to this feature, users can quickly find the products they’re interested in, without having to browse your entire offer.

3. Detailed product descriptions

It may seem that adding long, detailed product descriptions to the e-Commerce mobile apps is unnecessary. After all, aren’t users more interested in seeing the item pictures? And who has time to read long paragraphs of text on their smartphone anyway? Mobile or desktop, product descriptions matter – and a lot! By providing customers with extensive product information, you’ll reduce the risk of product returns, rash purchasing decisions, and client dissatisfaction.

• User benefits: Customers interested in buying a product can check its details such as type, size, weight, color, material, and warranty. They have all the information they need available in one place.

4. Product gallery

A product page is incomplete without a proper product gallery that includes at least several pictures of the item. Some customers hesitate to buy online because they can’t assess the product like in a traditional, brick-and-mortar store. By adding many item pictures that show the item from different angles and in different contexts, you’ll address this problem efficiently.

• User benefits: Thanks to a gallery, customers get to see a product from many different angles, which brings them closer to the enjoyable shopping experience in a brick-and-mortar store. You can also offer 3D product visualizations where users can intuitively turn the product around to see it better.

5. Presenting your products with Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality gives you the opportunity to present your product to your customers in a real context. See how IKEA and Sephora are doing this.

• User benefits: Users have a great try-before-you-buy virtual experience. Any hesitations that they used to have during shopping online won’t be obstacles anymore.  The real-life experimental interactions customers to make conscious decisions.

AR is one of the main mobile commerce trends that will dominate 2020.

6. Shopping cart

One of the top mobile commerce app features is a shopping cart. This feature is a must-have in any online store, and mobile shopping apps are no exception. By adding a shopping cart to your store, you build a positive user experience and allow customers the flexibility they appreciate while making purchases. Adjusting your mobile commerce app to the preferences and behaviors of users is critical for its success.

• User benefits: A shopping cart allows customers to realize their purchase in several stages when they find it comfortable. For example, a user can add a product to the cart, and if they don’t want to proceed to checkout immediately, return to it easily. That way, adding products to the shopping cart once again isn’t necessary, saving customers their time.

7. Shipping options

By allowing users to choose from different shipping options and adding the shipping address easily, you build a positive user experience in your e-Commerce mobile app.

• User benefits: This feature informs the user about the available shipping options (must-have) and can display how much each of them costs (nice-to-have) or what is the estimated delivery time for each option (nice-to-have).
  Please note: If you decide to build an MVP of your app, you can start with a simple option of ordering an item to one of your brick-and-mortar stores. Once your product gains traction, you can develop this feature further and add new options with every iteration.

8. Order summary

Many online stores provide users with a short-order summary before taking them to the payment screen. By providing users with an order summary they can verify before payment, you eliminate the risk of returns or order mistakes, which take time and money to resolve, affecting the user experience negatively.

• User benefits: The user can check whether their order includes all the items they wanted to purchase and no more items than they need. They will also see the total amount to be paid, including the costs of shipping chosen in previous stages.

9. Secure and easy in-app payments

In-app payments are a standard feature in e-Commerce mobile apps today. By offering the customer a selection of secure payment methods, you streamline the process of completing the purchase and deliver a great user experience.

• User benefits: Customers can use this feature to pay for their order quickly and securely. Payment gateways offer many payment options such as online transfer, credit card payment, paying with mobile wallets like Apple Pay / Google Pay / Amazon Pay / PayPal / Samsung Pay, and more.

10. Ordering an invoice and adding company data

By offering your customers the option to fill in their company data and getting an invoice easily, you’ll be addressing the needs of a specific segment to build customer loyalty and the optimal checkout experience.

• User benefits: Users can easily add their company data and order an invoice.

11. Returns and checking the return status

Online shopping can be tricky, and products customers receive sometimes depart from what they imagined to be, or one of their features is wrong (for example, size or color). That’s why developing a smooth returns process is so important.  By offering a clear returns procedure and the option to check the status of returns easily, you’ll enhance the transparency of your store and become more trustworthy in the eyes of customers.

• User benefits: Users know that returning products will be easy, so it eliminates their fear of a misguided purchase.

12. Checking the shipping status

Another nice-to-have feature many online stores provide is the option to easily check the shipping status of items ordered in the store. Offering this option helps to boost your transparency and enhances the quality of interaction customers have with your store after completing the purchase.

• User benefits: This feature helps to estimate the arrival date and time of the items customers purchased in the online store.

13. The number of items users are seeing/left on the list

Online stores with a broad product offering usually display products on lists. It’s a good design practice to indicate how many items a specific list contains and how far along the customer is when browsing your offer.

These indicators are usually displayed at the top and bottom of product category pages – as, for example, “You have seen 50/200 items.” This feature is especially useful for apps with slow loading time and loads items in intervals (such as every 30 items).

Delivering a great user experience on mobile apps can be challenging because of loading time. You can mitigate the risk of users abandoning your offer by showing them that there’s something worth waiting for.

• User benefits: This feature enhances the overall user experience and helps customers to quickly check how much there’s still left to explore in the store’s offer.

14. Checking item availability in specific locations

Another important feature of an m-commerce app is checking item availability in specific locations. This feature can be especially useful if your online store operates at a national scale, and your brick-and-mortar stores spread across many locations. This feature streamlines the purchasing process.

• User benefits: Geolocation is a helpful feature for users that want to check where the nearest store is where they can see the item or to which they can ship.

15. Item availability reminder

In many online stores, users can tick this option to get a notification when the product they would like to buy becomes available again.

• User benefits: This feature enables users to quickly set a reminder for a product they want to buy and are willing to wait for it.

16. Wishlist

One of the most important mobile commerce app features is a wishlist. Adding items to wishlist is something many online shoppers are used to do while browsing their favorite online stores. Your app should translate that experience to the mobile world.

• User benefits: Customers can take advantage of this feature to mark the items they like without having to add them to their shopping cart.

17. Personalized product recommendations & item feeds

Many online stores use sophisticated recommendation engines to deliver the most relevant product offers to customers while they’re browsing or once they’ve made a purchase.

• User benefits: Customers looking for other items can take advantage of these informed recommendations to get access to the products matching their taste and quickly complete their purchase.

Personalized content help to expand your reach and increase engagement with your brand, ultimately driving customer loyalty and improving the conversion rate. It’s one of many mobile commerce advantages for businesses.

18. Membership options

Exclusive access to products and VIP memberships is something many online stores offer today. Building a membership program is the single most effective way to nurture your relationship with the customers and boost their loyalty to your brand.

• User benefits: By becoming a member of your store, a customer can receive special discounts, get access to promotions earlier than non-members, and benefit from other advantages.

19. Loyalty programs

Many online stores offer their customers the option to collect points through a special application while shopping and then win discounts. Driving loyalty through a special mobile commerce app is a smart move. You can also use the app to distribute promotion codes to users – this will motivate them to download and use the app at your stores.

• User benefits: Installing an app on their phones and using it every time they make a purchase at a store is simple, intuitive, and brings a considerable reward in the form of special promotions and discounts.

20. Flash sales and discounts

Sales and promotions are just as effective in mobile shopping apps as they are at brick-and-mortar shops. You can easily notify customers about upcoming events if they wish so. Adding this feature improves the user experience and increases sales at your store because you’ll be reminding customers to make purchases on a regular basis.

• User benefits: Customers can get notified about attractive sales or discounts as soon as possible.

Please note: Advanced analytics tools allow for segmenting your audience efficiently and personalizing these notifications to deliver the right products to the right customers at the right time – all to maximize your ROI.

21. Easy customer service access

Facilitating the interactions between customers and reps is a must-have for any mobile commerce store. You can experiment with different options to see which ones your customers like most – for example, online chat or messaging service, telephone, or email support.

• User benefits: Customers can easily get in touch with the store in case they have any questions about products, shipping, payments, or another topic.

22. Product scores and reviews

The opinions of other users are the driving force of sales today. They help to build your reliability. That’s why so many online stores allow their users to rate items and add comments where they share their experience with products.

• User benefits: Access to the user rating and comments is invaluable for users who want to choose the best product on the market.

23. Barcode scanning

This feature comes in handy if you’re planning to build an e-commerce mobile app that enhances the experience of customers at your brick-and-mortar store with various extras.

• User benefits: While shopping at a store, customers can scan a barcode to learn more about the product. That way, they don’t need to find a sales representative or stand in the queue to ask whether the shop has the product type they want (for example, a specific size), or whether it’s possible to find that product in other stores.

24. Integration with an online store

To streamline the shopping experience, online stores often allow customers to switch devices and access their products seamlessly. Just like many other features listed here, this one allows us to proactively address the needs and preferences of customers, delivering a more pleasant experience, building loyalty, and increasing sales.

• User benefits: When setting up an account on the desktop online store, customers expect to connect that account to the mobile app. That way, they can start their shopping while using their desktop device and complete it via a mobile device (or vice versa).

25. Personalized content

Personalization is a key marketing trend in retail and beyond. An e-Commerce mobile app can deliver personalized content in many different ways, offering users a new way to interact with products and brands. An example of personalized content can be an article that shows how to choose the best product for a given requirement – for instance, “How to pick the best dress for your body type”. You build your position as an expert and trendsetter.

• User benefits: Personalized content offers the information users need to complete the purchase, get inspired, learn more about a topic, or solve a problem.

TIP: Collect and analyze metrics on customers

To make the most of your mobile shopping app, make sure that it includes reporting and analytics tools (like Google Analytics) that collect data about customers, orders, and products. This information will help you make smarter decisions about your products and improve your offer to match customer preferences even better.

Let’s sum up:

How to choose MVP features for your e-Commerce mobile app

The above list of mobile shopping app features is long. You don’t have to implement them all in your application at once. Start with MVP.

A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is the early version of your app that includes only the core features that address the basic customer needs. Read these two articles to learn more about what an MVP is and how to build one:

• What is a Minimum Viable Product? MVP Definition and Business Meaning
• How to Build a Minimum Viable Product – Step by Step Guide for Business Owners

Please note: the smaller your MVP is, the faster you’ll receive user feedback and gain the ability to build an application based on the real needs of your customers.

When choosing features for your MVP, ask yourself:

• Do my customers and my business benefit from all of them?
• Would removing any of these features negatively affect sales and conversions?

Top e-Commerce mobile app features – wrap up

Choosing the features for a mobile shopping app is a critical step in the development of a software product that supports your business. We hope that our list of the key features of an e-Commerce mobile app will help you make the right decision.

You should aim to create a smooth and natural flow from the moment of choosing the product to finalizing the purchase. The process needs to be quick, intuitive, and transparent. It should encourage customers to complete the purchase – long forms and complicated navigation may cause users to abandon their carts and choose another store.

Custom mobile commerce app development is an area in which we specialize at Droids on Roids. Our CCC Shoes & Bags mobile commerce app is the winner of the prestigious e-Commerce Poland Awards 2019 in the category “BEST ON MOBILE”. Check out our other success story in mobile shopping app development – this time, we helped our client, Veepee, to build a special app for flash sales.

Get in touch with us if you’re looking for a team of experts to help you build an e-Commerce mobile app that increases sales and delivers an excellent shopping experience to your customers.

Related posts