When was the last time you went to a mall to purchase something? On the contrary, you probably receive packages from Amazon regularly.
Why?
Well, a simple answer to this question is easy access to affordable internet. Over the years, internet availability has increased, and providers like Cox Internet are offering internet plans at affordable prices.
In the last few years, we have noticed online shopping becoming so common that people have stopped going to malls. A study shows that in 2025, global retail sales via online platforms will exceed 4.3 trillion US dollars.
With the rise in the retail therapy trend, more businesses like Nike, Zara, and H&M are switching to online platforms full-time. With the rise in online shopping, small businesses and brands have also jumped on the bandwagon.
While these small brands offer good quality products, their apps are not good enough, and users struggle to find their desired products. If you are also a business owner and want to start developing your shopping app, here is everything that you need to know.
Account Creation and Management
For e-commerce sites, account creation is one of the most important features.
The majority of e-commerce stores require you to download an app, make an account, and then store your information i.e. address, name, and bank details. However, most brands do not care about creating unique profiles. Instead, they recommend products based on trends.
On the contrary, when an app allows a unique profile creation option, it offers the user a unique shopping experience with more control. Users can easily select the theme, adjust their feed based on interest, and get product recommendations based on previous purchases.
The account creation section should be easily accessible for all and must have an edit option as well. This will help the user to change address or payment details when needed.
Payment Security
Online shopping is all about swift payment. While cash on delivery is quite a popular option, this limits your options because you need to be present, just to receive the parcel. On the contrary, online payment helps you to receive your package even when you are away. To make this possible, you can either connect your digital wallet or directly attach your card.
However, the only issue is that online payment is slightly risky so customers generally avoid attaching the card. To ensure that your clients fully trust the website, it is very important to build a secure payment method and then build the trust of the customers.
You must also add other features for payment like Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), instant checkout, Apple Pay, Google Pay, third party vendors, and crypto payment. Offering more payment methods only helps your business as it ensures a quick and seamless checkout for clients.
Search Functionality
Most e-commerce stores have a lot of products. These products reach millions when we talk about third-party marketplaces like Temu, Alibaba, or Amazon. These crowded listings on the e-commerce stores make it very difficult for customers to navigate.
This is where you need a powerful search engine. When building an online e-commerce store, search functionality must be able to filter out, categorize and search for your desired products regardless of the keywords.
For instance, most websites have an built-in search box, that allows them to simply write the name of the product they are looking for. This search engine then searches for the best possible option and fetches the information accordingly.
However, in some cases, online stores use exact match search. Eventually, the user has to write the exact name in order to fetch the right results. The process is lengthy, exhausting, and might not bring you any results if there is a spelling mistake.
Delivery Tracking
Waiting for a parcel after ordering something? Who isn’t guilty of that?
This is the reason most online stores have a delivery tracking option. With the help of this feature, customers can track their order; and get to know about the timeline and the date of delivery. In some cases, businesses take pride in their fast delivery. Whereas, some even charge extra money for express delivery.
While developing an online store site or app, consider making a separate page or section for the history of orders, tracking the date of package and place to view the fastest date of arrival. Moreover, the user must also receive a notification in case the parcel is late.
Customer Support
Customer support is very important to run a successful business. It helps build trust between the business and the client. In the case of online shopping stores, there is no physical evidence of the business until the order arrives.
While building an ecommerce store, keep in mind that customer support is the only way a client will be able to report an error. Moreover, in case they want to cancel an order, report an issue, or return a parcel, the company needs to have very responsive 24/7 customer support to keep the business running.
Simply put, with a plethora of online stores running, there are very few that focus on customer experience. Above mentioned are some of the simplest and most sought-after features that can help any business.