How to Convert a BigCommerce Store to Mobile Apps

Does your online store run on BigCommerce? Are you looking for ways to scale your business and increase revenue? If so, converting your BigCommerce store to mobile apps is one of the best things you can do for your business right now.

In this article we're going to show you how you can turn your BigCommerce website into native iOS and Android apps, without spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on the project.

To go live with your mobile apps quickly, affordably, and without having to code anything, you can use a BigCommerce mobile app builder, like MobiLoud.

Read on and we'll explain how it works, and why converting your BigCommerce store to apps is such a great opportunity for your brand.

If you prefer to watch this in video form, you can do so below via our YouTube channel:

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How Can You Turn a BigCommerce Website into Mobile Apps?

Among all the great features you get with BigCommerce, it doesn’t include the ability to release your store as a mobile app.

You can make your store attractive and easy to use on mobile browsers (which is something you should do before you think about launching your own apps, anyway), but a BigCommerce store is designed to work in the browser.

If you want to turn it into an app, you’ll need to develop the app yourself - or use a third-party tool.

Realistically, you have three options:

1. Hire a team of developers to code native apps for you, and link them to your web store’s backend.
2. Use a BigCommerce mobile app builder to create the app yourself using a no-code tool.
3. Partner with MobiLoud to create a hybrid mobile app.

The first two options are not ideal. Let’s explain why.

Hiring Developers to Code Your Apps

For most ecommerce stores, coding custom native apps is just too expensive, too time-consuming, too complex, and fundamentally unnecessary.

Considering the expertise needed to code a mobile app, the complexity of the project, and the fact that you need 2 apps (one for iOS and one for Android), the project will cost a minimum of $50,000.

Not only that, you’ll add a ton of overhead to your business, with the cost of updating and maintaining these apps separately to your website, and having to make sure the app and website is always in sync.

And all this for what? You’re sinking so much time and money into such a complex project to essentially just rebuild what already works well in the mobile browser.

No-Code Tools

No-code BigCommerce app builders are a better way to create apps, but still far from ideal.

These tools are affordable, and designed specifically for ecommerce businesses who don’t have the budget or expertise in-house for complex technical projects.

The quality of no-code tools can vary, and the best tools allow you to make functional, fast mobile apps.

But the problem is, you can never truly recreate your mobile web experience.

There will always be small features on your website, which make a significant difference to your revenue, which you can’t translate into the apps.

That’s the tradeoff of being able to compile an app without coding - a simplified feature set.

So your apps are always going to be inferior to your website. Add in that you also need to manage your app and keep it up to date, and that building an app with a no-code tool takes a fair bit of time and effort as well, and this is not the best option.

MobiLoud

It’s quicker, cheaper and easier to build mobile apps with MobiLoud.

MobiLoud doesn’t require you to rebuild your store from scratch for mobile. Instead, it converts your existing site to mobile apps. Your content, plugins, themes, checkouts and any other functionality will be ported from your web store to your apps.

When you make changes to your web store, your apps update as well. Everything is 100% synced across each platform.

The benefits of this approach over native app development are immense. You save money, time, it’s easier to launch your app, and easier to maintain.

You’ll still have fully functional mobile apps for Android and iOS devices, which deliver all the UX benefits over the mobile browser.

Compared to a no-code tool, MobiLoud is vastly superior, and comes at a similar price point.

Since MobiLoud converts your existing site and all its features into the app, you don’t have to sacrifice key features and optimizations for your app.

Everything in the app appears how it does for the mobile web, except with the addition of small touches that make it look and feel like a true native app.

Hybrid apps like the ones we build for our clients (who include many high-revenue ecommerce brands) are the perfect option for ecommerce stores who want to enter the app game.

Want to see how great your existing web store can look as an app? Get a free preview of your site to app conversion in 30 seconds with our app preview tool.

How to Build a BigCommerce Mobile App with MobiLoud

MobiLoud makes mobile apps accessible to any online store owner. All you need is a website up and running, and you can convert it to fully fledged mobile apps with these few steps.

1. Get a free consultation with our team. We’ll run through your project and decide whether MobiLoud is right for you.
2. Sign up for MobiLoud - no long-term commitment, all plans have a 60 day money back guarantee.
3. Let us know any wants, desires, nice-to-haves or custom specifications. We'll take these on board and convert your mobile-optimized web store into apps for Android and iOS, featuring native mobile navigation and menus, and other mobile-specific elements.
4. In around 2 weeks’ time, your apps will be ready to test. Try them out on your devices and let us know any final changes you need.
5. Once everything is good to go, we’ll submit your apps to the Apple App Store and Google Play for you.

That’s it. Our team does all the work - all you need to do is give the go-ahead.

The cherry on top is that we’ll also provide all you need down the line in terms of changes, maintenance and updates. MobiLoud is a full service, not just a one-and-done app builder. That’s the part that happy MobiLoud customers say sets it apart from all the other app builders and similar tools out there today.

Successful MobiLoud Users

We've helped more than 2,000 businesses launch amazing apps, without spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on developers.

This includes huge ecommerce brands such as rue21, Rainbow Shops, Jack & Jones and John Varvatos.

Just see what some of our top ecommerce users thought about using MobiLoud to build their apps:

"Right after our onboarding call, you were in a rush to get the apps released. We released them in four days. It was crazy. You killed it for us."

- Scott Saeger, rue21

“We tried six companies and I feel like you guys have the best combination of service, functionality, and price.”

- Kenneth Chan, TOBI

"We tried a handful of different options in the market in terms of app builders, as well as reaching out to countless freelancers. Nothing out there provided us with the ease and accessibility that MobiLoud did to our team."

- Nick Barbarise, John Varvatos

“My team is thrilled because we have functioning apps that require almost no effort on our part. It is a brilliant solution. For someone that wants to see the impact an app has on a business, MobiLoud is the single best way to make that happen.”

- David Cost, Rainbow Apps

Convert Your BigCommerce Store into an App Now

If you’re an online store owner, you should be thinking about launching mobile apps sooner rather than later.

Ecommerce mobile apps offer a superior user experience for the growing share of mobile-first shoppers. This is going to result in higher engagement, more visits and more sales for your store.

The days of mobile apps being accessible only to large businesses or talented coders is long past. Today, tools like MobiLoud let you convert your existing website seamlessly to iOS and Android apps, with a minimum of fuss.

It comes at a much lower cost and shorter time to launch than building new apps from the ground up, and is easier to manage long-term.

Get in touch with us to find out just how easy it is, and how much your business and brand can benefit from converting your BigCommerce store to mobile apps.