How to Convert Your Shopline Into a Mobile App
With the ever-increasing popularity of mobile ecommerce, it's crucial for business owners to adapt and cater to the needs of mobile shoppers.
By transforming your Shopline store into a mobile app, you can tap into a larger customer base and enjoy higher conversion rates, all while providing a smoother checkout process.
While the process of developing a native mobile app may be expensive and time-consuming, there's an alternative solution that offers convenience and affordability – a mobile app builder. By utilizing this third-party platform, you can effortlessly create a fully-functional and high-quality mobile app for your Shopline store without stretching your budget to its limit.
Discover the steps to harness the power of mobile ecommerce to drive your business forward.
Why You Need a Mobile App
In 2022, mobile's share of the total ecommerce market exceeded 72%, marking an increase from just over 52% the five years leading up to it.
This is on track with the trend toward mobile internet usage, which currently holds over 50% of the market share in comparison to desktop and tablet.
Another promising statistic? 15% of Americans today solely rely on smartphones as their means of accessing the internet.
While optimizing your site for mobile is a starting point, it doesn't come close to the benefits of having a mobile app. These numbers signify the future of ecommerce, where customers make purchases more and more from their mobile devices.
Ecommerce mobile apps deliver a superior user experience on mobile, resulting in improvements across several essential metrics, including:
- Higher conversion rates
- Increased average order value
- Greater number of products viewed per session
According to research, ecommerce mobile apps are twice as likely to inspire shoppers to return within 30 days when compared to those shopping on mobile browsers.
Utilizing mobile push notifications creates yet another advantage, with data showing promising rates when it comes to opting-in, opening messages and clicking through content.
All this to say: creating a Shopline mobile app can yield significant benefits for your business.
Can You Create Mobile Apps for Shopline?
Since you can't launch a mobile app directly from Shopline, you'll have to create a mobile app in one of the following ways:
- A third-party Shopline mobile app builder.
- A technology-enabled assistance to convert your Shopline store into a mobile application.
- A team of skilled engineers to develop Android and iOS apps and establish a connection with your Shopline shop.
Can I Turn My Shopline Store into an App?
The simple answer is yes! Though we recommend nixing the third option from your plans, as hiring engineers to develop an app from scratch is quite an expense.
The cost of building a native app alone can range from $30,000 to $150,000, and this figure does not even account for developing apps for both Android and iOS, which is highly recommended.
The complexity increases further when your developers have to develop an API and establish a connection between the back end of your apps and your Shopline store.
It's likely that your budget is not sufficient to cover these expenses, and this is without taking into account the yearly costs of maintaining your app - which are all too often overlooked until it's too late!
The Recurring Cost of Having an App
The costs associated with upkeep and maintenance, such as operating system and Shopline product updates, bug fixes, and the introduction of new features and enhancements, typically amount to around 15-20% of the initial cost each year.
In fact, these expenses can easily go even higher. David Cost, the VP of Marketing at Rainbow Apparel, looked into this extensively during their app launch and discovered this first-hand, noting:
"If we had unlimited time and financial resources, we would likely opt for a custom native app. However, the annual maintenance cost alone would range from half a million to a million dollars."
Even if we predict a cost based on the low end of the spectrum, let's say it costs $150,000 for building apps for both mobile platforms. Based on this estimate, the projected annual cost for updates and maintenance would be around $30,000.
For most store owners, this amount is either way out of budget or they simply don't want to allocate this much capital toward a full app build. On top of the cost, managing multiple platforms triples the amount of work required whenever you want to make changes to your site, needlessly complicating your workflow.
The Best Way to Turn Your Shopline Store into an App
If you're looking for the best solution, consider converting your online store on Shopline into an app using a mobile app builder like MobiLoud.
By utilizing a mobile app builder designed for Shopline, you can transform your existing website into a mobile app that emulates the functionality of a native app. Users can easily download and install this app on their mobile devices, and you can save time and money to meet them where they are.
The finest mobile app builders provide you with a mobile application that offers nearly the same capabilities as a native app, but at a more affordable price and with fewer complications. Just make sure to find an app builder that can handle a lot of traffic while still living up to your brand's design and functionality standards. That's where MobiLoud comes in.
How to Convert Shopline to App
Major brands like Amazon may have the luxury of choosing to invest in a full team to build their app from the ground up. But if you're like the rest of us, MobiLoud stands out as the best method to create an app. It's easy to use, affordable, and efficient. Plus, maintaining your apps becomes much more cost-effective and easier in the long run.
Here's a step-by-step breakdown of the MobiLoud process:
Step One: Preview Your App or Get a Free Consultation
You can get started in one of two ways:
- If you want to see a preview of your site as an app, you can generate it using our MobiLoud builder at no cost.
- Or, you have the option to engage in a free consultation call with one of our app professionals to discuss your project and know how our process works.
Either way, you will realize that nearly 90% of the work needed to create your app is already done, provided your site is already optimized for mobile devices.
If you need assistance optimizing your site, we are more than happy to lend a hand there first! This step is crucial to ensure a seamless process going forward.
Step Two: Work With Our Team to Build Your App
When you're ready to dive into app development, simply sign up to MobiLoud.
You'll work with our team to configure and design your app - no longterm commitment required. Keep in mind that most of the groundwork has already been done, so just a few adjustments are necessary to give your app mock-up a native look and feel.
Once we proposed design is approved, we'll take care of building your mobile app! We'll cover all things technical - no coding is necessary on your part! We're experts so you don't need to be.
If you prefer an even more hands-off approach, we offer a full-service package that includes everything needed to configure, design, and publish your app, ensuring a simple and straightforward process.
Step Three: Prepare for Launch
Once your app is built, it's time to get ready to release it to the public. It's crucial to have a well-planned launch strategy to attract people to download your app.
We offer a range of resources to enhance your app's visibility, including assets for app store descriptions, launch announcements for your website and email list, press releases, and more. Additionally, you can implement additional features at no extra cost, such as smart app banners and app-exclusive discounts, to encourage your existing customers to shop through the app.
Step Four: Launch and Submit Your Apps to the App Stores
Lastly, we'll launch your apps on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
While this can be the hardest part of the puzzle, you're in good hands. Our team handles the entire app submission process with Apple and Google on your behalf, and we've done this several times.
We provide a 100% guarantee of app approval and take care of multiple submissions if necessary. Additionally, we offer recommendations and implement any required changes. You won't have to do anything.
Once your app listings are live, you can officially start receiving downloads and enjoy all rewards of having your own Shopline mobile app.
Wrapping Up – Why You Should Use MobiLoud to Convert Your Shopline Store into a Mobile App
Most of your current revenue likely comes from mobile users, and if it doesn't, it will soon.
Your Shopline store needs more than just a mobile-friendly website to keep up with the mobile revolution. To maximize your revenue from mobile users, it's essential to offer your own branded app.
Today, transforming your Shopline store into a mobile app is a no brainer. Instead of investing in the steep costs that come with mobile developers, MobiLoud offers a highly accessible and user-friendly solution.
Here are a few of the main advantages of using MobiLoud's Shopline app builder:
- It is significantly more affordable compared to custom app development.
- You can launch professional, top-notch apps in under two weeks.
- Your apps will preserve all the great features of your website, including product collections, payment gateways, plug-ins, tools, themes, and more.
- Everything stays synchronized across web, Android, and iOS. Any changes you make on your site will immediately reflect in your apps.
- You can rest assured knowing that we guarantee app approval, so you don't have to worry about submitting them to the app stores.
- Our team will guide you through the entire process, taking care of all the heavy lifting on your behalf.
This straightforward, no-code app builder empowers you to launch your own shopping apps and secure a spot in the app stores alongside renowned global brands.
Contact us now to discover more about how our team of professionals can assist you in launching an app for your Shopline store. Schedule a free, personalized demo, and one of our IT specialists will guide you through the entire process.