How to Convert Your Shopware Site Into A Mobile App

By now we all know that mobile commerce is taking over – with more and more shoppers preferring to make purchases from their smartphones. If you have a Shopware store, there is no better way to reach out to them than by turning your store into a mobile app. By investing a minimal amount, you can use a Shopware mobile app builder to create a fully-functional, high-quality Shopware mobile app. With this app, you can boost your reach, conversions and revenue in 2023.

But how can you make sure your Shopware store becomes a successful mobile app? Keep reading to find out.

Why You Need a Mobile App

The mobile segment has experienced exceptional growth in the ecommerce market, making up over 72% of the total market share in 2022, rising from just above 52% in the five years prior.

This aligns with the ongoing trend of mobile internet usage, which continues to grow in favor of mobile each year. Currently, mobile holds over 50% of the market share compared to desktop and tablet.

What's more, a substantial 15% of Americans today exclusively utilize smartphones for internet access, indicating that they solely depend on their mobile devices. This indicates the future direction of ecommerce, with customers who are not only mobile-first but entirely mobile-centric.

While optimizing your website for mobile is a crucial starting point, it is not sufficient on its own. Mobile apps offer a superior user experience, leading to improvements in several key metrics, including:

• Increased conversion rates
• Higher average order value
• More products viewed per session

Additional data indicates that one of the many benefits of ecommerce mobile apps is that users are twice as likely to return to the store within 30 days compared to those using mobile browsers.

Moreover, mobile apps provide the advantage of utilizing push notifications, which boast an average open rate of 20% and a click-through rate of 28%.

Furthermore, apps serve as a valuable tool for nurturing loyal, repeat customers.

While you might not yet feel the need to convert your Shopware site into a fully-functioning app, a Shopware mobile app will deliver significant benefits for your business now and well into the future.

Can You Create Mobile Apps for Shopware?

You can't put out a mobile app directly from Shopware. Shopware is specifically made for webstores. To make a mobile app with Shopware, you'll need something additional to bridge the gap, such as:

1. A third-party Shopware mobile app builder.
2. A tech-enabled service to convert your Shopware store into a mobile app.
3. A team of coders to build apps for Android and iOS and join them to your Shopware store.

Can I Turn My Shopware Store into an App?

You can conveniently turn a Shopware store into an app using one of the methods mentioned above.

But it's worth mentioning that most store owners won't be willing or able to afford the third option of hiring developers to build native apps. It can take anywhere between $30,000 and $150,000 to create a native app. And that’s just for a single operating system - you’ll have to multiply this cost by two, to launch apps for Android and iOS (which you should).

Creating an app is time-consuming, complex and costly in the first place. Even more so when your developers need to build an API and join the back end of your apps to your Shopware store.

You probably don’t have the budget for this - and that’s before we think about how much it costs each year to keep your app running.

The Recurring Cost of Having an App

Most individuals don't take into account the repetitive yearly expenses associated with launching an app. The maintenance and upkeep, which involves things such as OS updates, Shopware updates, bug fixes, new features, and advancements, typically amounts to a minimum of 15-20% of the initial cost each year.

The figure may even be higher - When Rainbow Apparel was releasing apps, their VP of Marketing David Cost did extensive research and discovered the cost could go up to a million per year, stating that:

“If we had endless time and money, we might go for a custom native app, yet that is a half million to a million a year for maintenance.”

Let's be conservative and presume it costs $150,000 to build apps for both mobile platforms. The price for updates and maintenance still totals around $30,000 per year with this estimate.

That's too steep for the majority of store owners. Not to mention the stress of managing multiple platforms, instead of just your website. This triples the amount of work required whenever you wish to make any adjustments to your website, adding an unnecessary layer of complexity to your workflow.

The Best Way to Turn Your Shopware Store into an App

The superior solution is to convert your Shopware shop into an app with the help of a Shopware mobile app builder.

A Shopware mobile app builder will convert your present Shopware website to a near-native mobile application, which users can download and install on their cell phones.

The premier mobile app builders present you with a mobile app that delivers 90-95% of what you have with a native app, but for a lower cost and with smaller effort. Yet, you must be aware that not all alternatives on the market are suitable for building high-traffic, professional mobile apps that highlight your brand.

How to Convert Shopware to App

If you're a big brand with a lot of money and manpower – think Zara, Amazon, Nike – you will probably pay someone to build a native shopping app from the ground up.

If not, then Shopware with MobiLoud is the easiest solution. It won't break the bank, and it's quick to set up. What's more, maintenance and upkeep costs are much lower compared to other options.

Here's how it works in detail.

Step One: Preview Your App or Get a Free Consultation

You have two options to get started.

1. You can take a peek at what your mobile app will look like with the MobilLoud App Builder.
2. Or simply set up a free consultation call with one of our app specialists, who will explain the process and answer your questions.

What's great is that 90% of the work to create your app is done if you have already optimized your Shopware site for mobile.

But even if you need help optimizing your Shopware, we are more than ready to assist! This is an essential step to ensure the rest of the process is as smooth as possible.

Step Two: Work With Our Team to Build Your App

When you’re set to begin building, sign up to MobiLoud. All our plans come with a 60-day money-back guarantee, and there's no pressure to commit longterm.

You’ll collaborate with our team to arrange and draft your app. Bear in mind that the majority of the job is already done. You don’t have to make a new UI from the ground up, just a few adjustments to make it look and operate like a native app.

When you’re content, we’ll begin creating your mobile app. We manage everything technical - so don't worry about being a coding guru or knowing a single thing about coding yourself.

If you'd prefer our team regulate the whole process, start to finish, we can do that too. Our full-service package contains everything needed to configure, design, and publish your app, enabling you to be totally hands-off.

Step Three: Prepare for Launch

When your app is built, you'll be all set to introduce it to the public. It's important to have a well-structured plan in place to make people aware of your app and interested in downloading it.

We provide materials for app store descriptions, launch announcements for your website, as well as email lists, press releases, and more. Additionally, you can set up extra features at no additional expense, such as smart app banners and app-exclusive discounts, to encourage your current customers to shop using the app.

Step Four: Launch and Submit Your Apps to the App Stores

At last, we'll post your apps to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

The submission method for these app stores is notoriously hard, especially for first-time app managers and developers. Nonetheless, we've been through the procedure multiple times, and understand it inside and out.

Our team oversees the app submission process with Apple and Google. We have a 100% app acceptance guarantee and will oversee multiple submissions if necessary. We also recommend and enforce any desired changes as needed so you can trust you're in good hands.

Once your entries are live on mobile app stores, you can immediately start getting downloads and enjoy all the pros of having your own Shopware mobile app.

Wrapping Up – Why You Should Use MobiLoud to Convert Your Shopware Store into a Mobile App

The mobile revolution has arrived, and it's crucial to recognize that a significant portion of your current revenue is likely generated from mobile users. If not, it's only a matter of time.

Your Shopware store requires more than just a mobile-optimized website. To maximize your earnings from mobile users, offering your own branded app is essential.

Transforming your Shopware store into a mobile app has never been easier if you follow the right approach. With MobiLoud, you can make it incredibly accessible and straightforward without spending a ton of money on mobile developers.

We'll leave you with some of the key benefits of utilizing MobiLoud's Shopware app builder:

 
• Developing custom apps costs only a fraction of the price.
 
• You can launch top-notch, professional apps in less than a month.
 
• Your apps will encompass all the remarkable aspects of your website, from product collections to payment gateways, plug-ins, tools, themes, and more.
 
• Synced across web, Android, and iOS platforms, any changes you make on your site will instantly reflect in your apps.
 
• You can bid farewell to concerns about app store submissions — our guarantee ensures approval.
 
• Throughout the process, our team will provide comprehensive support, handling the heavy lifting so you can focus on your business.

With our user-friendly and code-free app builder, you can effortlessly launch your own shopping apps and establish your presence alongside the world's leading brands in the app stores.

Contact us now to discover more about how we can assist you in launching an app for your Shopware store. Book a free, personalized demo, and one of our IT professionals will guide you through the entire process.