How to Convert Your X-Cart Into a Mobile App

Looking to enhance your business's reach, conversions, and revenue? This post will guide you through the process of converting your X-Cart store into a mobile app.

The world of mobile ecommerce is rapidly expanding, with a growing number of individuals opting to shop on their smartphones. Failing to adapt to this mobile-first trend can result in missed opportunities and limited growth potential.

While developing a custom native app can be expensive, there's a more cost-effective solution available. By leveraging a X-Cart mobile app builder, you can effortlessly create a fully-functional, high-quality X-Cart mobile app that allows you to tap into the mobile market and meet the needs of your smartphone-savvy customers.

Why You Need a Mobile App

Mobile dominates more than 72% of the ecommerce market share, experiencing a significant growth from just over 52% within a span of five years.

This aligns with the ongoing trend of mobile internet usage, which increasingly favors mobile each year. Mobile now commands a market share of over 50% in comparison to desktop and tablet.

Moreover, 15% of Americans currently rely solely on smartphones to access the internet. This indicates the future of ecommerce revolves around customers who prioritize mobile not only as their primary choice but as their exclusive option.

While optimizing your site for mobile is a starting point, it falls short. Mobile apps deliver an enhanced user experience, leading to improvements in several vital metrics, including:

 
• Rise in conversion rates
 
• Increase in average order value
 
• More products viewed per session

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

Mobile apps also provide the full use of mobile push notifications, which, on average, achieve open rates of 20% and click-through rates of 28%.

They also serve as an excellent tool for fostering loyal, repeat customers.

Is it necessary to transform your X-Cart into a mobile app? Perhaps not. However, a mobile app tailored for your X-Cart can yield immense benefits for your business.

Can You Create Mobile Apps for X-Cart?

Launching a mobile app directly from X-Cart is not possible. The platform is primarily focused on webstores. There are alternative ways to build a mobile app using X-Cart, including:

1. Using a third-party mobile app builder specifically designed for X-Cart.
2. Seeking tech-enabled assistance to convert your X-Cart store into a mobile application.
3. Engaging a team of engineers to develop Android and iOS apps and integrate them with your X-Cart shop.

Can I Turn My X-Cart Store into an App?

You can consider the methods outlined above to turn your X-Cart store into a mobile app.

However, most people who run a store should ignore the third option (hiring developers to build native apps). The main reason for this is that mobile apps are expensive. It takes anywhere from $30,000 to $150,000 to build a native app. And that’s just for one operating system - you’ll have to multiply this cost by two, to launch apps for Android and iOS (which you should).

The process of developing an app is both time-consuming and costly right from the beginning. It becomes even more challenging when your developers have to build an API and integrate the back end of your apps with your X-Cart store.

These expenses are likely to be way out of your budget, and that's not to mention the annual costs of running your app.

The Recurring Cost of Having an App

Many individuals fail to consider the recurring annual expenses associated with launching an application. The regular upkeep and maintenance, which include OS updates, X-Cart updates, bug fixes, and implementing new features and enhancements, typically amount to around 15-20% of the initial cost each year.

Extensive research conducted by David Cost from Rainbow Apparel during their app launch revealed that the yearly cost could go as high as a million dollars.

"If we had unlimited time and money, we would likely opt for a custom native app. However, the annual maintenance costs alone would range from half a million to a million dollars."

- David Cost, VP of Marketing at Rainbow Apparel

Let's take a conservative approach and assume that building apps for both mobile platforms costs $150,000. Based on this estimation, the conservative estimate for updates and maintenance would be $30,000 per year.

For most store owners, this expenditure is too substantial.

Managing multiple platforms moving forward, instead of solely focusing on the website, can be quite burdensome. It triples the workload whenever you want to make changes to your site, unnecessarily complicating your workflow.

The Best Way to Turn Your X-Cart Store into an App

The most suitable option is to convert your X-Cart store into an app using a mobile app builder offered by X-Cart.

By using X-Cart's mobile app builder, you can transform your current X-Cart website into a mobile app that emulates the experience of a native app. Users can conveniently download and install this app on their mobile devices.

Opting for the best mobile app builders enables you to obtain a mobile app that offers a significant portion, approximately 90-95%, of the capabilities you would find in a native app. Furthermore, this option comes at a lower cost and with fewer complications.

However, be aware that not all alternatives available on the market are suitable for building professional mobile apps with high traffic that effectively represent your brand.

How to Convert Your X-Cart Site Into an App

If you're a renowned brand with a considerable amount of resources at your disposal – envision Nike, Target, Zara, and similar examples – you might opt to hire individuals to write the code for your shopping app from scratch.

If that's not the case, MobiLoud offers the optimal method for app development. It's straightforward, affordable, and fast. And, maintaining your apps becomes much more cost-effective and manageable.

Here's a detailed step-by-step breakdown of the process:

Step One: Preview Your App or Get a Free Consultation

You can start in one of two ways.

1. Visualize your website as an app with a free preview by using the MobiLoud builder.
2. Alternatively, you can book a free consultation call with our app experts to discuss your project and gain an overview of the process.

Either way, you'll notice that 90% of the work required to create your app is already completed, provided that your site is optimized for mobile usage.

If you need assistance optimizing your site, let us know, and we'll be happy to help! This is an important step to make the rest of the process as seamless as possible.

Step Two: Work With Our Team to Build Your App

When you're all set to begin, sign up to MobiLoud. All our plans offer a 60-day money-back guarantee, and there's no requirement for a long-term commitment.

After onboarding, our team will collaborate with you to configure and design your app. Remember, most of the groundwork has already been completed. You don't have to build a new UI from the ground up; instead, a few tweaks are all that's needed to make it resemble and function like a native app.

Once you're content, we'll start building your mobile app. We take care of all the technical work, so there's no need for coding or any coding knowledge on your part.

If you'd rather have our team manage the entire process, from beginning to end, we can do that too. Our all-inclusive package covers everything required to configure, design, and publish your app, giving you the freedom to be completely hands-off.

Step Three: Prepare for Launch

When your app is fully built, it's time to prepare for its public launch. Having a well-thought-out plan in place will attract users to download your app.

We offer valuable resources to support your app's launch, including assets for app store descriptions, launch announcements for your website and email list, press releases, and more. Plus, you can leverage additional features at no extra cost, such as smart app banners and app-exclusive discounts, to incentivize your current customers to shop using the app.

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

We'll help you launch your apps on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The submission process for these app stores is notoriously challenging, especially for individuals and developers who are new to it.

Leave it up to us - we have extensive experience and knowledge of the process.

Our team takes care of the entire app submission process with Apple and Google. We offer a 100% guarantee of app approval and handle multiple submissions as needed. We also provide recommendations and make necessary changes on your behalf, so you can sit back and relax.

Once your app listings are live, you can officially start attracting downloads and enjoy all the advantages of having your own X-Cart mobile app.

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

The mobile era has arrived. The majority of your current revenue likely comes from mobile devices. If not, it will very soon.

Having a mobile-optimized website for your X-Cart store is no longer enough. To fully capitalize on the revenue potential of your mobile users, it's essential to offer your own customized app.

Today, transforming your X-Cart store into a mobile app is easier than ever, as long as you follow the right approach. Instead of spending tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on mobile developers, MobiLoud offers a highly accessible and user-friendly solution.

Here are some of the main advantages of using MobiLoud's X-Cart app builder:

 
• It costs only a fraction of the price compared to custom app development.
 
• You can launch professional, top-quality apps in less than two weeks.
 
• Your apps will incorporate all the fantastic features of your website, from product collections to payment gateways, plugins, tools, themes, and more.
 
• Everything stays synchronized across the web, Android, and iOS platforms. Any changes you make on your site will be immediately reflected in your apps.
 
• You can leave the hassle of submitting your apps to the app stores to us - we guarantee approval.
 
• Our dedicated team will guide you every step of the way, taking care of all the complex tasks so you can focus on your business.

This straightforward app builder, which requires zero coding, empowers you to launch your own shopping apps and establish your presence in the app stores alongside the world's leading brands.

Contact us now to discover more about how we can assist you in launching an app for your X-Cart store. Schedule a free, personalized demo, and one of our app experts will guide you through the entire process.