How to Convert Your Zen Cart Site Into A Mobile App

Today, turning your Zen Cart store into a mobile app is more important than ever – and luckily, it's a fairly easy process.

As mobile ecommerce continues to grow, those who are still focused on desktop-first are missing out on the opportunity to reach more potential customers. And if you're worried about the costs associated with building a custom native app, you can take advantage of a Zen Cart mobile app builder to create a high-quality, fully-functional mobile app for your Zen Cart store without breaking the bank.

Ready to learn more? Keep reading to see how you can turn your Zen Cart store into a mobile app.

Why You Need a Mobile App

More than 72% of the ecommerce market share belonged to mobile in 2022, showing a significant increase from just over 52% in the previous five years.

This aligns perfectly with the prevailing trend of mobile internet usage. Mobile use now commands over 50% of the market share when compared to desktop and tablet.

Another major thing to consider is that 15% of Americans exclusively rely on smartphones as their gateway to the internet. This marks the future of ecommerce, with customers who are not just mobile-first, but solely mobile.

While optimizing your website for mobile is a great starting point, that alone isn't enough. Mobile apps offer an unparalleled user experience, resulting in improvements across several important metrics, including:

• Higher conversion rates
• Increased average order value
• Increased product views per session

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

Apps also grant you full access to mobile push notifications, which boast opt-in rates of 81% on Android devices and 51% on iOS devices. This makes mobile apps excellent tools for connecting with repeat customers and creating strong relationships.

So, do you really "need" to transform your Zen Cart store into a mobile app right away? It might not seem like an absolute necessity yet. But a Zen Cart mobile app can bestow tremendous benefits upon your business.

Can You Create Mobile Apps for Zen Cart?

Since Zen Cart is best for webstores, publishing a mobile app isn't something you can do directly with it. So to build an app using Zen Cart, you need to tap into other strategies, such as:

1. Using a third-party Zen Cart mobile app builder.
2. Getting a tech-savvy service to turn your Zen Cart store into a mobile app.
3. Hiring a team of developers to build apps for Android and iOS and then link them to your Zen Cart store.

Can I Turn My Zen Cart Store into an App?

You can easily transform a Zen Cart store into an app utilizing one of the approaches listed before.

But most store owners should veer away from the third option (hiring developers to assemble native apps). Why? Because mobile apps are costly. It takes somewhere in the range of $30,000 to $150,000 to build a native app. And that is simply for one operating system. You’ll have to multiply this cost by two to launch apps for Android and iOS - which is essential to your app's success.

App development is lengthy, intricate and expensive at the outset. Even more so when your developers need to craft an API and link the back end of your apps to your Zen Cart store.

It's likely that you don't have the budget for this - and that is before we look at how much it costs each year to keep your app running.

The Recurring Cost of Having an App

It's easy not to consider the recurring yearly expenses that come with launching an app. Keeping a tab on updates, bugs, new features, improvements etc. requires an additional 15-20% of the initial cost annually.

Rainbow Apparel's VP of Marketing, David Cost, conducted thorough research on the matter has claimed that the price tag can even be as high as a million per year:

“If we had infinite time and money, we would probably create a custom native app, but that would mean spending from half a million to one million annually on maintenance.”

Let's be practical and assume that it will cost around $150,000 on the low end to build an app for each mobile platform. The reasonable amount for regular updates and maintenance would be $30,000 per year.

This amount is too high for most store owners to expend. Additionally, managing multiple platforms creates an extra workload beyond just handling the website. All these factors make the process that much more involved.

The Best Way to Turn Your Zen Cart Store into an App

The most sensible approach is to transform your Zen Cart store into an app with the assistance of a mobile app builder.

A Zen Cart mobile app builder can convert your current website to a comparable native mobile application, which users can download and use on their mobile devices.

The most proficient mobile app builders give you a mobile app with 90-95% of the same functionality that you would acquire from a native app, yet cheaper and with fewer difficulties. However, it is essential to note that not all options out there are suitable for designing high-traffic, professional mobile apps that will showcase your brand in the right light.

How to Convert Zen Cart to App

If you’re a big brand with lots of resources – think Nike, H&M, Target, etc – you usually have the capacity to arrange for someone to code a native e-commerce app. But if you're not in such a position, MobiLoud is a great way to go! It's fast, straightforward and most importantly, it's much more cost-effective in the long run.

To give you an idea of what's involved, here's a step-by-step breakdown.

Step One: Preview Your App or Get a Free Consultation

There are two ways to get started.

1. For a free preview of your site in app form, dive in and use the MobiLoud builder.
2. Or, book a free consultation call with one of our experts to walk you through the process.

In either circumstance, 90% of the work to create your app is already done - provided your site is mobile-friendly.

If you need help making it mobile-friendly, just let us know and we've got you covered. This is a vital part of the process so everything else runs smoothly.

Step Two: Work With Our Team to Build Your App

When you’re ready to start building, sign up to MobiLoud. Our plans all have come with a 60-day refund clause, and there is requirement to commit for a long-term engagement.

You’ll collaborate with our team to set up and design your app. Keep in mind that the majority of the work is already done. You don’t have to create a brand-new UI from the ground up, merely a few minor tweaks will make it look like and feel like a native app.

Once you’re happy with the design, we’ll get to work and build your mobile app. We handle everything technical -  you don’t have to do any coding, or know how to code at all.

If you would like our team to take charge of the full procedure, start to finish, we can absolutely take the reins. Our full-service plan contains everything needed to set up, design and publish your app, enabling you to sit back and relax while we go to work.

Step Three: Prepare for Launch

Once your app is developed, you'll be ready to launch it to the public. Having a well-organized launch strategy is crucial to encourage app downloads.

We offer resources for app store descriptions, launch announcements for your website and email list, press releases, and more. Additionally, you can incorporate extra features at no additional cost, such as clever app banners and exclusive app discounts, to motivate existing customers to use the app for their shopping needs.

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

Eventually, we'll launch your applications to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

The submission process for these app stores is notoriously tricky, particularly for first-time app proprietors and developers. But rest assured, we’ve been through the process thousands of times, and know it like the back of our hand.

Our team takes care of the app submission process with Apple and Google. We have a 100% app approval guarantee and will manage multiple submissions if necessary, suggesting and implementing any needed changes as required. You don't have to do a thing.

Once your app is live, it's time to watch the downloads come in and start experiencing the influx of benefits that come with having your own Zen Cart mobile app.

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

The era of mobile advancement is upon us, and it's having a significant impact on our lives. Chances are, a large portion of your current revenue comes from mobile. If it doesn't, it likely will soon.

Your Zen Cart store needs more than just a website optimized for mobile users. To maximize your revenue from mobile customers, it's crucial to offer your own branded app.

The good news is that transforming your Zen Cart store into a mobile app has become easier than ever, provided you take the right approach. Instead of spending tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on mobile developers, MobiLoud offers a simple and accessible solution.

Take a look at some of the key advantages of using MobiLoud's Zen Cart app builder:

 
• It costs only a fraction of the price you'd pay for custom app development.
 
• You can launch professional, high-quality apps in under a month.
 
• Your apps will retain all the outstanding features that make your website great, including product collections, payment gateways, plug-ins, tools, themes, and more.
 
• Everything stays in sync across the web, Android, and iOS platforms. Any changes you make on your site will be immediately reflected in your apps.
 
• You won't have to worry about submitting your apps to the app stores because we guarantee approval.
 
• Our team will guide you through the entire process, providing full support and handling all the technical aspects for you.

With our user-friendly app builder that requires no coding, you can effortlessly launch your own shopping apps and establish a presence in the app stores alongside the world's most renowned brands.

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