Mobile commerce continues to dominate online shopping, with over 70% of ecommerce traffic coming from mobile devices.
For brands with custom-built ecommerce platforms, the path to offering a dedicated mobile app often seems complex or out of reach. Most no-code app builders exclusively work with sites on popular ecommerce platforms like Shopify, leaving (some believe) expensive native development as the only option.
So, do you need to give up your goals of launching a branded mobile app?
Not at all.
MobiLoud lets you do it, without:
- Hiring native app developers
- Spending hundreds of thousands on a development agency
- Managing multiple codebases
- Waiting 6 months to a year to go live
- Sacrificing any features or functionality from your website
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Our fully managed service takes care of everything for you, from configuration and development, to app store submission, maintenance and updates, and driving adoption and ROI.
All this for a nominal cost.
Keep reading and we’ll explain how to transform your existing custom ecommerce site into powerful mobile apps, and how this approach is far more effective than building custom native apps.
Why Your Ecommerce Brand Needs a Mobile App
Mobile apps provide significant advantages over mobile websites alone.
Users who install your app spend 3-4 times longer engaging with your brand compared to mobile web visitors. They visit more regularly, and remain customers for longer.
This deeper engagement translates directly to higher lifetime value – and a more profitable business.
Apps create a permanent presence on your customers' most personal device. Your brand icon on their home screen serves as a constant reminder of your products and services. Push notifications reach customers directly, achieving open rates of 50-80% compared to email's average 20%.
This direct channel allows you to announce new products, promotions, or restock alerts with unprecedented effectiveness.
Most importantly, mobile apps foster stronger customer loyalty. The frictionless experience encourages repeat purchases and creates a sense of membership that mobile websites simply cannot match.
Your Options for Custom Ecommerce Mobile Apps
When considering mobile app development for your custom ecommerce platform, you have two options to consider.
The first is native development; hiring app developers to build out custom apps for your store, from the ground up.
The second is to directly convert your ecommerce site into an app, with MobiLoud’s fully managed service.
Let’s break them both down.
Option 1: Native App Development
The traditional way to create an app is custom development through native iOS and Android code or cross-platform frameworks like Flutter or React Native.
This option gives you complete control over every aspect of the app experience. You can build unique features from the ground up and optimize performance for specific device capabilities.
However, the major drawback is cost. Native development typically costs $100,000 to $500,000 for initial development alone, over a timeline of 6-12 months.
Not only that, you’re left with multiple codebases to manage; a huge operational headache (and recurring expense).
Each time you update your website, you will need parallel updates to both iOS and Android apps. This redundancy leads to ongoing costs that can easily exceed $100,000 annually.
Even major retailers like Nike or Zara would struggle to justify this investment when more efficient alternatives exist.
Option 2: MobiLoud (Convert Your Custom Ecommerce Site into an App)
MobiLoud offers a radically different approach.
Rather than rebuilding your functionality from scratch, we transform your existing ecommerce site into native mobile apps for iOS and Android in under 30 days.
You maintain your current technology stack, design language, and content management workflows. No rebuilding or duplication of effort required.
Our service handles everything from initial configuration to app store submission through a fully managed process. And after launch, we handle updates and maintenance, as well as launch initiatives to get users for your app.
The apps themselves deliver a native-like experience complete with push notifications and performance optimizations tailored for mobile devices.
In simple words, this means you get basically all the benefits of native apps, with none of the downsides.
MobiLoud helps promote your app, coordinate its launch, implement push notification strategies, and set up automated notifications that generate direct revenue. It requires minimal or no development resources from your team and offers transparent, predictable pricing with no revenue sharing.
Want to get a first-hand look at how MobiLoud works? Get a free preview of your app now.
How MobiLoud Turns Your Custom Ecommerce Site into Revenue-Driving Mobile Apps
Converting your existing site into polished, high-performance mobile apps is a straightforward, fully managed process – no code rewrites, no content duplication, no technical headaches.
Here’s exactly how it works:
1. Kickoff & Setup
Once you’re onboard, the process begins with a short onboarding form. You’ll share your website URL, brand assets (like logos, color palette, and fonts), and your app icons.
From there, our team gets to work immediately – no weeks of planning or resource allocation required. You’ll receive a clear project overview and timeline so you always know what’s next.
2. App Configuration
Our developers configure your app to mirror your site’s layout, navigation, and key features.
We don’t simply wrap your site, we optimize it with native components like bottom tab navigation, loading indicators, splash screens, and native menus.
This ensures the app feels fast, intuitive, and platform-native, providing a seamless user experience that feels like it was built from the ground up.
3. Customer Testing
Within just a few days, you’ll get fully functional preview versions of your apps for iOS and Android.
You and your team can test the complete customer journey on real devices – add to cart, check out, browse categories, and more.
Your feedback is crucial here, and we’ll refine the app based on your insights. This collaborative review process ensures the final product meets your expectations and brand standards.
4. Quality Assurance
Our QA specialists perform deep testing across a wide range of devices, screen sizes, operating systems, and network conditions.
We ensure compatibility, smooth performance, and that all key functions work flawlessly. Bugs, layout quirks, and performance bottlenecks are caught and resolved long before the app goes live.
5. Store Submission
Getting listed on the App Store and Google Play can be notoriously difficult – unless you’ve done it hundreds of times like we have.
We handle the entire process: crafting high-quality screenshots, writing app descriptions, completing compliance checklists, and dealing with store reviewers.
If Apple or Google has feedback, we know how to respond to get your app approved fast.
6. Final Optimization
During the app review phase, we continue refining your app based on any store reviewer feedback or last-minute input from your team.
We take this opportunity to apply finishing touches that polish the overall user experience. By the time your app is approved, it’s fully optimized for real-world use.
7. Launch & Growth
With your app approved, we coordinate a smooth launch on both platforms. But we don’t stop there – we help you drive installs and engagement from day one.
We’ll advise on app promotion strategies, provide install banners and smart app download prompts, and help configure push notification flows. Our goal is to turn your app into a high-performing retention channel from the start.
We stay involved long after launch, ensuring your app grows alongside your business, and continues to drive measurable ROI through increased engagement, retention, and repeat purchases.
Case Study: Tobi Built a Mobile App for their Custom Ecommerce Site (and Slashed Overhead)
When Kenneth Chan started boutique fashion brand Tobi, there were no reliable ecommerce platforms to help them, so they did it all themselves.
But when it came time to launch a mobile app, that meant custom-building the app too… which came with massive overhead.
They’d had multiple versions of the app, but the custom approach required to function with their tech stack meant it took a team of six just to maintain the app.
They moved to MobiLoud, and we were able to give them an even better result, for a fraction of the overhead.
“The difference is the service part. We haven't had any issues, the setup was easy, the onboarding was super easy and overall the service has been great. When we first started talking with you we were talking every day and then as needed when it was necessary.”
Read more about Tobi’s story here.
Final Thoughts: Launch a Mobile App for your Custom Ecommerce Store Now
You've invested significantly in your custom ecommerce platform because off-the-shelf solutions couldn't meet your unique business requirements.
Extending that investment to mobile apps shouldn't require rebuilding your digital presence from scratch or hiring a specialized development team.
MobiLoud offers the fastest, most cost-effective path to expand your reach, boost customer retention, and grow revenue through mobile apps. Your existing ecommerce functionality translates into a native app experience that customers can download, install, and engage with daily.
To begin (or just to learn more), get a free, no obligation preview of your app.
With just your website’s URL, you’ll be able to view an interactive demo of your site as an app, and use our configuration dashboard to tweak various aspects to your liking.
You’ll see how easily your existing, mobile-optimized website can be turned into an incredible native app (and why you don’t need to spend millions of dollars to do it).
When you’re ready to move forward, just get in touch with us, and we’ll start you on the journey to substantial and sustainable growth with your own, branded mobile apps.
