Mobile app for eCommerce website

[louis_robinson]

I am looking forward for a mobile app for my eCommerce website. However, I am very confused between a mobile app development agencies and mobile app builder extensions. I saw a few extensions available here for the same. But I am not sure if they will fulfil all my requirements or not? Looking for a genuine suggestions.

[Tom Robertshaw]

There are very few ecommerce businesses that will actually benefit/find a return on investment from a mobile app. What are the requirements and business objectives behind the mobile app that you are planning?

[louis_robinson]

Hi,

Many peoples (friends, colleagues, my marketing team, and customers as well) suggest me to go for a mobile app for my store. Along with this, I have read many articles regarding this as the mobile audience is increasing per day. My marketing team has suggested me because there are many options for promotion in apps like push notifications is one of the best ways of promotion.

[Tom Robertshaw]

If you're going to build a custom mobile app then I'd recommend a budget of $100k. If you have less than that but would still like to get a mobile app done then I'd look at something like: https://poqcommerce.com

Otherwise, I would recommend reading up on the developments of Progressive Web Apps, including some of the announcements on the Magento forums from Magento themselves about their plans. Web technologies are moving forward at great pace and now allow you to send push notifications via the web as well as being able to save websites as app to the homescreen on many devices now and other devices will likely follow shortly. All of this can be achieved with a much lower budget without needing to work with a separate agency or maintain another codebase. 

[joykristof]

Hi Tom,

I was reading these type of threads because I am also looking for a mobile app for my website. Tom, you sound very interesting as you explained louis. What would you like to say about this? https://marketplace.magento.com/knowband-mobileappbuilder.html

---

@Tom Robertshaw wrote:

If you're going to build a custom mobile app then I'd recommend a budget of $100k. If you have less than that but would still like to get a mobile app done then I'd look at something like: https://poqcommerce.com

Otherwise, I would recommend reading up on the developments of Progressive Web Apps, including some of the announcements on the Magento forums from Magento themselves about their plans. Web technologies are moving forward at great pace and now allow you to send push notifications via the web as well as being able to save websites as app to the homescreen on many devices now and other devices will likely follow shortly. All of this can be achieved with a much lower budget without needing to work with a separate agency or maintain another codebase. 

---

Or any other which you would like to suggest me for the same.

[Tom Robertshaw]

I don't have any experience with that one. It looks pretty new to the market so it'll largely be untested. It could be a risk you take though. 

[ronniea_a]

Now everyone wants to create an app for their eCommerce website and it is easy to create. but one think you need to keep in your mind s that you got all features in your app. you can also try first demo and after this you can buy it. Using this source code you can create your own app for further information you can read Ecommerce Store Android App Source Code

[kalyanchakri]

Hi @louis_robinson,

As @Tom Robertshaw suggested, take a look at "Progressive Web Apps". It is gaining more attention from the users who want to build a mobile app but cannot fund for the native mobile app as it is costlier, takes more time to build and future enhancements cannot be incorporated very easily.

With PWA ( progressive web apps ) you will have these basic features

1. No need to build anything new, you can turn your normal e-commerce store into a progressive web app. There are Magento extensions available to do this job.
2. Native app kind experience by adding it to your home screen.
3. Offline site load ( Even though network is not stable or slow, your web app still works with some limitations )
4. It can make use of mobile features like camera etc.,

5. Push notifications are supported


--------
Give Kudos if it helped or Accept it as solution

[MageCube_Team]

Hi,

You can check out Progressive Web apps instead of building native apps. With Progressive Web Apps, you get some astounding features like push notifications, offline mode and faster page loading. PWA launches and works exactly like a native app and they take you less time, money and effort to build.

 We at MageCube, have built an extension that can easily convert your Magento Store into a Progressive Web App. We would love to discuss with you on how we can assist your business in implementing a Progressive Web App.

Thanks and Regards

- MageCube Team

[AppJetty]

MageMob App Builder for Magento is a mobile app extension which helps you to build a custom mobile app for your Magento Store easily and quickly. Apps built with MageMob App Builder are optimized for both Android and iOS platforms and are mobile responsive.