The mobile era has been around for a while. According to Statista, more than 3.5 billion people are using smartphones worldwide. That’s roughly half of the world’s population. Many industries are rapidly adjusting to catering to their clients on mobile devices.
Job Description of a Mobile App Developer is a recent Valuecolleges.com/ blog post
When it comes to e-commerce websites, it may seem that choosing products, reading descriptions, and comparing offers are easier by using a desktop computer or a laptop. Meanwhile, these options aren’t usually available on the go.
With hectic schedules the majority of people faces, they only have snippets of free time for shopping. They could do it while waiting for a doctor’s appointment, standing in line or riding the taxi. While an e-commerce website is still available through a mobile version, an app is much more convenient for such “on the go” interaction.
Let’s look into other reasons why a mobile app can be better than an e-commerce website.
1. Mobile Apps Have More Personalization Options
Once a client downloads an app, they can take advantage of numerous personalization options that will stay intact for the duration of the use.
The app collects information about the client and uses it to improve their experience. According to software developers from Entrance Consulting, an app can have endless personalization possibilities.
By allowing the user to adjust settings from the start, an app becomes a convenient shopping tool. It can also track the users and make offers based on their location and habits.
2. Notification Settings
An e-commerce website has a limited number of notification options for the user. Emails often get overlooked while text messages may appear annoying.
With mobile apps, push and in-app notifications are highly convenient. They are also non-intrusive so the annoyance factor is out of the question. Users receive these notifications when they open the app so they don’t have to worry about being interrupted during important meetings or other engagements.
In-app notifications also simplify the work of the marketing teams. You still have to be extremely thoughtful about when and how to deliver information through such notifications. Meanwhile, you can be sure it reaches the recipients when they are highly receptive to it.
3. Mobile Device Features
Unlike mobile versions of e-commerce websites, apps can access such mobile device features as GPS, camera, microphone, and more. You can take full advantage of this access to improve user experience.
These features can simplify payment, verification, confirmation, and many other services offered through the app. This simplification reduces the time users spend working with the app, thus improving their satisfaction with your services.
4. Browsing Offline
The most important advantage a mobile app can have over an e-commerce website is the ability to work offline. If the client doesn’t have an internet connection or the connection is poor, they can still browse the products to make a decision about buying them later.
By allowing the clients to have access to some features of the app offline, you are improving their experience and boosting your sales.
5. Design Possibilities
Unlike e-commerce websites, mobile apps give you a huge choice of designs. With many website builders, you are always somewhat limited to the templates. When creating a mobile app, you can choose each detail of the interface to make it more appealing to your clients.
Meanwhile, a mobile app takes advantage of touchscreen functions, such as tapping, swiping, dragging, pinching, and more. This allows the program to be more useful to the client, improving the experience tremendously.
While it’s possible to design an e-commerce website to be highly appealing, the touchscreen functions are impossible to replicate.
6. Brand Awareness Potential
Mobile apps have excellent brand awareness and marketing potential. If the company has a separate website, it’s possible to test different strategies on both platforms. Some companies may even design an app to explore new branding possibilities.
Offering a distinct brand experience compared to the website can help promote the brand.
7. More Users
According to the information gathered by eMarketer, users spend more than two hours per day using mobile apps. They only spend 26 minutes using web browsers on mobile devices. So you have more chances capturing the smartphone users’ attention with an app rather than with a website.
People may still use your website for purchases. That’s why it is important to consider taking full advantage of both. However, if you have to choose, an app may drive sales better than a mobile version of the website.
8. Client Retention
Since 80% of your future sales may come from 20% of your current clients, capitalizing on mobile app use should be on the agenda. You can use the website to bring in new leads and drive conversions.
Meanwhile, your app users are your existing clients so you can practice retention techniques to keep them buying. An app can also help you build a better relationship with the client by taking full advantage of the information provided through the mobile device.
9. Faster Operation
More often than not, applications work faster than websites. A big amount of information needed for the app to function is stored on the mobile device rather than on a remote server. This improves user experience especially when it comes to browsing products and making comparisons.
Mobile websites use JavaScript to perform the majority of their functions. Meanwhile, the framework used by mobile apps can run 200% faster than JavaScript code.
10. Cutting Costs
Since an app allows you to communicate directly with the client at the most convenient time, your marketing costs go down. You can come up with a highly specific targeting campaign and improve its ROI tremendously.
Final Thoughts
Mobile apps have numerous advantages of responsive e-commerce websites. They help you save money, build better relationships with your clients, improve your marketing efforts, and drive sales. However, developing an app doesn’t mean you should abandon your website. By working in tandem, these two tools can help you achieve excellent results.
Kim Marks 
Nicola Holder