Shopping through e-commerce apps has become highly popular in the past decade. Because of mobile apps, people do not have to open up a laptop or desktop. They can simply start browsing products on their mobile device with their fingers. The pandemic made it necessary to buy as many products online as possible. In those tough times, people couldn’t purchase the needed products by going to a retail store. 

So, they had to browse for the products online. Even after the lockdown was over, e-commerce shopping has become a lifestyle. The increased use of mobile phones has become a boon for the e-commerce industry. Both mobile phones and e-commerce businesses want to make life easy for customers, and that’s why they are compatible. Around 3.2 billion people use mobile phones, providing e-commerce businesses with a huge market to target. Mobile phones and e-commerce apps are an outstanding combo. However, there are e-business apps in the market that do not perform so well. The reality is that some e-commerce apps are incredibly successful while others barely get noticed. If you are developing an app for an e-commerce business, you should ensure that they have all the best features. Here are the must-have features for your e-commerce app. 

1. One-step registration

A streamlined signup process makes your app easy to use. First, you need to make it easy for the customers to sign up for an account. Make it easy for users to sign up with OTP, email address, phone number, Facebook, and Google. 

2. Advanced search capacity

If your e-commerce website has thousands of products, you need to make it easier for customers to search for the product they’re looking for. Implement advanced search capabilities like sorting and filtering. This will increase your conversion rate as visitors will be able to find the products they find desirable. 

3. Providing product information in detail

There is a misconception that product images are good enough to attract customers. However, some customers want to know about the details and features of the product they are buying. So if a potential customer wants that information, it should be there. 

4. Augmented Reality

Many people were sceptical of e-commerce businesses at first. People who buy products from retail stores get to know the look and feel of a product before making up their minds. Companies in the e-commerce industry tackled this scepticism with AR technology. With the help of AR, your customers can know what the product is like in the real-world context. You can try out a product with a virtual experience before buying them. Even if you do not like them after the purchase, most e-commerce stores offer product returns. If you allow your customers to know the product they are buying, they will be satisfied with the purchase. 

5. Wishlist

Sometimes, people browse products without any intention of making a purchase. In that situation, they can add the product to their wishlist. They can browse their wishlist and select the best products when they feel like making a purchase. Customers can visit their wishlists even when they have purchased some of the products on the list. Instead of buying every product you like, why not be smart with your finances and add products to your wishlist? This way, you can buy products when it makes financial sense. The wishlist of most e-commerce shoppers is filled with hundreds of products. 

6. Personalized experience

Once customers are done with their purchase, your e-commerce app should analyze the products they generally like and provide relevant product offers. Many companies in the e-commerce industry use complex recommendation engines to provide a personalized experience. If you pitch a customer with products they are generally interested in, they will be lured by one of your offers. Therefore, a sophisticated recommendation engine can increase the conversion rate of your business. 

Personalization also helps expand the business reach, which increases customer loyalty. While personalization has existed in e-commerce apps for a long time, you cannot miss adding this feature to your app today. 

7. Rapid checkout

If your customer is at the checkout phase, they have already made up their mind that they want to purchase a product from your e-commerce app. You just have to ensure that this process is completed without any hassles. However, some apps fail to do so by making the checkout phase unnecessarily tricky. The user then switches to another e-commerce app for their needs. If you want to ensure that the customer’s journey is completed without any hassles. Develop your app in a way that the user can purchase without any effort. Auto-submitting OTP for checkout is one feature that has been added to most e-commerce apps. 

8. More than one payment method

With the rise of digital wallets, you must include them as one of the payment methods for your e-commerce business. People now use digital wallets even when they are buying something from a retail store. That’s why your e-commerce store should not be any different. They should include all the popular digital wallets like PayPal, G pay, Paytm, etc. Other than that, you should also ensure that you support several debit and credit card companies. If you can offer cash on delivery, most customers will prefer you. Sometimes people make up their minds to buy a product, but during checkout, they find that their payment method is not supported in the app. Because of this, the business loses one customer. So if you want to run a successful e-commerce business, you should keep multiple payment methods. 

9. Product reviews

Your customers should be able to leave behind reviews of the product they brought. This gives them satisfaction and makes you a transparent business. Positive customer reviews help customers reach a decision. Most e-commerce apps now support photos and videos in product reviews because it allows customers to display why they liked or disliked a product. Customers can trust an e-commerce app that has the most in-detail reviews. Find a way to make customer reviews as detailed as possible. This will make other visitors trust your e-commerce brand. 

10. Managing orders and returns

During e-commerce shopping, customers hand in the money before getting the product. Therefore, e-commerce apps must have an effective live tracking system to inform customers when they can expect the product. During the returns process, customers need to be informed about the scheduled pickup and expected date of refund. Transparency in both the order and returns process puts the customers at ease. 

11. Offline functionalities

Some of the app’s features must be accessible even when the customer has no access to the internet. Browsing an e-commerce app is on the schedule of many people. If someone is commuting on a subway and there is a network disruption, the app’s basic functions should still be active.  

12. Progress Bar

Most customers are impatient. Once they have seen a product that they like, they cannot wait to use that product. That is why most e-commerce businesses work to provide speedy deliveries. If customers feel that making a purchase takes a long time, they may log out. That’s why you should consider adding a progress bar to your e-commerce app. With the help of a progress bar, customers will know the number of steps they have to complete before successfully purchasing a product. 

13. One-touch customer support

When people are browsing your e-commerce store, they will have multiple questions. That is why you need to make it extremely easy for them to get the help they need. These days most websites have chatbots, so kindly ensure that you include this feature. 

Conclusion

If you want to succeed in the e-commerce industry, you need to have clearly defined goals. What do you expect to achieve from the e-commerce app? The features included in the app should be aligned with your goals. Once your goals are defined, you should consider the features you want in your e-commerce app. If you are having trouble there, you can take the help of the list above.