Responsive website vs. Mobile app: which is best for e-commerce business?

Due to the majority of the online shoppers that are making mobile phones for browsing, research, and buy any product, e-commerce is taking the place of m-commerce. When almost 50% of the e-commerce sessions are seeking a place on your smartphones, the mobile app or site is indispensable for the online merchants. You are in confusion about what is best for your responsive website or mobile app for your online store.

Advantages of Mobile Application

User-friendly

Nowadays, the app is everything the online shoppers used to browse the product on the mobile app only. One of the primary benefits is the speed that will attract the customers towards the mobile application instead of loading the extensive product range on your mobile website. There is the number of functionalities and buttons for which is easy-to-access, add to cart, search, etc. In this way, they are considered user-friendly in comparison to the mobile site.

Increase loyalty

By displaying the icon of your brand consistently, mobile apps will enhance the dedication of the customers towards your e-commerce store. The app will collect the data of the customers like shopping time, location, etc., and will offer a more personalized shopping experience. Rewards and expertise of the client will make the continued use of your mobile app. You can also implement loyalty programs to boost loyalty and will increase repeat purchases by online shoppers.

Conversion rate increased

It collects the customer data and gives the push notification quickly. The push notification will help you in recovering the 70% of abandoned carts.  The online merchants can send notifications about the new offers, discounts, and few pieces left in their stock to grab the attention of the customers towards them.

No internet access

Once the app installed, the mobile apps will make it easy for the customer to browse the products, even offline. It will permit the online shopper to view the products and the details without the internet.

Drawbacks of mobile application

Cost of an app development

To develop the mobile app for e-commerce is somewhat high in comparison to the responsive site. The owner has to gather the team of the mobile apps developer together for building the apps on different platforms like iOS, Android, etc. It will take time, but also the e-commerce merchant has to invest a high amount of money in it.
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Attraction of downloads

A merchant also requires to advertise an app and has to make trust among its customers to get the download and install their mobile e-commerce app. Merchants also have to make the convenience and aware of the audience so that they can download and share their experience with them. There are also some of the marketing tips to promote your app, but you have to make efforts and make some extra investment also.

Benefits of Mobile Website

Cost-effective

E-commerce mobile app is that they need money for implementing a native or hybrid app on different platforms. It will also give solutions to these problems by providing cost-effective development. You can contact the top and reputed e-commerce website designing company for getting the mobile e-commerce site created with all functionalities at a reasonable price.

Access in smart devices

Mobile websites are also providing the all-device accessibility. You do not to be downloaded or installed on your device and do not require storage on the mobile even that it can be loaded anytime in the browser. The customers can browse the e-commerce site anywhere, be it on their Android phone, iPhone, or even on their laptop or tablet, the site will be easily accessible anywhere, anytime without any prior installation required.

Search Engine optimized

The mobile e-commerce website has optimized by adding tags, keywords, etc., for higher ranking on search engines. It will give the traffic to search engines. It means the customer who is looking for some particular product will reach your site by a specific keyword which will attract more leads. Responsive e-commerce websites will rank high on the mobile search result pages and can be instrumental in driving more sales.

Disadvantages of Mobile Website

Slower Loading

In comparison to mobile apps, responsive websites can be more reluctant to load. E-commerce websites have loaded with high-quality images and extensive descriptions, which will make the page slower while loading it. Almost 75% of consumers will be stating that a slower page load will create a negative impact on your website and drop down the sales.

No offline Accessibility

E-commerce websites need to be load every time the user wants to browse the new products on the page. You do not have the functionality of offline access without the internet, which might be a turn-off for your customers. It does not also give the ease of accessing the cart or wishlist items without the connection of the internet.
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Maintenance

You have the requirement of the skilled professional expert for constant maintenance & support. Images & videos of the product need to be optimized, require a monitored continuously, and SEO for the promotion of your site. There are multiple teams for the maintenance, which will cost a lot for the e-commerce merchants.

Conclusion

By the benefits and drawbacks of the responsive site and mobile apps have their unique functionalities and features. Online vendors cannot substitute one another. For expanding your business, increasing sales, repeat purchases, a mobile app solution, and a responsive site is a must. The mobile e-commerce site will get you more customers, and the app will help them to turn into loyal and will fetch more sales.

Jitendra Kalal

I’m Jitendra Kalal, Digital Marketing Strategist working with Addon Solutions – An Mobile Application Development Company in India, I spend my spare time on the web to learn about the modern online internet marketing and love to share my knowledge with others through my content.