How Much Does It Cost to Make a Shopping App?

The Mobile Traffic to Online Shopping Applications Increased Up to 65% In 2018.

Mobile shopping applications are more popular than in web stores. According to American Satisfaction Index, the user satisfaction rate is higher in mobile shopping than in traditional retail shopping. The following chart shows us that people prefer having a mobile shop application to purchase at ecommerce websites.

Image source: Statista, Business Insider

Importance of a Shopping App

There are several reasons why shoppers prefer using a mobile application. User satisfaction is the primary driver of mobile shopping applications. Other major reasons include:

1. You can receive offers, discounts, and deals
2. You can buy anything any time you want
3. Comparing products and services is easy
4. It helps save time needed to visit the store
5. You can see a large inventory base
6. Efficient and effective home delivery

The mobile sector looks more promising since everything is happening via smartphones. Communication, content creation, gamification, and even shopping are happening via smartphone.

21st-century people are the laziest. It offers you a ground full of opportunities – Tyler Kroger.

Benefits of a Shopping App

The sphere of mobile shopping is evolving and developing. Many retailers consider mobile shopping applications as an alternative to generating sales. A mobile shopping application can help a business that works with an eCommerce PPC agency increase brand awareness and build brand equity. Nevertheless, recent statistics show that only 10% of retailers offer an ecommerce shop for their clients.

Image source: Statista, eMarketer

A mobile shopping application does not only help in acquiring revenue-generating leads. It also helps in increasing customer loyalty and brand awareness. Following are the top benefits that you can offer using a mobile shopping application:

1. Online shoppers are likely to revisit your mobile shop application within thirty days.
2. Mobile shopping application is a great way to drive business by generating sales.
3. An application can help you increase interaction with your existing customers.
4. You can easily retain your customers, therefore leading to higher revenue.
5. Shopping apps drive customers to complete purchases more actively than websites.

Shopping applications have high order completion value as compared to websites. The average order completion value for applications is 140%. It is 10% higher than the ecommerce websites. Additionally, the product preview is 4.6 times higher in applications. Let us look at a glimpse of leading mobile shops. It will help you drive your expectations according to the application that you like the best.

Image source: Statista, Verto Analytics

Primary Factors Affecting Shopping App Cost

If you want to develop an ecommerce shopping application, you will have specific questions. In this section, we will brief out the crucial factors and elements which impact your development cost. These features include:

1. User login and user profile
2. Product showcase and catalog
3. Payment methods and checkout
4. Product search and product recommendations
5. Checking the delivery status

The cost of developing a shopping application with these essential features is around $8000 to $10,000.

This budget does not change with OS variation. The price remains the same for iOS and Android. In some cases, the iOS application might cost less. Nevertheless, if you want to incorporate advanced features, the price will increase according to the features. These advanced features include the following;

1. Online chat and customer service
2. Product preview and modifications
3. Product filters
4. Add to wish list
5. Multiple payment gateways
6. Product reviews
7. Social media integration
8. Swipe left to the right option
9. Guest checkout
10. Product feed

We recommend starting with the primary features. You can always include secondary features and functions as your business grows.

Secondary Factors Of Cost to Make a Shopping App?

The cost of application development primarily centers around the complexity of an application. The developer’s experience and success history also matter a lot. Features and functions drive the cost of an application development primarily. However, the secondary drivers of an application include the following:

The Geographical Location of the Developers

It is no surprise that the developer’s location defines their rate per hour. When it comes to business outsourcing the development task, the developer experience also matters. The number of successful past projects helps increase the level of confidence for the companies.

1. If you want to hire a mobile application developer from North America, expect to pay an average price of $168.
2. Developers from Australia will charge an average rate of $110 per hour.
3. Nevertheless, if you are tight on budget, Indian developers are the best option. They offer low rates. You can expect hourly rates as low as $10 to $25 per hour.

Image source: Statista, Mobindustry

Besides, a single developer cannot deliver a complete value application if you are working on a mobile shop application. We recommend getting the application QA and graphic design services to ensure that your application is interactive and bug-free.

The Operating Platform, I.E., Android or IOS

According to recent statistics, eight out of ten applications are Android. It gives us insight that Android applications will cost more. It is because their demand is high, and it owns a significant global share. The Android application cost mostly depends on the following two factors:

1. Considerable OS model diversity
2. Time-consuming deliverables
3. Cost of ecommerce on Android

On the contrary, an iOS application isn’t any cheap. Its development cost is almost similar to Android. It’s driving factors to include the following (in fact exactly opposite to Android):

1. A higher value for the consumer
2. More audience engagement
3. Higher education and income levels

The Maintenance and Upgrades of the App

OS upgrades its system now and then. To ensure that your application is compatible with the new update, you need to provide application maintenance. We recommend allocating 30% of your initial development cost for application maintenance. Application maintenance is essential because of the following reasons:

1. Stay bug-free and user-friendly
2. Support the latest OS version of iOS and Android.
3. Operate correctly with added features and functions.

If your initial development cost for the shopping application was $100,000, you should allocate $30,000 for the application maintenance. Maintenance is one of the primary reasons why you should always allocate your budget wisely. If you need any further consultation regarding mobile shopping application development, feel free to contact us!