Ecommerce App Development Guide [2024]

Any growing ecommerce business, whether a mid-sized Shopify store or a large retailer, needs an app to connect with customers.

If your business doesn’t have one, you need to consider investing in ecommerce app development. Many others are actively using this channel to engage customers, who are increasingly relying on apps for an easier and more personalized shopping experience.

Go to sections:

• Examples of successful ecommerce apps
• Ecommerce app development process
• Ecommerce app development team
• Key features of an ecommerce app
• Ecommerce mobile app development cost
• IDAP’s ecommerce app development expertise

Changed your mind? Explore these topics next:

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• App Development for Apple Vision Pro: Use Cases & Opportunities

Examples of successful apps from ecommerce brands

These ecommerce brands are some of the best when it comes to engaging customers through mobile apps.

Ecommerce app example: Allbirds

Allbirds is one of the most successful apparel and accessories stores. Their ecommerce mobile app is the second source for their customers to go for exclusive offers, early bird deals, coupons, and new arrivals. 

Also, Allbirds made sure that the app gives personalized shopping experiences for users (you can even prioritize certain colors to appear in search results and across the app first).

This ecommerce app is available only for iOS users and has a 4.9-star rating:

Ecommerce app example: H&M

The H&M mobile app offers a seamless shopping experience, blending style with convenience. Designed for fashion-forward users, it features the latest trends and exclusive deals. Users can browse, save favorites, and shop with ease.

So far, this ecommerce app has been downloaded over 50 million times. On Google Play, it has a 4.7-star rating and consistently gets positive reviews like this one:

Ecommerce app example: Chubbies

This is a great example of a smaller business benefiting from having an ecommerce app. Chubbies does not have the resources of a retailer like H&M, yet it launched its mobile app to improve the experiences of their shoppers.

So far, it has been only successful: the iOS version, for example, the app has a 4.9-star rating and thousands of positive customer reviews like this one:

Related content:

• Best clothing apps [reviewed]
• Top apps for buying and selling
• 30 Most Popular Apps on Google Play & App Store

Ecommerce app development process [basic steps]

The process of developing an ecommerce app consists of these steps:

1. Research
2. Planning
3. UX/UI design
4. Development
5. Testing
6. Release and maintenance

Step I: Research

Goal: Craft a strategic plan for the app’s development

Key Tasks: Designing the app’s concept, doing market analysis, creating user personas, researching competitors, and selecting the appropriate platform.

The initial phase is centered on strategizing for the project as a whole. This requires gathering comprehensive information to guide your decisions on all aspects.

Activities:

• Check out the competition. Look at similar competitors, what they offer, and read their reviews to find out what users like and don’t like about them
• Figure out the ideal user. Pin down who’s going to use your app and what they’re hoping to get out of it. Basically, sketch out your dream user, in details
• Set a few goals for your app. Based on what you’ve found about the market and your future users, nail down what you want your app to achieve
• Plan how to spread the word. Think about how you’re going to get people talking about your app (options are ads, influencers, and your website)
• Pick your tech tools. Choose the coding language and tools your developers will need to bring your app to life. Also, decide if you’re iOS, Android, or both platforms

Keep going with this detailed breakdown of this step: Discovery step in app development: importance, activities, & tips

Step II: Planning

Goal: Develop the app roadmap

Tasks: Defining use cases and their requirements, initiating MVP (Minimum Viable Product) development

In this phase, our focus shifts toward detailed planning, specifically towards crafting the product roadmap. This document serves as a strategic blueprint, outlining the key phases of the ecommerce app development while aligning with your business objectives.

A mobile app’s product roadmap includes:

• Use cases: Identifying a few specific scenarios where users will engage with the app and why
• Features: Defining functional components intended to facilitate users in accomplishing their objectives
• Milestones: Establishing scheduled checkpoints marking the initiation and completion of significant accomplishments
• Goals: Setting measurable project objectives defined by precise metrics.
• Activities: Enumerating the necessary tasks and processes required to achieve the established goals.
• Deadlines: Allocating timeframes for feature development or progression to subsequent stages.

Related: Why is it Important to Create a Good MVP and Where to Start?

Step III: UX/UI Design

Goal: Create easy app experiences

Activities: Making user journey maps, prototypes, and mockups

During the design phase, your input is crucial. That’s when you step in to share your thoughts on the designs to ensure the final product aligns with your vision.

Here’s what needs to be created at this stage:

• Wireframes: App sketches by UI/UX designers for visualizing the final product’s look and “feel”.
• User journey map: A visual representation of user sessions within the future app, including wireframes.
• Prototypes: Clickable images of app screens with hotspots, which are later tested for usability and flow
• Style guides: Compilation of all graphic elements and design guidelines to ensure consistent app design

Step IV: Development

Goal: Prepare the app for user usage

Activities: Coding the app

During this phase, your development team will turn UI prototypes into a functional app. This process is structured into intervals (typically spanning one to four weeks), with each period dedicated to advancing a specific feature. 

The duration of ecommerce app development can vary significantly, ranging from several weeks for simpler applications to potentially several months for more intricate ones. Your project team will provide an estimate of the timeline before initiating any coding.

Step V: Testing

Goal: Ensure error-free app performance

Activities: UX, device, performance, and security testing

At this step, the quality assurance (QA) team steps in. They ensure that the app is stable, fast, and secure by checking the features built by developers. 

To achieve this goal, the QA team conducts various types of testing to identify and report any bugs or issues in the app. These tests are crucial as they help identify potential problems that users may experience while using the app.

The methods may vary based on the project. Upon identifying an issue, testers provide developers with information to locate it inside the app. Once all errors are rectified, the ecommerce app becomes stable, secure, and capable of managing significant workloads.

Dive deeper: Types of Software Testing, Explained

Step VI: Release and maintenance

Goal: Ensure a smooth launch and sustained performance over time.

Activities: App launch, marketing, post-sales maintenance, and support.

Your ecommerce app is ready, it’s time to deploy it on the selected app store(s), whether it be Google Play for Android devices, App Store for iOS, or both.

However, before the actual release, it’s crucial to strategize promotion efforts. With a vast sea of 3.6 billion apps on Google Play alone, effective marketing is essential for attracting users and standing out from the competition.

Also, post-launch, ongoing maintenance support will be provided to ensure the ecommerce app’s continued performance and address any issues that may arise after sales.

Want to keep reading about how the apps are made? Get more details: Mobile App Development Process Stages

Ecommerce app development team

To create an ecommerce app, you need these people on your team:

• Project manager. This individual is tasked with overseeing the entire project (designing tasks, monitoring progress, facilitating communication, etc.)
• UI/UX designer. They focus on making your ecommerce app more user-friendly, guaranteeing a smooth and intuitive experience for everyone
• iOS developer. This is a software engineer who creates, deploys, and maintains apps for iOs devices
• Android developer. This specialist does pretty much the same tasks, but only for Android devices
• Backend developer. They work with databases and servers, create APIs and handle security protocols to ensure high stability and performance
• Quality Assurance (QA) tester. They do quality checks at all project stages, focusing on finding bugs, defects, security issues, and other problems.

Each team member, of course, has a huge role to play.

Let’s take project managers for example:

“For business owners, a project manager acts as their business consultant, risk assessor, and liaison with developers and other stakeholders. They possess comprehensive knowledge of the typical challenges and intricacies of ecommerce app development, ensuring optimal usage of limited time and resources.”

Zoya Boyko, Project Manager, IDAP

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Everything you need to know about each team member as a business owner:

• Project manager: what they do
• UX/UI Designer: roles & duties
• Responsibilities of software developers
• QA Engineers: roles and importance 
• Guide to software development teams

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Ecommerce app: essential features

Authorization

Provide users a choice whether they should register through email, phone number, or a social media account.

Source: Zara

User profile

This feature includes the user’s personal information (email, name and surname, shipping address, buying history, and wishlist). 

Source: Zara

Content feed + search

Add a real-time updated list of items tailored to user preferences to keep their interest. Include a search bar for users to find what they need, with filters for brand, color, size, season, and model.

Source: Bershka

Payment system

Provide a range of payment options for customers to pay for products. Include both major credit cards and other methods like Google Play, PayPal and Klarna.

Source: Bershka

Customer support options

That means adding a live chat or a call center to support the app. Chatbots can be implemented as well to help customer support agents.

Source: Bershka

Shopping cart

This is, of course, where customers add products for buying. Apart from the essential cart features, you might also need some upsell and cross-sell features.

Source: Zara

How much does developing an eCommerce app cost? 

The cost of an ecommerce app depends on the project complexity, the size of the team involved, time spent on app creation, the range of features, etc. 

Developing an eCommerce mobile app may take up to 500-600 hours. For example, the most time-consuming features are the feed (about 10 hours), a payment system (about 40 hours), and support chat (16 hours on average).

Based on the approximate time estimations, we can come up with the basic costs of ecommerce app development. 

However, it’ll still be a rather vague estimation, as the cost can be anywhere between $50,000+ and $151,000+ (as we still need to know more about the app’s complexity):

Another way to get an estimation is to look at the average hourly rates of ecommerce app developers in popular software development centers:

Data from taken from Upwork, Clutch, GlassDoor, and AppFutura

Get a more detailed breakdown: How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Cust

IDAP’s ecommerce app development expertise

If you’re in search of a seasoned IT partner to develop a top-notch ecommerce application—be it a shopping app, marketplace, or PWA—consider IDAP. 

With over a decade of experience in crafting high-quality applications, we are well-equipped to handle projects of any complexity (below is our Clutch.co profile):

Here’s why you should consider us:

• Our clients rate us 4.9 stars out of 5: read reviews
• We’ve successfully completed 200+ app projects: see our portfolio
• You’ll get a dedicated team that focuses solely on your project: how that works

In fact—

Let me show you an example of an ecommerce app we’ve designed.

Ecommerce app case study

5pazar is a dynamic online marketplace that bridges the gap between small to mid-sized businesses and consumers, facilitating the sale and purchase of items in seconds. 

This ecommerce app simplified the buying and selling experience by cutting the process into three efficient steps. 

• Sellers can upload a product by taking a photo with the app’s integrated camera feature, provide a description, and instantly make it available 
• Buyers can quickly find the product by using search and get in touch with the seller through live chat if they have questions
• If the seller and the buyer parties agree on the price, the buyer can finalize their purchase with a single click

Initially launched in Istanbul, Turkey, the app was later expanded to Morocco.

Read more: 5pazar app case study