What Makes a Good Shopping App?

A few years ago, as technology has increased dramatically, the trend has shown that mobile devices are gradually becoming the technology that people spend the most time on. “Ding”. Good marketers saw this as a potential market. Now, according to the report in 2019, there are approximately 5.5 million apps out there. We cannot neglect the power of apps and how much benefits apps have brought to each participated business. Another study shows that 82% of internet users in the U.S. have used a mobile device to shop online, and even 35% of American consumers only shop via mobile devices. Nowadays, there are some brick-and-mortar businesses that have apps; some online stores that also own apps; and some app developers that only target the app market. This trend starts making people wonder “what kind of retailer app is the good app?” Today, I will use web-based clothing retailer, ASOS Fashion, as an example and break down with you the top traits for a good shopping app

Logo
Before we tap into the app, we should look at the app logo picture first. A logo is supposed to be eye-catching and distinctive from its competitors. All the colors, fonts, and images need to be considered carefully when designing it. ASOS has a plain and simple logo. It doesn’t make a good first impression for people who don’t recognize the app, not really eye-catching. But, I like the color, black and white, because it easily stands out from its competitors and other apps on your phone.

Aesthetic
When you tap the ASOS app, you can see that it use s pictures with words to click instead of just words. It’s out of ordinary but really effective. As an apparel retailer, people expect to see more pictures of products you got. There are still words, but they are under each picture, describing the category of each picture. This is a new smart design to me. At first, I thought I was browsing on the web, not an app. With the white background and a lot of pictures taken with young and early adults, this app is full of energy and easily attracts its young people who are its target audience.

AR
Augmented Reality has been popularly used in apps. ASOS, however, doesn’t employ this technology. Honestly, it is a huge loss for them. We all know one of the differences between shopping online or on mobile and in-store is the fitting room. Customers can try out any apparel they want in-store, while they cannot do that online. This is when AR comes to play. AR technology can help customers make better decisions. In some ways, customers can feel like they are using a fitting room as they are using the AR. ASOS may lose some customers due to not having this feature.

Navigation
An app should never be complicated to use. Every industry, especially clothing retailers, has substitutes. Since downloading an app takes a second, people would want to switch to another app when they feel the app is hard to use. ASOS has an excellent navigator bar, which includes new products, search engine, cart, saved items, and account. These five functions are clear to see and use. They also fill the basic needs of customers.

Long-term Engagement
As a retailer, your app has to make business sense and your purpose of this app is to connect between you and customers in order to build a long-term relationship with them. The key to do that is to build communication and always exceed expectations. ASOS has some limited-time sale and new features upcoming in the app. This helps keep its customers engaged with this app for the long-term. They definitely want to come back and check out for more products on sale. ASOS also has a feedback system in the app. Customers are encouraged to send any feedback or ask any questions about the products or the app. Useful functions like these are why customers would save space for this app.

Takeaway
For people who want to set up an apparel shopping app, ASOS is one nice sample to follow. The design and the information on the app are always up-to-date and on-trend. One of key things when making this kind of apps is to ensure that customers feel comfortable using it. ASOS uses pictures and large-enough words so customers don’t feel dizzy when shopping. I would also recommend people who have no intention of purchasing any clothes to download this app too. The app has a stylish fashion and is updated daily. I can use this app to see what is new in the fashion industry or how I should dress for certain events.

Wish you all have an excellent week!

TC