The Problem with Shopping Apps and Why People Don’t Use Them
When you’re about to buy something online, how often do you use a specific retailer app? Chances are the answer is never. But why?
While the amount of consumers who shop online either from a browser or a mobile device has increased in recent years, the use of shopping apps has been struggling for a long time with no apparent solution.
Here’s a study from Business Insider that reveals some of the reasons behind this lack of mass adoption:
- 53% of global shoppers prefer using the retailer’s mobile website instead of the app.
- 31% have security concerns.
- 28% claim that apps take too much space on their mobile device.
- 19% shop with multiple retailers and do not want to download apps for each one.
- 10% said the app they tried either didn’t work or was difficult to use.
Most importantly, these stats haven’t changed much since 2016, the sentiment is very much the same.
As you can see, there is a challenge for most shopping apps to connect with consumers. Shoppers prefer to make their purchases via the website instead of downloading an extra application that adds more steps to the process, more space to their cellphones, and no noticeable benefits.
Even those users who have tried shopping apps on a regular basis just tend to delete them after they complete their purchases. When it comes to retailers, people are not always invested in their brands so they won’t care to download an app for each one. They just want to buy what they need and get on with their lives.
💰 How to Provide Additional Value
If a retail app doesn’t add extra value to their shopping journey, there’s no point in having one, to begin with. Some of the biggest brands out there like Forever 21 and McDonald’s have some of the lowest-rated apps among retailers, and that’s because they don’t offer much to enhance the customer experience.
Here are some of the things that shopping apps could incorporate to provide additional value:
➡️ Real-time discounts: Everyone loves a good offer, but in order to add value retailers need to make their customers feel like they can’t get these deals anywhere else. Users should also know how often to expect new discounts and how much time they have to use them.
Providing exclusivity and urgency is a good way to engage their users, however, there’s an extra feature that could take your app to the next level and that’s personalization.
➡️ Gamification: The Starbucks app is a pretty good example of gamification done right. Users collect stars to win free items and can play seasonal games from time to time, providing a clear motivation for them to come back and check their progress.
Adding features that encourage users to play and collect rewards with every purchase they make is a smart way to enhance their loyalty.
➡️ Customizable notifications: Most shopping apps have a regular system of notifications for certain things, but retailers could go one step further and give users the option to customize their notifications according to what they really care about. If a customer is waiting for a specific product to be available, he could choose to be notified once it’s back in stock, which is way more helpful than being spammed with useless information.
Once again, personalization is a key differentiator that adds real value to a shopping app.
➡️ Social interaction: Most of the apps that we use on a regular basis are social media apps and it’s the social aspect that always keeps us coming back for more. If retail apps can apply this feature in some capacity, they would already be miles ahead of the competition.
Creating contests, and letting users share reviews and shopping wishlists are a sure way to ensure interaction and create a community around the brands.
🤔 What’s the Solution?
There’s one solution that fixes most of the problems discussed above while providing additional value and engaging features. There needs to be a single app that connects all the retailers, brands and shops in the same place. That way people don’t need to download multiple apps for each operation, they can save up some mobile space and also interact with a smoother interface.
Our team at Reckoon is working to make this a reality! The goal is to create a platform that only requires a single sign-in to access everything you need when it comes to your shopping experience. Our focus is on personalization as we plan to provide users with a WishBasket so they can add items to their list and get deals and recommendations based on what they actually like with geo-specific alerts.
Furthermore, shoppers can become brand ambassadors if they really love a brand, and we’re taking their security seriously by allowing users to have complete control over their data.
Finally, we’re considering all the ways to provide value that we mentioned before like real-time deals, personalization, gamification, customizable features, and social interaction. We’re making shopping easier than ever!
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