According to Insider Intelligence’s forecast, mobile commerce market sales will reach $534.18 billion in 2024, of which two devices contributing to this incredible number are smartphones and tablets. Smartphones alone account for 87.2% of mobile commerce sales. These figures are the most convincing answer to the above consideration: Yes, businesses need to build an eCommerce app.  

The Process of Creating An eCommerce App

Building an eCommerce app requires a lot of effort and serious work because it is a complex process with many stages and the involvement of many relevant. Below are 8 summarized implementation steps that will help businesses understand the building process of an eCommerce app to make their business operation more effective. 

Identifying Objectives

The first step of the process is to determine the objective of the eCommerce app, including deciding which products will be sold through the app and identifying the target audience. This way, businesses can build an app that meets their needs and quickly achieves the objective.

Businesses should do market research to understand their target audience’s needs, preferences, and behaviors in various ways, such as through surveys, interviews, etc. It helps them define the app’s features and the marketing strategies to promote it. Moreover, businesses should find the app’s unique selling points that differentiate it from its competitors, making it easy to attract potential customers and stand out. 

Define Must-Have Feature Set

After identifying the objectives, the business proceeds to the next step: identifying the vital features of the eCommerce app. Here are some recommendations:

• Product Catalog: The app should include a catalog of the business’s products, clear product images, detailed descriptions, and comments about products. 
• Search function: Not only websites, but eCommerce apps also need a search bar to help customers easily search for products they are interested in.
• Shopping cart: The shopping cart feature allows users to add products to their cart, view the list inside, and add or remove items from the cart.
• Payment integration: To help the payment process run smoothly, businesses can integrate multiple payment methods to provide customers with various options such as cash on delivery (COD), credit/debit cards, eWallets, etc.
• Social media integration: This integration not only helps customers log in quickly but also encourages them to connect with the business on social media platforms.
• Push notification: For eCommerce apps, push notifications play a crucial role as a communication channel with customers and support businesses in marketing campaigns.

Select Platform and App Type

• Select platform (iOS/Android)

The selection of a platform for building an eCommerce app depends on many factors, including target customers, budget, development stage, necessary features, expansion needs, etc. iOS and Android are two popular platforms in today’s market. In most cases, businesses will build eCommerce apps on both platforms. However, those with limited resources, start with one platform first and then expand to the other later. 

Additionally, if a business is targeting customers in the European and North American markets, iOS would be the right choice because iOS dominates these markets. However, because Android has a superior market share in Asia, businesses with plans to penetrate the Asian market should consider choosing Android.

• Select App Type (Native app/Hybrid app)

Any business looking to build an eCommerce app will have to choose between a Native app and a Hybrid app. Developing a Native app refers to building a specific app for a specific platform (iOS & Android), using the respective programming languages of the platform – Swift/Objective-C for iOS and Java/Kotlin for Android. Native apps can provide great performance and user experience as they are optimized for the specific platform the app is built on. However, building Native apps can be costly and time-consuming. 

Developing a Hybrid app involves building a single app that works on both iOS and Android platforms, using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Hybrid apps can speed up the development cycle and be less expensive in terms of budget and time compared to native apps. However, Hybrid apps cannot provide the same performance and user experience as Native apps.

Therefore, the choice between developing a Native app or a Hybrid app depends on the budget, development process, and the desired user experience. If the business has a surplus budget to invest in user experience, then developing a Native app is a good choice. However, if the business needs to bring its eCommerce app to the market quickly but has budget constraints, then it should focus on developing a Hybrid app.

Related Reading: Native App & Hybrid App: Key Differences, Pros & Cons

In-house or Outsourced App Development

In the next step, businesses decide whether to use an in-house team or collaborate with a specialized agency, which depends on the budget, experience, expertise, and resources. Below are some pros and cons of the two options: In-housing and Outsourcing. 

In-house development team

Pros:

• The team will control the entire development process.
• The in-house team can communicate and make decisions directly.
• The in-house team will deeply understand the project and the business goals.

Cons:

• It can be expensive in terms of budget and time to recruit, train, and maintain an in-house development team.
• If the in-house expertise and resources are insufficient, it may take a long time to build the app, affecting the product launch process.

Development partner (Outsourcing):

Pros:

• The business benefits from a partner with a lot of experience building eCommerce apps.
• The eCommerce app development process may be faster than an in-house team because the partner’s expertise is proven.
• Saves budget and time in recruiting, training, and maintaining an in-house team.

Cons:

• It takes a lot of time for the business analysis phase so that the partner can understand the business operations and goals to make decisions on the app development.
• The communication and decision-making process between both parties may be difficult due to geographic distance.
• If choosing the wrong partner, the final result may not meet the requirements of the business.

Create UI/UX Design 

The UI/UX design of an eCommerce app refers to creating a visually appealing and user-friendly interface to help users easily search for and purchase products. Here are some suggestions for businesses to consider when designing the UI/UX for eCommerce apps:

• The design should reflect the image and brand value.
• The design should be simple to enhance user experience and easy navigation.
• Use high-quality product images and keep file sizes small to minimize load times.
• Consistent design throughout the entire app, including colors, fonts, etc.
• Ensure the design is responsive and performs well on various screen sizes.
• Use clear and intuitive navigation systems to help customers find out what they need on the app.
• Collect user feedback and make necessary adjustments to improve UI/UX design.

Build the MVP

In eCommerce app development, MVP stands for  Minimum Viable Product, which is typically a condensed version of the app that is launched to the market before the official launch of the full app. Building an MVP for an eCommerce app usually focuses on developing the core features and ensuring those features work effectively before adding additional features.

As listed, the most crucial core features may include a product catalog, search bar, shopping cart, payment methods, etc. When releasing an MVP, the business must ensure that it is error-free and meets the needs of the target customers. The goal of an MVP is to understand the customer’s thoughts on the product, minimize risk, and allocate resources effectively before launching the full product to the market.

Gather Feedback

After building and releasing the MVP, businesses should collect feedback from users through various channels such as social media, surveys, or reviews on the App Store or Google Play to gather their opinions on the experience when using the eCommerce app. Moreover, businesses should carefully review the feedback and use it to make decisions about how to improve the app. In particular, they should prioritize the most important issues users are facing and resolve them quickly. 

Refine and Launch the app

After gathering and reviewing user feedback, businesses can will refine the app and conduct a second round of testing to ensure the app performs well and the improvements have enhanced the user experience. Once the refining and second round of testing is done, businesses can release the product to the market and run marketing campaigns to reach target customers. However, the business needs to closely monitor the performance of the eCommerce app and regularly collect feedback from customers while continuously improving to meet the ever-changing demand of users and maintain a competitive advantage in the market. 

3 Things To Keep In Mind 

Security

It is a top priority factor that businesses should put their minds to when building an eCommerce application. When users download, register an account, and start using the app, their private data such as login information, personal information, and payment information will be stored on the system. Therefore, businesses should comply with general regulations related to security issues and provide customer information as well as deploy secure payment gateways, and use SSL encryption or two-factor authentication to protect user data of the eCommerce app.

Stability

The stability and reliability of an eCommerce app are crucial for a business to provide an incredible user experience. Customers typically prefer apps that run smoothly without any bugs or errors. However, releasing a flawless eCommerce app without any bugs is unrealistic. Therefore, businesses need to conduct thorough testing to identify and fix any issues before launching, while also regularly maintaining and updating the app to improve its performance and prevent or correct any errors that may arise.

Scalability

This is the ability of an eCommerce app to handle increasing traffic, user volume, and shopping transactions without affecting the performance or functionality of the app. When getting started, businesses should predict the app’s future growth and place to build an app that is easily scalable when necessary. Moreover, businesses need to plan for the addition of advanced features to meet expansion needs.

In summary, security, stability, and scalability are three factors to consider when building an eCommerce app. By focusing on these three factors, businesses can provide customers with a safe, reliable, and scalable app that corresponds to the development of the business.

Above is the general process of 8 steps for building an eCommerce app with some important notes during the implementation. With years of experience implementing eCommerce for businesses from many countries, SECOMM understands the difficulties businesses will face when implementing eCommerce apps.

Contact us today for a free consultation.

According to Statista, by 2023, there will be approximately 6.9 billion smartphone users worldwide, which will lead to the emergence of mobile apps to enrich user experience. That is why many businesses find ways to build and develop mobile apps to interact with their customers. However, with many platforms and devices around, mobile app development can be a complex and costly process. There are two most popular types of mobile apps including Native Apps and Hybrid Apps.

Both apps have their own advantages and disadvantages, so businesses should consider their demand and resources to choose the right type of app.

Native App

What is Native app?

Native app is a type of mobile application that is developed specifically for a particular platform or operating system, such as iOS or Android. Native apps use different programming languages depending on the platform they are built on: Objective-C or Swift are the main programming languages for iOS, while Java or Kotlin are the main programming languages for Android. 

Advantages of Native App

• Performance: Native apps are designed to run directly on the device’s operating system, which means that they can fully leverage the device’s capabilities. Therefore, the app’s performance is faster and the user experience is smoother. 
• Access to device features: Native apps have full access to the hardware features of mobile devices such as the camera, GPS, contacts, microphone, etc. Developers can create mobile apps with advanced features and functionality that hybrid apps cannot help. 
• User experience: Because Native apps are optimized for specific platforms, they provide an intuitive and rich user experience. Users also can use native apps even when they are not connected to the Internet. 
• Security: The data security of Native apps is high because they are optimized for specific platforms, so developers must comply with certain principles for securing user data and information on each platform. 

Disadvantages of Native App

In addition to outstanding advantages, Native apps still have some limitations to be aware of:

• Separate codebase: This is a major disadvantage of Native apps because it requires a high level of skills and expertise in developing tools and programming languages for each platform. Moreover, the process of maintaining and updating the application version must be done separately for each codebase, leading to a lack of consistency on iOS but not on Android, or the app versions on Android are updated regularly while on iOS they are updated slower and vice versa. Because businesses have to create a separate version of the app for each platform, this can limit the app’s reach to many target customers. 
• Costly and time-consuming: Because native apps have a separate codebase for each platform, businesses will spend a lot of time and costs to develop, maintain, and update app versions. 

Native apps will be suitable for businesses that want to build mobile apps with high performance, diverse features, and a focus on user experience. However, this choice requires a lot of development and maintenance costs, as well as significant time and effort to be put in. 

Hybrid App

What is Hybrid app?

Hybrid app is a type of mobile application built using web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and then packaged in a Native app container. This allows hybrid apps to run on multiple platforms or different operating systems, including iOS and Android. 

Frameworks for developing hybrid apps include React Native, Flutter, Xamarin, and Ionic. 

Advantages of Hybrid App

• Single Codebase: This is a major advantage of hybrid apps because developers can create an app that runs on multiple platforms with a single codebase instead of creating separate app versions for each platform like native apps. This helps businesses save a considerable amount of budget, for example, instead of finding developers specialized in both iOS and Android platforms to build a mobile app, they only need to find someone with expertise in hybrid apps. Additionally, since hybrid apps are built using web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, developers can leverage existing web development skills and expertise to speed up the development process. 

• Time and cost savings: With a single codebase that runs on multiple platforms, businesses will develop hybrid apps faster and at a lower cost. Also, maintenance will be easier since update versions are made on a single codebase and applied simultaneously across all platforms.  

Disadvantages of Hybrid App

In addition to the advantages mentioned above, hybrid apps also have some drawbacks that businesses need to consider when building them. 

• Performance: Compared to native apps, hybrid apps have pooper performance and sometimes experience lag or stuttering during use. 
• Limited access to device features: Unlike native apps, hybrid apps have limited access to devise hardware features such as cameras, contacts, microphones, etc. This can significantly impact the user experience of the app. 
• User experience: Platforms such as iOS or Android have different rules and operating methods, so a design that is used across most hybrid apps may not be suitable for each platform’s operating rules. This can result in a poor and disjointed user experience. Additionally, users may not be able to use the apps without an Internet connection. 
• Security: Because hybrid apps are built using web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and are compatible with multiple platforms, they are vulnerable to cyber-attacks. 

Hybrid apps are a good choice for businesses that want to create a mobile app that works on multiple platforms and devices, with a faster development time and lower costs than native apps. However, hybrid apps still have many limitations in terms of performance, user experience, etc. Therefore, businesses should consider this before deciding to build a hybrid app.

Comparison Table

Facing the rapid development of mobile apps, quickly building a proprietary app is an urgent mission for every business. With the set of advantages and disadvantages summarized of the two most popular types of applications today: Native app and Hybrid app, the decision will depend on the purpose of each business. 

SECOMM has gained many years of experience implementing eCommerce for many customers in many countries, understanding the difficulties and challenges each business faces when deploying mobile applications. 

Contact us today to receive a free consultation.

According to data compiled by Forbes Advisor, global Mobile Commerce sales reached $415 billion in 2022 and are expected to reach $710 billion in 2025. 

In fact, Mobile Commerce dominates the eCommerce industry, accounting for about 73%, and the use of eCommerce apps is growing faster than any other type of app on the market, with an annual growth rate of 54%. This shows that eCommerce apps contribute significantly to sales on mobile devices and implementing eCommerce apps is considered the right path for every business in the mobile commerce era. 

Boost Brand Awareness

Increasing brand awareness is one of the benefits that eCommerce apps bring to businesses. Since most customers spend hours on mobile devices (e.g smartphones), it’s easier for brands to connect with them through eCommerce apps. However, to fully leverage the other capabilities of eCommerce apps, brands need to provide a rich and high-quality mobile app experience. As Statista has noted, about 32%-34% of app users will uninstall if the app is difficult to use or has too many unwanted ads. 

Offer Personalized Shopping Experience

eCommerce websites help deliver personalized shopping experiences with algorithms and support tools but eCommerce apps enable businesses to offer personalized special incentives or promotional programs right in the app without having to access the websites via browsers on desktop or mobile. As a result, among various methods, business owners can combine push notifications, and instead of sending the same push notification to all app users, they can send personalized notifications based on user behavior. 

Increase Conversion Rates

As mentioned, customers tend to love and prioritize shopping on eCommerce mobile apps instead of eCommerce mobile web. Therefore, the conversion rate of the mobile app will be higher than that of the mobile web. The graph below indicates the different conversion rates between the mobile app and mobile web. 

Mobile app users view products more than 286% and add items to the cart at a higher rate of 85% compared to mobile web users. Moreover, the graph shows that the conversion rate of mobile apps is over 130% higher than that of the mobile web. Naturally, when the conversion rate increases, it will lead to an increase in sales revenue and profits.

Increase Average Order Value 

Building an eCommerce app not only boosts brand awareness, enhances customer experience, and improves conversion rate but also increases the average order value (AOV). This is the average dollar amount customers spend each time an order is placed on the eCommerce app. 

Customers prefer shopping on eCommerce apps because it’s convenient for them to browse through products and make purchases. Therefore, they have more opportunities to browse through a wider range of products. This enables businesses to apply cross-selling and upselling techniques, suggesting complementary products to encourage customers to make additional purchases. As a result, the increased AOV drives up revenue and profits. 

Reduce Cart Abandonment

Some data on cart abandonment has been reported by Ruby Garage:

One of the top reasons for that is the long and confusing checkout process. eCommerce apps will help businesses reduce cart abandonment with the optimized checkout process. When customers buy products, relevant information will be stored in the app’s system, so they don’t have to re-enter their information but complete the purchase with a few taps. In addition, businesses can also shorten the checkout process to improve cart abandonment rates by integrating various payment methods into the mobile app. 

Improve Customer Retention and Loyalty

For every eCommerce business, increasing sales revenue is a valuable achievement. However, it’s crucial to point out how many regular customers contribute to this success. According to the Harvard Business Review, the cost of acquiring a new customer is more expensive than retaining and satisfying an existing one, ranging from 5-25 times higher. But, if the customer retention rate increases by just 5%, profits can increase from 5% to 95%. As a result, businesses need to put their minds to existing customers. 

There is a 50% chance that customers will return to an eCommerce app within 30 days of their last purchase. In other words, businesses can increase customer retention and loyalty with their eCommerce app in several ways, including

• Leveraging customer data to provide personalized shopping experiences;
• Using push notifications as a means of communicating with customers;
• Offering exclusive incentives to encourage users to download and use the app;
• Building a loyalty program to encourage people to return to the app, shop, and interact more to earn reward points.

With the incredible benefits of mobile eCommerce apps, businesses are increasingly motivated to quickly build their app to enrich the customer shopping experience while capturing the Mobile Commerce trend.

With years of experience in implementing eCommerce for many businesses in many countries, SECOMM understands the difficulties and obstacles in developing eCommerce apps.

Contact us today for free advice.

The SHEIN app is known as one of the most successful eCommerce apps in the world today, and now it has become the most downloaded mobile app in the shopping category in 2022 with 229 million downloads and installs from both Google Play and the App Store.

In the Vietnamese market, SHEIN is also highly rated by users for their shopping experience on the app. In the latest update, SHEIN added a discount program for some fashion items of up to 70%, as well as fixing some bugs and improving performance to provide users with a better experience. 

• Downloads: +100M
• Reviews: 4.5 ★ (Google Play), 4.4 ★ (App Store)
• Rankings: #4 in the Shopping category

Download the SHEIN app: Google Play | App Store

Uniqlo VN

When entering the Vietnamese market in 2019, Uniqlo quickly captured and responded to the local consumers’ fashion shopping trends, which made the brand very popular. The Uniqlo VN app stands out with many necessary functions for a consistent shopping experience between mobile devices and other channels. In order to attract more users, Uniqlo will offer a 150,000 VND discount voucher for anyone who downloads the app and signs up as a new member. 

Although the Uniqlo VN app is highly rated for user experience, the brand still keeps updating and improving its features. In the latest update, Uniqlo has improved the quality of product image display and adjusted the accurate display of the number of products available in-store.

• Downloads: +500K
• Reviews: 4.7 ★ (Google Play), 4.9 ★ (App Store)
• Rankings: #10 in the Shopping category

Download the Uniqlo VN app: Google Play | App Store

Hasaki

Hasaki not only has nationwide brick-and-mortar stores and an eCommerce website but also develops a mobile app to offer its customers enriched shopping experiences and attractive incentives. 

By using the Hasaki app, customers can conveniently search and purchase products anytime, anywhere, track their order status, and make appointments for spa and clinic services at the store. One thing that makes Hasaki special is the free delivery within 2 hours for all customers, whether shopping at the store, eCommerce website, or mobile app. Despite getting much critical feedback for usage quality, Hasaki is still very receptive, fixing bugs and optimizing performance in the recent updates.

• Downloads: +100K
• Reviews: 3.3 ★ (Google Play), 4.3 ★ (App Store)
• Rankings: #12 in the Shopping category

Download the Hasaki app: Google Play | App Store

Go! & Big C

After rebranding, the Big C supermarket chain has been renamed Go!. As a result, the mobile app of this business is now called Go! & Big C. Customers who shop on the app will enjoy many benefits, including:

• Free shipping for orders over 300,000 VND purchased on the mobile app;
• Daily promotions will be automatically updated;
• Create shopping lists directly on the app;
• Participate in weekly games to win coupons or vouchers;
• Track & accumulate points directly in the app.

The Go! & Big C app is regularly updated to improve the online shopping experience for customers. In the most recent update, the developer has improved the payment function, fixed bugs, optimized performance, and image display capabilities.

• Downloads: +1M
• Reviews: 2.8 ★ (Google Play), 2.4★ (App Store)
• Rankings: #13 in the Shopping category

Download the Go! & Big C: Google Play | App Store

Con Cung

Con Cung is one of the first childcare brands to develop its mobile app to provide customers with a consistent shopping experience across different channels, including physical stores, mobile apps, and eCommerce websites. 

The Con Cung app has received very positive reviews from users on both Google Play and App Store for user experience, product quality, and promotional programs. However, the brand still maintains the practice of testing and improving certain features such as displaying detailed driver’s information when customers place orders for the 1-hour delivery service and fixing bugs related to payment via eWallet.

• Downloads: +1M
• Reviews:  4.7 ★ (Google Play), 4.8 ★ (App Store)
• Rankings: #24 in the Shopping category

Download the Con Cung app: Google Play | App Store

Dien May Xanh

Dien May Xanh is a big player in the Vietnamese home appliance industry that has successfully captured the market trend and quickly developed a mobile app to reach the huge smartphone user base in Vietnam – approximately 69 million users. 

In addition to massive promotional programs on special occasions, Dien May Xanh also provides customers with discounted payment programs using various methods such as Buy Now Pay Later, QR Code, etc. All of these are carried out quickly and easily both on the website and the mobile app. 

• Download: +1M 
• Reviews: 4.0 ★ (Google Play), 2.3 ★ (App Store)
• Rankings: #31 in the Shopping category

Download the app: Google Play | App Store

LixiBox

The Vietnamese mobile commerce market has witnessed the entrance of another famous cosmetics retail brand, LixiBox. Similar to Hasaki, LixiBox also continuously updates its app to enhance the shopping experience of customers.

Moreover, the brand offers many special incentives to attract users such as a 20% discount for the first order placed on the app, a referral program where customers can receive 500,000 VND, a magazine section where users can update the latest beauty trends right on the app, and a LixiBox Feed section where customers can share their experiences on products and services.

• Downloads: +100K
• Reviews:  4.4 ★ (Google Play), 4.4 ★ (App Store)
• Ranking: #113 in the Shopping category

Download the LixiBox app: Google Play | App Store 

Long Chau

When the Long Chau mobile app was launched during the Covid epidemic, it quickly received support from customers everywhere because they could buy medicine and healthcare products online and have them delivered to their door, while also earning reward points for their next purchase. In addition, the app has a call and message feature that allows users to contact pharmacists online for free in-depth advice and support. Furthermore, Long Chau is the first pharmacy to pioneer the Buy Now Pay Later service with 0% interest, helping patients and customers find a new convenient way to make purchases. 

User experience is a particularly important factor that Long Chau focuses on, and the app regularly releases updates. These updates include optimizing the login function, improving the payment function, integrating payment via eWallet, synchronizing order status on the website and app, suggesting reordering, and more.

• Downloads: +1M 
• Reviews: 4.5 ★ (Google Play), 4.8 ★ (App Store)
• Ranking: #1 in the Medical category

Download the Long Chau app: Google Play | App Store

Pharmacity

Pharmacity is a mobile app developed by the convenient pharmacy chain – Pharmacity in 2018. Similar to Long Chau, the Pharmacity app was created to provide customers and patients with a convenient and fast shopping experience, along with online consultation services from a team of highly specialized pharmacists. 

In its latest update, Pharmacity has improved and added some features, including a gift program for first-time users who download the app and sign up as members.

• Downloads: +100K
• Reviews: 2.2 ★ (Google Play), 3.9 ★ (App Store)
• Ranking: #4 in the Medical category

Download the Pharmacity app: Google Play | App Store

The Coffee House

In 2021, the famous beverage brand The Coffee House officially launched its mobile app with the same name, aimed at providing customers with the experience of ordering drinks for delivery or picking up at the store, along with many reward point programs for attractive incentives.

After two years of development, the new version of The Coffee House app features a completely new interface and many special features designed to enhance the customer experience both on the app and at physical stores. 

• Downloads: +500K
• Reviews: 3.7 ★ (Google Play), 4.7 ★ (App Store)
• Ranking: #20 in the Cuisine category

Download the app: Google Play | App Store

​​Mobile eCommerce apps are one of the rising trends in mobile commerce. As a result, developing mobile shopping apps is the first smart move to achieve sustainable growth in the booming era of mobile commerce.

Contact SECOMM now for advice on how to implement and develop the best strategies to dominate the Mobile Commerce market.

The global pandemic has created an unprecedented boost for the eCommerce industry, forcing business leaders to go for digital transformation whether they want to or not. However, there are still many businesses that are hesitant and encounter difficulties while embracing it.

In addition to selecting an eCommerce platform and building a website, they can leverage incredible marketing channels to develop an eCommerce marketing strategy.

What is eCommerce Marketing?

eCommerce Marketing, also known as Electronic Commerce Marketing, is the practice of using various marketing channels such as social media marketing, content marketing, SEO, or email marketing to increase the efficiency of eCommerce operations. To be more specific, eCommerce Marketing does the following:

• Directs traffic to an eCommerce website;
• Helps a brand appear in front of the target audience;
• Makes it easy for people searching for products the company  sells and to discover the company’s website;
• Converts website visitors into new potential customers;
• Encourage existing customers to make repeat purchases;
• Enhances the post-purchase shopping experience to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. 
• Drive more frequent and larger orders at the eCommerce website.

The purpose of eCommerce Marketing is to enhance brand awareness and boost sales. Therefore, if a business doesn’t have an eCommerce Marketing strategy, then it’s really hard for their eCommerce website to generate conversion despite the beautiful interface and well-built functional system.

Most popular eCommerce Marketing Channels

Social Media Marketing

Currently, most brands and content creators take advantage of the popularity of social media as the first step for connecting and serving their target audience with content that interests them. eCommerce businesses can do the same by using engaging content and images to grab the audience’s attention and direct traffic to their website.

In this case, the eCommerce website interface must have a high level of visual appeal, especially showcasing prominent products to create inspirational shopping. Moreover, businesses can implement social commerce to directly sell products on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and so forth.

Content Marketing

This is an effective marketing channel that brings long-term results for eCommerce businesses as well as a sustainable branding tool for their brands. Currently, various types of content are widely used, including

• Blogs;
• Videos;
• Podcasts;
• Educational content;
• User-generated content, such as images, videos, forum discussions, testimonials, etc.

The goal of content marketing is to answer questions, provide information, promote the brand, suggest and guide customers in choosing products, and even entertain them. With optimized content, customers will quickly find out the website and the business can increase the conversion rate. Moreover, the business can leverage that content for the next eCommerce marketing campaigns.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

SEM includes both Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and paid advertising. While SEO requires marketers to understand Google’s ranking algorithm to optimize their content to meet Google’s evaluation criteria, SEM relies on various campaigns such as pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, display campaigns, or product advertising campaigns like Google Shopping Ads. 

On Google, PPC campaigns ensure that potential customers will see the link leading to the brand’s website when they enter search terms that match the selected campaign keywords. That is the reason why eCommerce businesses frequently utilize Google Adwords and run PPC campaigns to advertise their product pages.

This way enhances the chances of searchers clicking on the link and making a purchase decision before leaving the eCommerce website, leading to a notable increase in conversion rates.

Influencer Marketing

A reliable influencer can be a brand’s ‘best friend’. The introduction or endorsement of an influencer can help businesses quickly increase sales, optimize marketing ROI, and raise brand awareness. In addition, Influencer Marketing leverages the trust in an individual’s persuasive abilities and self-confidence to influence and encourage their followers to make purchasing decisions.

Influencer marketing is a highly effective eCommerce marketing channel in that eCommerce brands are more likely to continually find ways to collaborate with influential individuals to drive recognition and emotional shopping for specific products or services

Email Marketing

This is one of the oldest categories of Digital Marketing. Today, in the eCommerce world, email marketing still plays a very special role that enables businesses to automate campaigns toward targeting subscribers from different segments or stages in the customer journey

However, businesses should be careful in selecting and categorizing the target groups in their email list, to send the right content to the right target audience. This way, businesses can maintain the trust of potential customers at a time when privacy and personal data security have become increasingly important to Internet users.

Therefore, they should be cautious in building their email list if email marketing is a part of their eCommerce marketing strategy.   

With all things considered, if there is no eCommerce Marketing, eCommerce websites are virtually unknown. The only way for a website to gain brand recognition, attract more online customers, and generate consistent and regular revenue is to effectively implement target marketing activities. 

With a wealth of experience successfully implementing eCommerce for many customers in various countries in recent years, SECOMM understands the difficulties and obstacles businesses face when undertaking tasks related to eCommerce marketing strategy. 

Contact SECOMM today to receive free support and consultation.