Grow Your Ecwid Shop Empire with a Mobile App—No Coding Required

7 min read

Let’s face it: we’re spending more time than ever on our mobile devices. According to a recent survey, nearly half of the polled respondents stated that on average they spent five to six hours on their phone per day. That’s not even including work-related smartphone use!

Time spent on average on a smartphone on a daily basis in the US (Image: Statista)

If you’re not holding your smartphone right now, it’s probably in your purse or pocket. And what’s true for your customers is probably also true for you! That’s why it’s vital to pay attention and strategize to optimize your mobile shopping experience for your customers.

Turning your online store into a mobile app might sound complicated and expensive, but it’s actually easy and affordable. And Ecwid can do it for you!

Just imagine, your personalized, custom mobile app will look something like this:

We make it possible with ShopApp — an automated app solution that allows every Ecwid store owner to sell their products or services via native smartphone apps. It is fully responsive, meaning your store will look great on any device, and your customers will have instant access to your inventory. They can shop your store more easily than ever before.

Why You Need a Mobile App for Your Store

If you have a large loyal customer base, making a native mobile app for your customers to use benefits your business for a variety of reasons:

One more sales channel. Customers shop everywhere, online and offline, and you have to meet them where they are. What’s easier than to reach them on a device they use daily?
The app encourages customers to make a repeat purchase. The app makes it easy to reach loyal customers–your store is literally in their pockets.
Mobile-friendly shopping experience. A native mobile app works perfectly on your customers’ mobile devices and makes shopping online seamless.
No need to make the app yourself. We do all the complicated technical work for you.

Learn more: What Is Mobile Commerce and How to Get Started With It

How ShopApp Works

With ShopApp, every Ecwid store owner can publish a professional native mobile app for their customers to download from the App Store or Google Play, and place orders right from their phone.

The process is pretty simple: you apply for the program, we build your app and place it in the iOS App Store or Google Play for your customers to download. That’s it! Yes, you read that right–you don’t need to hire developers on a side or work with code yourself. Creating and publishing your app is delegated to us, and all you have to do is wait for purchases to come in. How cool is that?

The apps have all the features necessary to make selling via the app happen:

A full product catalog that synchronizes with your Ecwid store.
Your business information.
Your contact information such as phone or email.

The ShopApp Examples

The first ever mobile app we created was for Chris Evertsen, the owner of Karbon Speed. He sells handmade bike wheels and other cycling accessories via Ecwid. The Karbon Speed app shows a full catalog, some information about the business, and various ways to get in touch. You can see it all for yourself by downloading the iPhone app.

Since that time, we’ve created many more apps for Ecwid sellers. Here are some of them:

Aedan’s Burger

Street One Schagen

PlayTheMove

Book GYC

How to Get ShopApp for Your Store

If you use one of the Ecwid paid plans, you can get a ShopApp for a one-time fee of $590. For annual Unlimited plan users, the fee is $295.

To get the app:

Upgrade to the Annual Unlimited plan or one of the paid plans.
Fill out this form — specify your business information.
Create your developer accounts in Google Play and App Store.

Then we’ll begin working on your app. This process usually takes about two weeks. After that, we will submit the app to the App Store and Google Play for a review. After your app passes the review, it gets published. Then your customers can find your app in the App Store and Google Play, download and install it.

Visit our Help Center to learn more about ShopApp and get instructions on how to create your developer accounts in Google Play and App Store.

We believe ShopApp will bring convenience and increased opportunity to you and your customers. If you have any questions or ideas for improvements, email us at customizations@ecwid.com and we’ll respond as quickly as we can.

Start Selling in Your App

With Ecwid, selling via a mobile app is available to all business owners, no matter how big or small your store is. Now you can compete with bigger competitors and make the shopping experience even more seamless for your customers.

Now over to you: do you think your business could benefit from a store app? Or maybe you’re already using one?