Major Transformation Trends for Retail Mobile Apps Post COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the retail industry across the world and there has been a huge paradigm shift in consumer behavior and online market trends. Due to the lockdown, all the e-commerce expected sales and growth have been shattered and the growing trend has not changed with the easing restrictions! Right from 14.1% retail sales in 2019 to an expected 22% in 2023, the online e-commerce retail sales are growing with each passing day.

But with increasing sales and online customers, consumer behavior and market trends are also changing rapidly. Right from contactless delivery to quick delivery, right from custom product trends to rising demand for groceries and essentials, the retail industry has changed a lot since 2020 and so have the customer expectations. But if we look at all the changes and trends in the market, there has been one major factor that has been the cornerstone of all these trends and that is the Retail Mobile Apps. With the rising adaptation of m-commerce and Retail Mobile App, the marketing, delivery, and tracking tactics have changed completely, and not just the apps, all the smartphone capabilities are leveraged for an omnichannel marketing presence.

To help you understand the evolving market, we have listed all the major changes that have been observed during this past year and have also discussed how organizations can make their Retail Mobile App future proof:

Major Transformation Trends of 2020 for Retail Mobile Apps:

1. Evolved Supply Chain:

Transitioning from the long delivery periods to the next day delivery and same-day delivery of groceries and vegetables, the supply chain of online retail businesses has evolved greatly. But, while faster deliveries have helped enterprises create a competitive edge, higher delivery charges have been the biggest reason for cart abandonment! (Source)

So, the key to success is not just faster deliveries, but also making the deliveries economical! Organizations have to make sure that their supply chain and order management channels are streamlines and eased. You can introduce process automation and AI for certain activities and can also use the same for real-time communication with your customers. This will help you establish clear and transparent communication with your customers and keep them updated about their product deliveries.

2. Personalized shopping experience:

With increasing brand interactions and digital data points, enterprises can now easily track consumer behavior with the help of AI, and with the marketing automation capabilities integrated on your channel, enterprises are now delivering personalized shopping experiences on a micro-level. Apart from personalized experiences, Gen Z is also looking for personalized and customized products on online platforms. The idea is to deliver rare or limited edition products that are not available offline stores easily and provide customers a sense of exclusivity.

The key to success is to understand your target audience and create a uniform strategy that reflects on all the brand channels. With increased brand engagement and the introduction of IoT in the retail industry, there are many ways a marketer can get untampered customer data and can leverage AI to create reports that can help them make informed decisions. Use mediums like push notification, automation and cross-selling, and up-selling along with email marketing for marketing omnipresence and deliver delightful and personalized product experiences to your customers.

3. The rise of social commerce:

With the integration of social commerce on various platforms such as Shops on Facebook and checkout on Instagram, Social Media has become an integral part of mobile commerce! According to Statista’s report, retail customers are using social media to connect with and research brands. In the year 2019, 51 percent of global internet users aged 16 to 24 years used social networks to research products online, and overall, 43 percent of internet users started doing the same.

Thus, if you are planning your marketing tactics for increased customer reach and better lead conversion rate, social media marketing is one of the major contributors and benefactors and thus, it must be leveraged completely. Not only will your social media help you gain new customers, but it will also help you communicate your brand vision with your customers and help you gain brand loyal customers in the long run.

The goal is to introduce customer-centric reforms that are based on agility, innovation and effective supply chain management:

The market is changing quickly and to make your platform future-proof, you must introduce an innovation drive that focuses on agility in operations, customer-centric approaches, and effective supply chain management. Also, to ensure that your business has sustainable growth, ensure that while introducing these reforms the order execution cost is not affected. In fact, with automation and innovation, the goal must be of reducing cost and efficiency.

To establish a seamless digital transformation drive and create a sustainable and profitable retail mobile app, you must have a technology partner that shares your vision and provides end-to-end Retail Mobile App development services right from consulting to maintenance to development to upgrades.