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If you plan to attract new customers, enhance sales, build your brand image or improve the customer experience, you need to own a mobile app.

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The question is really a business-decision problem more than a technical one. Posts from , and capture the typical viewpoints: apps can help, not every customer will use one, and product type matters. The practical next step is a short ROI checklist that ties customer behavior to development and marketing cost before committing to an app.

Ask these concrete questions: do customers buy frequently enough to justify retention spend? Is average order value and margin high enough that a small lift in conversion covers development plus ongoing maintenance? Do you need device features (camera, location, offline, push) that a web site cannot provide reliably? Is there a marketing plan to drive installs and keep users active? If the answers point toward repeat buyers, useful device features, or clear retention tactics (loyalty, targeted offers), an app is likely to pay off.

If uncertainty remains, choose a low-risk path: build a focused MVP (3 features max) and measure. Typical MVP priorities are fast secure checkout, saved payment, robust analytics (event tracking and funnels), and one engagement lever (push notifications or loyalty). Compare three technical approaches—native, cross-platform (React Native / Flutter), or a progressive web app—by development speed, cost, performance needs, and app-store friction. Remember to budget for updates, monitoring, privacy compliance, and user-acquisition costs.

Measure results on short cycles: conversion lift vs mobile web, cohort retention (day 1/7/30), CAC vs LTV, and average order value. Run a 60–90 day pilot, instrument analytics from day one, and iterate on the top metric that moves revenue. If the pilot shows clear uplift, scale the investment; if not, reinvest in improving the mobile web experience or alternative channels.

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Member Avatar for rproffitt

I disagree. I don't consider using the Amazon or other ecommerce mobile apps a plus while shopping. I wait till I get on my computer at home.

Member Avatar for Dani

It depends what the ecommerce site is selling. If it's consumables or impulse buys, then absolutely I agree. I always do my weekly supermarket shopping in bed with Instacart or Amazon apps. If they didn't have apps, I would not find navigating their websites to be nearly as frustrating-free. I hate browsing amazon.com from my phone.

However, there are some types of things ... large purchases, for example, where I want to do the proper research at a large computer screen. Oh, who am I kidding? I bought my house from shopping with Zillow's app.

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