With the rapid spread of smartphones, more and more companies are working to make their e-commerce sites smartphone apps.
Especially for businesses using Shopify, appization is an important strategy that should be considered as a way to connect directly with customers.
In this article, we will discuss the benefits of turning an EC site into a smartphone app and the main benefits that you can get from implementing it in Google Flutter.

Introduction: Four Benefits Of Turning EC Sites Into Smartphone Apps

1. Increase customer engagement

You can deepen your relationship with customers by connecting directly to the app, not from other platforms such as social media, search engines and advertisements.
In particular, users who install the app tend to buy repeats at a high rate.

• home screen presence : The icon is displayed on the smartphone’s home screen to maintain a brand presence continuously.
• one-tap access : You can access the shop with one tap without having to open your browser and enter a URL.

2. Customers who are not dependent on other platforms through push notifications

The biggest advantage of the app is that it can send push notifications.
There are LINE and Mermaga as media that can attract customers with the same push type, but there is a disadvantage that attracting customers who rely on major platforms do not have a sense of stability in attracting costs due to rising costs or changes in algorithms and specifications.
In addition, although email delivery is certainly possible on its own platform, there are data that push notifications have an opening rate of about 4 times higher than this, and it serves as an effective marketing channel independent of other platforms.

• timely dissemination : We deliver real-time information such as sales start, new product arrivals and inventory restocking to customers.
• personalized message : We can send you personalized notifications based on your behavioral history and purchase patterns.
• promotion of revisiting : You can encourage people who have not visited the site for a long time to revisit.

3. Enhanced data collection and analysis

Through the app, you can collect more detailed customer behavior data and make recommendations based on it.

• detailed behavioral tracking : You can obtain detailed data such as browsing history, purchase patterns and product browsing time.
• use of insights : Analyze the collected data and use it to improve product development or marketing strategy.
• personalization : It enables product recommendations based on user preferences and behavior patterns.

This data-driven approach allows us to create a more effective business strategy.

4. Utilizing Mobile-only Features

Smartphone apps can take advantage of the device’s functionality directly, allowing you to provide features that are not feasible on your website.

• utilization of location information : You can provide nearby store information and send offers based on location.
• Favorite Addition without Login : Without having to log in to your website, you can implement a feature that allows you to add and record products on the EC site.

A Successful Case Study of Smartphone App Development on EC Sites

It is an example of another company, but the life culture platform " Scandinavian Tools Store Classiccom Inc., the company that manages “E-commerce,” has a percentage of sales due to the use of smartphone apps on its e-commerce site. 3 Million DLs In Three Years, 65% Of App Revenue Of $5.5 Billion The sales ratio with the website was reversed, for example.
Since then, we have achieved healthy growth that does not depend on other companies’ platforms for attracting customers.

The Benefits Of Using Google Flutter as a Smartphone App

No-code tools and SaaS can be used to turn an EC site into a smartphone app.
However, if you build a smartphone app with such tools, there will be vendor lock-in that can only develop functions at specific companies and it will depend on the platform of certain companies even though you have created a smartphone application in order to not rely on other platforms.
so, in our company Google Flutter and Firebase We recommend using a relatively open technology called Shopify to turn an e-commerce site into a smartphone app.

What is Google Flutter?

Google Flutter is an open source tool developed by Google that allows you to write iOS, Android, web and desktop apps in a single language.
It can be developed at a low cost compared to building iOS and Android apps individually, and the apps you create can be distributed in Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play store.

What is Firebase?

Firebase (fire-based) is a service provided by Google that provides various services to help developers focus on app development without the hassle of building their own backend.
In the context of turning an e-commerce site into a smartphone app, we mainly use user behavior analysis tools and push notifications to Android/iOS apps.
The pricing structure starts with “Spark Plan” and can be migrated to “Blaze Plan” depending on your usage, many features have a certain amount of free tiers and are often completely free for small apps or early development stages.
Firebase is especially good with Flutter, with a wealth of official plugins and documentation that greatly simplifies the back-end processing of mobile app development and allows for low cost backend development.

implementation approach

in-house service atelier yori.so In the above configuration, we have turned it into a smartphone app.

Instead of taking effort to implement, the approach is tightly coupled with native apps and integrated with Shopify’s API to implement various features.
There is a style of implementation approach called "Gawa Native", where you load an in-app web page on an e-commerce site that takes less time.
This time, the main purpose was to add push notifications and analytics functions, so we took the latter approach.

Finally: I want to connect with customers without being influenced by other platforms.

Originally, apps were downloaded by loyal customers, so they couldn’t be compared in a simple way.However, we found that our services had a higher rate of app opening than Mermaga or Line.

Building an app itself is expensive to build, but it’s a sales channel that builds up as an asset, unlike ads that are difficult at first compared with advertising, but will not be effective if you stop spending money.

As it is difficult to start riding bicycles, but as easy as going on track, “the more you do, the easier your assets will be for you in the future,” because so-called accumulation and compound interest are channels, I think that it is a very cost-effective investment in the long run.

At our company, we have also been working on such a Flutter/Fierebase e-commerce site smartphone app, so if you are interested: here Please contact us from here.