The Ultimate Guide To E-Commerce Mobile App Development

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BUS INES S
The Ultimate Guide To E-

Commerce Mobile App
Development
By Anthony Blatner April 17, 2015 No Comments
Mobile e-commerce is exploding.
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Game-changing platforms are
disrupting antiquated industries,
such as Uber and AirBnB. Mobile
shopping is on the rise, with new
options such as InstaCart and
JackThreads. Retail juggernauts
have already made the jump to
mobile and are seeing lucrative
profits. Games like Clash of Clans and Trivia Crack have hooked millions of
users.
These platforms have been successful and raked in heaps of cash thanks to
mobile commerce. Our generation is now comfortable not only paying online,
but with mobile as well. Today’s faster technology and smoother interfaces
have eliminated the e-commerce friction.
The Ascension of Mobile Commerce
The percentage of retail traffic, mobile versus desktop, 2011-2014, ending in
August 2014 (link)
The most eye opening proof is that consumers now spend more time with
online retail on mobile devices than desktop and laptop PCs. Further, global
mobile internet users have surpassed desktop internet users, this year.
Here’s The Ultimate Guide to E-Commerce Mobile App Development. Below

are all the building blocks needed to plan and develop your mobile e-
commerce technology. Starting with the concepts, market insights, payment
technology, analytics, and more.
If you’re just getting started, read up on the concepts below and explore the
resources. If you’re already familiar, then review these options and choose the
right solution for your business.
What is a payment gateway?

A payment gateway is an interface or outlet to your payment system. A digital
gateway can be the screens and buttons of an online shopping cart that
accepts input payment information. An analog gateway is a physical credit
card reader.
A payment gateway is important because it provides a secure path from the
customer to your payment system. It does this by encrypting the data and
handling the connection to the payment processor. Without a gateway, your
credit card numbers and banking information would be at risk. Or you would
need to build your own security systems (which is a lot of work). We all saw
how many times Sony has been hacked — protect your data!
A payment gateway can be an embeddable form or secure SDK that a

framework lets you drop into your application. For example, the Pay with
PayPal button, or your checkout flow pages on your website. Those elements
are the gateway that secure and transmit payment data to the payment
processor.
What is a payment processor?
The payment processor is the part of the payment system that executes that
actual transaction. The processor sends an authorization request to the
issuing entity (customer’s bank or credit card) with the transaction details. It
then receives an authorization response whether the transaction was
approved or denied. If approved, the funds are later transferred when the day’s
batch of transactions clear.
What is a payment marketplace?
A payment marketplace is a platform for connecting buyers to multiple sellers.
Amazon is a good example, where some products are sold by Amazon, but
many products are also sold by other businesses and independent sellers.
A payment marketplace enables sellers to place their products on a platform

alongside other vendors. Here a customer can buy from multiple sellers, and
the funds are then split and transferred. Usually the marketplace itself will take
a cut of the transaction.
Uber and AirBnB are other good examples. Uber has many drivers (sellers) on
their platform, who each need to be paid separately by riders (buyers). AirBnB
lists properties of many hosts (sellers) to the guests (buyers).
Top Mobile App E-Commerce Blogs
Get Elastic, Mobile
http://www.getelastic.com/category/mobile-commerce-
multichannel-marketing-marketing/
Mobile Commerce Daily
http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/
Mobile Marketer
http://www.mobilemarketer.com/
Practical Ecommerce
http://www.practicalecommerce.com/
Internet Retailer, Mobile Commerce
https://www.internetretailer.com/mobile-commerce/
E-commerce Times, Mobile
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/section/ect-mobile/
Top E-Commerce Mobile Apps

Amazon
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amazon-app-shop-browse-
scan/id297606951?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?
id=com.amazon.mShop.android.shopping&hl=en
Groupon
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/groupon-deals-coupons-
shopping/id352683833?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.groupon&hl=en
Walgreens
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/walgreens/id335364882?mt=8
id=com.usablenet.mobile.walgreen&hl=en
Cartwheel
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cartwheel-by-target/id659563061?
mt=8
id=com.target.socsav&hl=en
Etsy
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/etsy/id477128284?mt=8
id=com.etsy.android&hl=en
Walmart
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/walmart-savings-catcher-
shopping/id338137227?mt=8
id=com.walmart.android&hl=en
Target
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/target/id297430070?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.target.ui&hl=en
Amazon Local
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amazon-local-deals-free-
coupons/id548017839?mt=8
id=com.amazon.ember.android&hl=en
Apple Store
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/apple-store/id375380948?mt=8
LivingSocial
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/livingsocial/id340295413?mt=8
id=com.livingsocial.www&hl=en
Source: App Annie, http://blog.appannie.com/app-annie-internet-retailer-
index-2014/
Mobile Payment Processing Frameworks

If you’re developing a custom mobile
ecommerce app, you’ll need to
integrate one of these frameworks to
enable in-app payments. Using
these, your app can capture and
store payment information, and then
process transactions.
The value in these frameworks is their security, customer support, financial

reports, and executing of the actual transaction. To get started, you’ll register
for an account and configure your banking information. Stripe and Braintree
Payments below seem to be the current leaders.
Stripe
https://stripe.com/
Braintree Payments
https://www.braintreepayments.com/
PayPal
https://developer.paypal.com/
Google Wallet
http://www.google.com/wallet/business/payments/
Apple Pay
https://developer.apple.com/apple-pay/
Amazon Payments
https://payments.amazon.com/home
Tilt
https://www.tilt.com/
LevelUp
https://www.thelevelup.com/
2Checkout
https://www.2checkout.com/
PayMill
https://www.paymill.com/
MintPayments
http://www.mintpayments.com/
WePay
https://www.wepay.com/
Authorize.net
http://www.authorize.net/
“Our generation is now comfortable not only paying online, but with
mobile as well. Today’s faster technology and smoother interfaces
have eliminated the e-commerce friction.”
Standalone Mobile Point of Sale

Solutions
If you currently have a cash register,
then a standalone mobile payment
processor is likely the best solution
for you. For brick and mortar
locations, or physical vendors, these
platforms offer the necessary tools.
These options below provide out-of-

the-box mobile apps. They include
for point of sale, credit card readers, inventory management, and more. The
platforms allow some customization of the colors, products, and receipts to
your store and brand. Square is the leader here.
Square
https://squareup.com/
Intuit QuickBooks Payments
http://payments.intuit.com/mobile-credit-card-processing/
PayPal Here
https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/credit-card-reader
Amazon Local Register
http://localregister.amazon.com/
http://localregister.amazon.com/
ShopKeep
http://www.shopkeep.com/
PayAnywhere
http://www.payanywhere.com/
LevelUp
https://www.thelevelup.com/
Analytics for Mobile App E-Commerce

The web has obsessed over sales
funnels and it’s just as important to
track and optimize on mobile. Your
app will have some sort of checkout
flow, and it’s important to
understand how users are navigating
your app. They’ll help identify any hurdles that are hindering your audience
from buying.
Those already using Google Analytics on web will likely want to choose Google
Mobile Analytics. Then you can see a full profile of your business from one
dashboard. Flurry and MixPanel are two other very good and well adopted
solutions.
Google Mobile Analytics

https://www.google.com/analytics/mobile/
Flurry Analytics
https://developer.yahoo.com/analytics/
Parse Analytics
https://parse.com/products/analytics
MixPanel
https://mixpanel.com/
Localytics
http://www.localytics.com/
Adobe Analytics
http://www.adobe.com/solutions/digital-analytics/mobile-web-apps-
analytics.html
LeanPlum
https://www.leanplum.com/features/mobile-analytics
Crittercism
http://www.crittercism.com/
Kissmetrics
https://www.kissmetrics.com/
App Store Optimization

The App Store is still the wild west of
search. Organic discovery and search
is difficult if you’re not on a Featured
or Top List chart from the App Store
or Google Play. These tools will give
you insight into how your app is
ranking on the stores. They reveal
keyword popularity and competitor
analysis. Then you can tailor the
correct titles, descriptions, and keywords for your app. App Annie also
publishes lots of insightful market data and periodic industry trend reports.
App Annie
https://www.appannie.com/
Sensor Tower
https://sensortower.com/
App Codes
http://www.appcodes.com/
Keyword Tool for the App Store
http://keywordtool.io/app-store
“The most eye opening proof is that consumers now spend more
time with online retail on mobile devices than desktop and laptop
PCs. Further, global mobile internet users have surpassed desktop
internet users, this year.”
More Tools
Credit card photo scanner
Card.io, https://www.card.io/
Mobile A/B Testing
Lean Plum, https://www.leanplum.com/features/mobile-ab-testing
Apptimize, http://apptimize.com/product/ab-testing
Optimizely, https://www.optimizely.com/mobile/
MixPanel, https://mixpanel.com/mobile-ab-testing/
Mobile UI Components
Cocoa Controls, https://www.cocoacontrols.com/
Android Arsenal, http://www.android-arsenal.com/
Analysis of leading e-commerce apps
http://bit.ly/1GUaEQh
Idea to App Workbook
http://bit.ly/1JQFIib
App Store Submission Checklist
http://www.jackrabbitmobile.com/uncategorized/app-store-cheat-
sheet/
Now go make some money…
Mobile e-commerce offers huge potential to scale your business. With the
right product, technology, and audience, a mobile solution is incredibly
valuable. And as you’ve seen by the research, is almost mandatory to connect
with shoppers today.
We advise our clients to begin by creating their mobile strategy and direction.
We facilitate research of the competition and industry leaders to map out how
our solution will fit into the big picture of the current market and their
business. Then, agile development is an iterative process of planning, building,
and testing. Once launched, it’s important to constantly monitor the analytics
for feedback and insights.
These resources are a strong starting point and reference for developing your
solution. Be sure to share these with your team to pick the best options for
your business.
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

The Ultimate Guide To E-

Mobile e-commerce is exploding.

The Ascension of Mobile Commerce

Here’s The Ultimate Guide to E-Commerce Mobile App Development. Below

What is a payment gateway?

A payment gateway is important because it provides a secure path from the

A payment gateway can be an embeddable form or secure SDK that a

A payment marketplace enables sellers to place their products on a platform

Top E-Commerce Mobile Apps

Source: App Annie, http://blog.appannie.com/app-annie-internet-retailer-

Mobile Payment Processing Frameworks

The value in these frameworks is their security, customer support, financial

Standalone Mobile Point of Sale

These options below provide out-of-

Analytics for Mobile App E-Commerce

Google Mobile Analytics

App Store Optimization

Press: 4 creatives making waves in

Work Drones, Wearables & Culture

New Jackrabbit Playbook

Get Started iOS Bubble Animation

11 Tips for SXSW

GET T O KNOW US J AC KR ABBIT

Team 1620 E 7th St

Playbook T: 512 596 3663

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