How to Create a Social E-commerce Mobile Application?

When e-commerce assimilates with social media, it develops a new concept known as social e-commerce. Many business owners use social media networks as their promotional and communicational channels to offer an online shopping experience to customers. According to recent statistics, in 2022, social e-commerce was at $724 billion globally. By the end of 2023, the figure will likely go around $6 trillion. 

Several organizations have chosen this process to expand their business and emerge as the top companies in the online marketplace such as Instagram, Whatsapp, and Facebook. Now, it is your turn to adopt this approach. So, if you are a social media fan searching for knowledge and insights about social e-commerce mobile app development, marketing trends, growth strategies, and more, you arrived at the right place. 

Let us get into the future and brace our skills to witness the social commerce app development essential for you and your business. Before we begin, why not learn about social e-commerce and why it is necessary to consider it for your organization?

What is Social E-commerce, and Why Choose it? 

In the e-commerce industry, social commerce offers a shopping experience to customers on social media platforms. The users must click on links appearing on the window that makes them land on the retailer’s page to purchase a product instantly. Here are some stats to know the performance of social e-commerce globally and why you consider it for your business. 

• According to Insider Intelligence, US retail social commerce sales will reach $79.64 by 2025. 
• 62% of the social e-commerce growth is driven by 33% millennials, 29% GenZ, 28% GenX, and 10% by baby boomers. 
• Social commerce sales in the US were at a surge of 24.9% last year. 
• As per a recent report in 2022, the number of social e-commerce buyers in the US reached 96 million. 
• Social e-commerce sales in America saw a rise of $53.10 million which was 5.1% of overall sales. 

Further, we will look at the best e-commerce applications ruling the online industry around the globe. 

I want to know more about social e-commerce mobile applications and connect with our top developers from the best e-commerce website development in Bangalore. With us, you can solve your queries and seek help to develop your social commerce application to run your business more effectively. 

Top 4 Social E-commerce Applications 

The social commerce application allows buyers to buy a product from their favorite brand without leaving their current application, website, or dashboard. 

1. Instagram

In 2022, the user base of Instagram in the US was 128.3 million which is 4% more compared to the previous year. Around one-third of social network users choose Instagram applications to share pictures, videos, follow friends, and buy products. 

2. Facebook 

According to a survey in 2022, Facebook was considered the US top social platform for shopping products. Around a quarter of people aged between 18 and 34 are using Facebook in the US. One-third of shoppers chose Facebook as their favorite social commerce platform to shop online. 

3. Twitch

By Amazon, Twitch’s social commerce platform displays advertisements and videos to promote the creator’s products. Of 8 million users, around 84% of them believe in supporting creators. 

4. Pinterest 

During 2016-2022, Statista recorded around 450 million monthly users of the Pinterest app in the global market. In 2022, the advertising revenue of Pinterest reached $2.51 billion. 

After knowing the statistics of these social e-commerce applications trending in the market, let us move on the path to developing a perfect social commerce application for your business. 

How to Create a Social E-commerce Application? 

To develop a social e-commerce application, here are the necessary steps to follow. Read on to know them briefly and create your business’s social commerce app. 

Step 1- Define the features and objectives of the application

The first step is to know the purpose of your social commerce application and define its features to include in your app such as social interactions, user profiles, product listings, and search functionality. 

Step 2- Perform a thorough market research 

The next step is understanding the target audience, their needs, current market trends, and business competitors. It will help you refine the application’s concepts and market the selling points you want to integrate into the app. 

Step 3- Design the application’s wireframe 

The third step is creating a visual representation of your social commerce app UI using wireframing tools. Then, design the UI and UX elements of your application. Make sure to include creative, appealing, and easy-to-use features and functionalities. 

Step 4- Develop the backend 

Now is the time to set up the server-side structure of your social commerce app to handle interactions, functionality, user authentication with payment gateway, and app data storage. Select an appropriate tech stack to meet the requirements of your project. 

Step 5- Create the front end 

Use front-end technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to implement the UI design. Make your social commerce app compatible with every device and screen size. 

Step 6- Include a secure authentication system 

The next step is to add a secure and reliable authentication system to let customers register, login into the social commerce app, and manage their accounts. You can use technologies such as JWT for building a secure authentication system. 

Step 7- Add social app features 

It is the most essential step to developing a social e-commerce app. You have to add social functionalities in your app like sharing comments, user-to-user messages, likes, and the following functionality. These features will improve the social experience of your app. 

Step 8- Implement search functionality and product listing 

The next step is to build a system for the application users that allows them to upload images, add products, set prices, and provide product descriptions. Create a search feature to let the users get products and browse different categories efficiently. 

Step 9- Add Payment Gateways

Select secure payment gateways like Stripe or PayPal to integrate them into the social commerce app and let the users make purchases without any privacy issues. Next, add features like payment verification, cart management, and order processing. 

Step 10- Test and debug the social commerce app 

Test your social commerce app to ensure all the features work as expected. It involves user flows, security measures, and data handling. After testing the app, identify and fix the bugs caught during testing. 

Step 11- Launch the app 

Set up a hosting server such as AWS or Google Cloud to deploy the social commerce app. Also, optimize the performance, scalability, and security of the app. Then, submit it to the app store and launch it for use. 

Step 12- Collect user’s feedback and reviews 

After the social commerce app is live, ask the customers to give feedback and reviews from the customers, analyze their behavior, and monitor all the analytics. Use this data to improve the app and add new updates or features. 

Cost to Create a Social E-commerce Application

The cost to create a social commerce app starts from $15,000. It can go high, relying on various factors listed below- 

1. The app features you want to add. 
2. Type of app you want to develop. 
3. Location of the app developers.

Now that we know everything about developing a social commerce app for your business, why not focus on the dark side of building the application? We are here with the risks involved in developing a social commerce application. 

Challenges to Face While Creating a Social Commerce App

• Privacy: If the app is developed on a social network where the users exchange information, it is essential to clear your privacy policies to them. 
• Time-Consuming: The engagement of users takes effort and time. The brand has to interact with the audience rather than only creating the shop on social media platforms. 
• Limited to set boundaries: social media has a wide reach but is only within the boundaries. Your app would be available for social media platforms. 
• Perfect for shoppers, not sellers: Online shopping on social media platforms is made for shoppers, not business owners. As the entire process targets the social media platform, user checkout leads to low web traffic. 
• Payments: Compliance risks are linked with payment processing across multiple social media platforms. 

Tips to Grow a Successful Social Commerce Application 

1. Incentives for Repetitive Users

As a business owner, you should try one or the other ways to increase your organization’s sales. Let your customers feel it is worth shopping for products from your online social store. Offer them incentives in the form of points for referring the product to their friends or provide special discounts for repetitive users. 

 2. In-App Promotion 

To grow your social e-commerce application, do things to capture your customer’s attention. You can use in-app promotions such as flash sales options or limited-time offers to boost the user’s loyalty, thereby increasing the ranking of your store to drive business growth. 

Seamless Delivery Process  

Customer satisfaction should be your main priority. So, focus on various factors such as branded packaging and network optimization. 

How can Indglobal Digital Private Limited Help? 

Developing a social commerce application requires expertise and guidance in several programming languages and technologies. Get help from a skilled and professional team of app developers from a renowned app development company like Indglobal Digital Private Limited. Being the most renowned e-commerce website development company in Bangalore, the developers at Indglobal are helping clients in the best ways to reach their desired goals.  

So, if you lack experience or need time for other tasks, choose e-commerce web development services in Bangalore after considering the factors listed below- 

• High-quality work delivery 
• Great experience and expertise 
• Good communication process 
• Reviews and ratings of the clients 
• Support and maintenance services 
• Delivery of the project within your budget and time
• Top-class portfolio  

Wrapping Up 

Social commerce application market statistics find that sales will likely boost at 30.8% per year till 2025.  Social commerce sales are growing without being affected by the decrease in the number of social buyers. There will be no fall in the social commerce industry for a long time, so this year, early adopters will have benefits. 

You should also take advantage of this moment and develop the best social e-commerce app for your business. Contact the ideal app development company offering e-commerce website design in Bangalore as soon as possible to start the process.