eCommerce App Development Guide 2025

Do you know that Boohoo, a fashion eCommerce brand, achieved a 5.5X increased conversion rate after switching from web to app? Consumer behavior has changed, and they engage with brands digitally. The entire credit goes to the internet’s evolution and eCommerce app development, which have made it possible for customers to shop at their convenience just from their couch.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the e-commerce sector soared, enabling everyone to get the desired stuff, from groceries to accessories, at their doorstep. The industry is constantly growing at a rapid pace. According to a report published by Statista, the global retail ecommerce market is set to be worth $8.034 trillion by 2027.

The growing number of e-commerce users and options to sell products online create revenue and business expansion opportunities for entrepreneurs. In a report, the ITA(International Trade Association) predicted that the B2C e-commerce market will grow to $5.5 trillion by 2027 at a CAGR of 14.4%. These stats indicate that investing in e-commerce mobile app development is worthwhile.

Thinking about launching an ecommerce app for your business but unsure where to begin? You’ve landed on the right blog. Here, we have created a guide for you. This ecommerce app development guide will take you through all the key aspects to help you make the right decision for your next e-commerce app.

What is eCommerce App Development?

eCommerce app development refers to designing and developing outstanding mobile app solutions for brands or businesses, empowering them to grow their business and generate revenue by selling goods online. Using e-commerce apps, users can shop for products available across categories or order the product online using a brand’s e-commerce app.

The e-commerce mobile app solutions offer users the convenience of securely paying online using diverse payment methods, comparing and buying products using their preferred device, and expanding their reach. On the other hand, brands have the liberty to showcase their entire product range and services.

App development for e-commerce provides businesses numerous advantages, including increased customer engagement, a competitive edge, and higher sales. Recognizing these benefits, enterprises invest in e-commerce to stay ahead of the curve. Additionally, the growing demand for innovative online shopping options is fueling industry growth. For example, the US e-commerce market will be USD 1.9 trillion by 2029.

E-commerce is an umbrella term; if we go deeper, it is categorized into multiple types. Want to know what types of e-commerce app development are available? Let’s move to the next section.

Types of E-commerce Applications

Ecommerce apps come in various types, such as B2C(the most widely used), B2B, C2C, and others. Let’s break them down to understand them completely.

B2B(Business to Business) Ecommerce App

The ecommerce applications that facilitate two businesses for trade are called B2B ecommerce apps. While using B2B apps, one business acts as a supplier, and another acts as a procurer. Investing in B2B ecommerce app development is beneficial if you deal directly with the businesses.

Examples: Alibaba, Amazon Business, Graigner

B2C(Business to Customer) Ecommerce App

If you want to create an app like Amazon, B2C e-commerce is the right choice. This model allows businesses to sell a wide range of products with the help of third parties, such as retailers and wholesalers. Businesses earn through these types of apps through commission per sale, premium listing, ads, and promotion. Retailers have complete control over their stock and inventory when selling the products.

Examples: Amazon, Flipkart, Walmart

D2C(Direct to Consumer) Ecommerce App

When a brand directly sells its products to customers through an app, it is called a D2C e-commerce app. The most significant advantages of this e-commerce app development are complete control over brand identity, better customer engagement, and pricing control. It is widely popular now as brands focus more on D2C e-commerce applications. For reference, North America has the highest share of D2C ecommerce brands.

Examples: Lululemon Athletica, Nike, Warby Parker

C2C(Consumer to Consumer) Ecommerce App

C2C, aka consumer-to-consumer e-commerce apps, enables individuals to sell their products to other users using a third-party platform. Here, transactions take place between users instead of between businesses and users. These apps usually display classified ads and online auctions.

Examples: eBay, Craigslist, Mercari

C2B(Consumer to Business) Ecommerce App

Although there is a lower percentage of C2B e-commerce apps in the market, they exist. The consumer-to-business e-commerce app allows end users to sell their products to businesses such as government authorities, individual clients, and others.

Examples: ShutterStock, TripAdvisor, Freelancing Websites like Fiverr

Step-By-Step Process of eCommerce Mobile App Development

Whatever niche you choose for e-commerce app development, the right approach is essential to achieving the best results. The following step-by-step process will guide you in developing your app confidently, providing the best answer to how to build an e-commerce app.

1. Define Your Goals

Defining goals is necessary for the long-term success of your e-commerce mobile app development. A clear set of goals always leads in the right direction, especially when you are about to launch an app for your business. It starts with identifying your target audience, selecting the type of app, such as B2C, B2B, or D2C, and deciding on the budget and timeline.

2. Research

The more research you do on your app idea, competitors, and target market, the greater your chances of success. So, consider market and competitor research the next crucial step after defining the goals.

• Customers’ preferences & their pain points
• Existing market trends
• Demographics
• Competitors and their USPs
• In-depth research about top ecommerce platforms

3. Define Features & Functionalities

You have defined your goals and refined the data collected after research. Now, proceed to the next step: deciding on features and functionalities. Features are vital in creating the best user experience, so choose carefully. While selecting the features to include in your app, keep the target audience in mind.

Categorize your feature selection into two: must-have features and advanced features. Your app’s primary features could be payment modes, a shopping cart, checkout functionality, search filters, and product categories. The advanced features you can consider are AI-based product recommendations, Voice commerce integration, virtual try-ons, etc.

4. Hire an E-commerce App Development Company

Hiring an e-commerce app developer is a crucial step, as the success of your app depends on who develops it. Although you can opt for off-the-shelf solutions, limited customization is the biggest roadblock with this option.

Conversely, if you hire a custom e-commerce app development company for your project, you can implement customization that aligns with your needs, goals, and preferences. While selecting the company, inquire about:

• Company’s experience
• Portfolio
• Team Strength
• Projects delivered so far
• Proven record in providing projects similar to your idea
• Expertise with the latest tools and technologies

5. Wireframing and Designing

Once you have hired an app development company, the experts will help you create wireframes that will serve as the blueprints for your app’s screens. You can also modify them after discussing them with the experts. The next step after wireframing is UI/UX design, which involves creating the logo, colors, themes, fonts, and app aesthetics that showcase your brand identity.

While creating the designs with the help of experts, ensure that they are appealing and offer seamless navigation to the customers while accessing the app.

6. Ecommerce Mobile App Development

The development process will involve front-end and back-end development, database establishment, and others just after designing your app. Working closely with the developers, implement features and functionalities you’ve decided in the earlier step to this one.

Instead of creating the full-fledged version, developing an MVP is the more intelligent choice. It will help you evaluate your idea of the app’s performance and a window for improvements after collecting real-time customer feedback. The other advantages of MVP development include reduced risks, better resource allocation, reduced development time, and affordability.

7. Quality Analysis & Launch

Test your MVP to identify bugs and security issues that can ruin user experience. Quality analysts will help test your app to reveal its true potential. Once everything is set up, launch your app publicly on platforms like the Google Play Store, the Apple App Store, or both.

8. Collect Feedback

Customer feedback is essential for continuous improvement, so collect it from different mediums, such as through your app’s review & rating feature, social media platforms, and asking directly through mail.

9. Maintenance and Updates

Maintain your app for seamless execution through periodic updates. Also, implement changes based on customer feedback. Stay updated with your app, adapting to new market trends to stay competitive in fierce market competition.

Must-Have Features for Your eCommerce Mobile App Development

Features directly related to customer engagement and offering an immersive online shopping experience. Innovative features can help you convert visitors into customers.

Let’s understand features based on the app’s structure. Usually, the app is divided into three segments, offering diverse features such as:

1. Admin Panel

As the name implies, it is a dedicated panel for app admins or business owners to track, monitor, and manage overall app activities, users, and vendors. One of the most essential features of the admin panel is the dashboard, which allows the admin to oversee everything.

• Log-in: This facilitates secure login to the admin panel through security features such as two-factor authentication.
• Dashboard: Provide an overview of platform activities and KPIs such as sales performance, customer insights, business insights, and others.
• User Management: This allows the admin to manage user and vendor accounts, set role-based permissions, and more.
• Product Management: The product management feature allows the admin to manage the product catalog, pricing, and inventory, implement dynamic pricing, and more.
• Marketing & Promotion: The promotion management feature helps app admin for campaigns, content, and social media management.
• Analytics & Reporting: The Analytics feature helps admins create and generate reports to make strategic business decisions.
• Payment Tracking: Allows administrators to manage payment processing, earnings, expenses, refunds, and other financial activities.
• Referrals and Invites: The ecommerce app admin can track referrals, manage referral incentives, manage affiliates, and more.
• Push Notifications: Admins can send updates directly to customers’ screens to enhance engagement with the brand.
• CRM: This helps manage customer interactions, track customer history, keep communication records, and segment customers for targeted marketing.

Pro Tip for Admin Panel:

• Implement an AI-powered fraud detection feature that identifies fraudulent transactions or unusual customer behavior.
• AI-dynamic pricing optimization can help you to optimize pricing based on the existing market demands.

Vendor Panel

The vendor panel is a dedicated app designed for vendors who supply products or services to the e-commerce business. This panel allows vendors to manage their stores, track inventory, monitor shipments, and more.

• Registration: Allows vendors to register their business on the ecommerce marketplace app.
• Subscriptions: Vendors can review or upgrade their active subscriptions based on business needs.
• Store Setup: Enables vendors to create and manage multiple storefronts.
• Catalog: Vendors can manage product listings and order processing in a single click.
• Inventory Management: Helps vendors keep track of their inventory and stocks.
• Shipment Tracking: This offers multiple tools to oversee and track ongoing shipments.
• Accounting: Vendors can keep track of their revenue, expenses, and other financial records.
• Customer Reviews: Showcase reviews, ratings, and feedback provided by customers.

Pro Tip for Vendor Panel:

• Consider AI-driven inventory management as an advanced feature in the vendor panel that automates inventory tasks.

Customer Panel

You can also call it a user app, offering all the necessary features that customers use while accessing the app and making purchases, such as sign-up, profile, payments, checkout, order tracking, etc.

• Login/Signup: This allows users to create accounts using phone, email, and social media.
  Product categories: Users can access categories of products for online shopping.
• Advanced Search: The advanced search functionality allows users to apply filters to search and shop for their desired products.
• Order Tracking: Customers can check the real-time location of their package while it is in the shipping process.
• Payments: Payment options include net banking, credit cards, debit cards, BNPL(buy-now-pay-later), cash on delivery, and others.
• Wishlist: Customers can save products in the wishlist and make purchasing decisions later.
• Offers & Coupons: This section showcases personalized offers, deals, and coupons, helping customers to save on costs.
• Shopping Cart: Users can add as many products as they want to the shopping cart and can estimate the total purchasing cost.
• Ratings & Reviews: Users can rate and review the products and can access reviews given by others.
• Customer Support: Functions as in-app messaging functionality to connect customers with the support team for issue resolution.
• Notifications & Alerts: This feature notifies the customers about app updates, specialized deals, offers, and other crucial information.

Pro Tip Customer Panel:

• Modern eCommerce apps use AI-powered recommendations, so consider it one of the best features to include.
• AI chatbots or virtual assistants are the best additions to the user app to save customers’ time and improve your team’s productivity.

eCommerce app development cost: Complete Breakdown

Almost all entrepreneurs like you ask this question when developing an app: How much does it cost to develop an e-commerce app?

Several factors influence the cost of e-commerce app development, including complexity, app size, features, and integrations. On average, development cost range from $50,000 to $250,000 or more, depending on specific requirements.

While creating this eCommerce mobile app development guide, we have considered multiple factors to make it easy for you to estimate the cost of e-commerce applications.

Let’s break down the cost based on factors and development stages.

Ecommerce App Development Cost Based on Influencing Factors

While estimating the cost of ecommerce app development, the following factors play a crucial role:

• Complexity & Features
• Development Approach
• App Designing
• Developers Location
• Quality Assurance
• Integrations
• Maintenance and upgrades

Therefore, let’s first break down the cost in terms of factors.

Complexity & Features
App complexity is the most influential factor determining the cost of e-commerce app development. The biggest secret is the level of features, such as simple or advanced, which decides the app’s complexity.

Development Approach
The e-commerce app development approach is related to the preferences of your target audience. For example, if you are targeting X location and most of the users prefer Android devices, then you have to opt for eCommerce Android app development. The development approach will be accordingly if they use iPhones or iOS devices.

App Designing
Another prime cost-influencing factor is e-commerce app design, which covers most of the cost but is less than the development phase. A simple design can cost around $10,000(minimum); however, if you need a custom design, it may cost around $30,000 or more.

Developers Location
The Ecommerce app development team’s location also affects the development cost as it differs from region to region. For example, the ecommerce mobile app development cost in USA ($50,000-$250,000) differs from other locations such as Canada, the UK, the UAE, or Australia.

Quality Assurance
Developing an app is not enough, as you need to test it for quality in terms of execution, user experience, security issues, and others. Therefore, app testing also involves cost.

Integrations
Third-party or API integrations help expand apps’ functionality. However, some integrations are open-source and free for all, while others require a licensing fee later added to the overall cost.

Maintenance and Upgrades
E-commerce apps require ongoing maintenance and operational costs, including hosting, third-party services, bug fixes, feature releases, and security, which include expenses up to 15-20% of overall project cost annually.

Ecommerce App Development Cost Estimate Based on Development Phases

Ecommerce mobile app development is a staged process that helps turn an app idea into a reality. While mobile app development companies provide cost estimations based on all phases of development, each phase individually influences the total cost.

Therefore, it looks like this:

So, now you have an idea of how to estimate the e-commerce app development cost. Please remember that all the figures in this section of the e-commerce app development guide represent a ballpark estimate; things may go differently depending on your specific requirements.

How The NineHertz Can Help You With eCommerce Mobile App Development?

The NineHertz is a trusted e-commerce app development company that provides state-of-the-art services. We help businesses around the globe elevate their online presence, enhance user experiences, and drive sales through our e-commerce app solutions. From implementing immersive designs to seamless functionality, we are your go-to e-commerce mobile app development partner.

We offer a wide range of e-commerce app solutions, from developing intuitive e-commerce apps to AI-powered e-commerce solutions that align with your business needs. Our years of expertise allow us to produce cost-effective solutions that match specific business and budget needs.

Our commitment to innovation, expertise with the latest tech stack, and on-time project delivery practices make us the right choice for your next ecommerce app development project. Share your requirements, and get your custom ecommerce app today!

Conclusion

The e-commerce industry is dynamically rising, and customers’ shifting demands are fueling it. There is a massive demand for innovative e-commerce solutions, as customers want something new and personalized. This creates business opportunities that you can grab with the help of innovative e-commerce app development.

For the same, hiring an experienced ecommerce app development company is the right way. The developers will help you to create a success story in the form of an app. When developing an app, do not forget to prioritize seamless customer experience, personalization, and eye-catching design.

We create this e-commerce app development guide to help you develop an online shopping app for your business and to share valuable information. We hope this guide has provided you with essential information. Still, we would be pleased to answer all your queries if you need more information. Connect with us today!

FAQs

1. What is the best tech stack for e-commerce mobile app development?

There are a myriad of tools and technologies available for e-commerce app development. Based on our experience, here is the best tech stack you can leverage to develop an e-commerce mobile app.

• Front-end: ReactJS, AngularJS, Vue.js, Nextjs, Swift (iOS), Kotlin (Android)
• Back-end: Node.js, Ruby on Rails, Python
• Database: MySQL, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Firebase
• Payment Gateways: PayPal, Stripe, Razorpay, Square, Braintree
• API & Middleware: GraphQL, REST API, and others

Cloud: Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform

You can contact our experts anytime for more details about the tech stack. We can suggest the best one for your specific project requirements.

2. What are some popular e-commerce application development trends?

Whether you are planning for ecommerce Android app development or ecommerce iPhone app development, following the trends is the best for long-term success. Here are some of the most popular trends shaping the e-commerce industry:

• AI-powered personalization
• Voice search
• Chatbots and virtual assistants
• Omnichannel ecommerce
• AR/VR Integration
• Flexible payment options

3. How long should it take to build an e-commerce app?

The time it takes to develop an e-commerce app varies due to its complexity, development team experience, app size, feature complexity, design complexity, functionalities, integrations, quality analysis, and other factors. For example, developing a basic e-commerce app takes less time, such as 2-3 months, compared to the advanced one, which may take 8+ months or a year or more.

4. What are the best tips for e-commerce app development?

Here are some of the best tips that can lead your ecommerce app development to success:

• Prioritize intuitive user experience
• App optimization for high performance, accuracy, and speed
• Implementing robust security mechanism
• AI-driven online shopping personalization
• Flexible payment methods
• Scalability