Best Step-by-Step Guide to Convert Shopify Store to Mobile App In 2024

In today’s digital age, online sales apps have gradually become an important tool for businesses to develop their business activities and reach customers. Nowadays, businesses have started to find a way to convert Shopify store to mobile app instead of traditional eCommerce websites to attract customers and grow business.

In this article, BSS Commerce will introduce two ways to effectively convert Shopify store to mobile app, why and when businesses need to design them, as well as how much it costs to create an eCommerce mobile app!

Why Convert Shopify Store to Mobile App?

Online eCommerce apps, also known as online eCommerce applications, are designed specifically for mobile devices. eCommerce applications are developed on operating systems such as iOS and Android. They are developed to serve eCommerce activities for individuals or businesses.

If you have an online store on Shopify and want to increase your customer reach and conversion rate, convert Shopify store to mobile app is extremely necessary. Online eCommerce apps and eCommerce websites are both used to buy and sell products and services online. So why create an online eCommerce app when you already have an eCommerce website?

With the explosion of digital technology today, the number of smartphone users for shopping has increased significantly. Instead of searching and buying products on eCommerce websites, many customers have used eCommerce apps on their phones to make purchases. A study has shown that about 63% of users choose smartphones to access eCommerce websites, and thanks to the strong popularity of modern technology, this number will continue to grow in the following years.

Not only does it have the ability to display optimally on phones, but the eCommerce app on mobiles is also programmed with smart features. It helps to maximize support for searching, approaching customers, selling, and building a more sustainable business brand.

Read more: Top 14+ Free eCommerce Platforms to Start Online Businesses

Prerequisites for Turning a Shopify Website into a Mobile App

Online eCommerce apps often provide users with an easier-to-use and more user-friendly interface than traditional web forms. Similar to your store, this application also needs to integrate features such as searching for products, viewing product details, ordering, payment, reviews, and interacting directly with the seller.

In addition, to convert Shopify store to mobile app also requires synchronization and consistency in the customer experience and store management. At the same time, thanks to the eCommerce application, businesses can easily manage, update, and process order information quickly. Thanks to that, the business’s eCommerce productivity will be improved.

To start creating an eCommerce app from your Shopify store, here are the requirements you need to meet:

• An active Shopify store
• A valid Google Play Store (Android) and Apple App Store (iOS) account
• Real-time API from your store

3 Ways to Convert Shopify Store to Mobile App

Using a Third-Party Shopify Plugin

Third-party Shopify plugins can be obtained through the Shopify App Store and are created by individual or team developers. These plugins typically offer distinct feature sets and come in a variety of price points.

It is currently the simplest, fastest, and least expensive method of turning a Shopify store into a mobile app, which is why many retailers are choosing to use it. There are many monthly options available for these third-party Shopify plugins. As a result, you can select a bundle based on your requirements.

Now that there are alternative ways to accomplish the same task, why should you always choose third-party Shopify plugins to convert Shopify store to mobile app?

Additionally, retailers frequently use all of their savings to develop an app. Many retailers occasionally abandon the concept of turning their Shopify store into a mobile app because they lack the necessary money.

Nevertheless, these free Shopify mobile app builders and plugins can convert Shopify store to mobile app.

These third-party Shopify plugins and app builders include zero-coding features in addition to these advantages. With just a simple drag-and-drop, you can use these Shopify plugins to create the app of your dreams. Put another way, it lowers the cost of app development and eliminates the need to pay developers.

You won’t lose any data while turning your Shopify store into a mobile app, which is another fantastic benefit of using the Shopify plugin. Instead, by using these third-party plugins, you can access all of your current data.

You may concern: Top 15 Best Converting Shopify Themes

Using a Third-Party App Builder

Software as a service, or SaaS, is a cloud-based solution that gives you access to any program without the inconvenience of installing it. In addition, merchants have the option to subscribe to this service, which is maintained by the service providers.

Here, the merchants have to choose the features and security services based on what they need and pay for them. These are the constructors, commonly known as the ready-made modules.

A few customization options are offered by the Shopify app builders, allowing you to create the ideal app according to your preferences.

While third-party SaaS app builders may be slightly more expensive than third-party Shopify plugins, profitable merchants may still afford them.

The following are approach two’s main drawbacks, which can worry certain merchants:

• Minimal personalization.
• There is no ownership of the application.
• Varying subscription fees: the more you require, the more you pay.

Tips to Choose the Right Shopify Mobile App Builder

After analyzing the two options in detail, you probably have a solution for yourself. However, to make the final choice, you also need to consider the specifics of your business and other factors of your online store.

The first factor you need to consider may be the price. The price of your app design may vary depending on the platform you develop: iOS, Android, or hybrid (hybrid app). Usually, iOS app design will cost more, and hybrid apps will cost the least.

If you choose a full app design package, you can spend a few thousand dollars depending on the operating system, features, complexity, or security of the app you require. A Clutch survey reported that app development costs range from $30,000 to $700,000. The average development cost is $171,450. However, app development experts say the average cost of app development is $5,000 to $7,000 for both iOS and Android.

In addition, you also have to consider your industry. What are your industry’s app usage habits, and what are your customers’ specific needs? What are your customers’ characteristics? How important are design and experience? What do you need to do to stand out from your competitors’ Shopify mobile apps?

Last but not least, you also need to consider the complexity of your app. A mobile app is expected to have the same functionality as a website. If your website has a lot of custom functions, creating a functional mobile app will probably require a professional team with high technical expertise.

How to Convert Your Shopify Store to a Mobile App

Once you have chosen the right approach, here is a detailed step-by-step process from the Shopify website to the mobile app. The way to convert Shopify store to mobile app is not a difficult task to accomplish. You need to follow some steps for that purpose, as follows:

• Keep the interface consistent.
• Leverage core native features like push notifications, catalogues, and categories.
• Develop an application programming interface.
• Collaborate APIs with the app.
• Test the platform on all parameters.
• Launch the mobile app.

Step 1. Brainstorming eCommerce app ideas

Every successful app starts with a great idea. At this stage, you just need to sketch out your app idea on some paper drafts so that you can easily think about it and share and discuss the idea with your colleagues or design company.

Step 2. Conduct market research

The next step to convert Shopify store to mobile app is to research to see if your idea is suitable for the people around you. Remember that a shopping experience on a website will not be the same as a shopping experience on a mobile app. To design a comprehensive app idea that suits the characteristics of your store and industry, you can research yourself by using Google, looking at market data statistics, or hiring professional analysts.

Through market research, you can easily find ideas to design a unique and different sales app. Not only does it meet the needs of your customers, but it also avoids duplicating your competitors’ existing apps and adds something that they don’t have.

Step 3. Specify your requirements and features

Before you invest any time in designing a mobile app for your Shopify store and writing any code, you need to make sure that your app’s requirements are documented. It’s much easier to tweak things at this stage than later in the process.

You don’t need to write a detailed feature description for your app. This is where you imagine what your app will look like and feel like when you use it. Start with some requirements and features that you want your mobile app to have. You can refer to the default features of your Shopify store for this part.

Step 4. User interface design

Next, it’s time to think about the look and feel of your mobile app. The interface design will include detailed visuals for mockups, creating graphic effects, inserting content and emoticons. The strategy for this step is to design an experience that is as similar to your website as possible but optimized for mobile devices.

It’s important to anticipate how your app will look on a variety of devices. The easiest way is to use responsive design so that the screen automatically adjusts to the size of all screens.

Another approach would be to simply choose the most popular screen size; for example, for iOS app development, the most popular models would be the iPhone 6 and iPhone 13.

After designing the interface, you need to code it so that your sales app design can function with full functionality. To build the architecture and programming of the app, including two parts:

• Front end: This is programming for the user side of an application. It includes coding, layout programming, user interaction, navigation, graphics, and data processing.
• Back-end: This part is not visible to the user. When programming the back-end well, it will manage all the parts that happen inside the app, including data management, client-server communication, and access to the cloud.

Step 5. Execute programming

This programming will take a lot of time and specialized knowledge. Depending on the option you choose, you can implement the appropriate steps for this step

But it is better to hire a team of experts or a company with talented programmers to create for you a high-quality, bug-free, and timely eCommerce app.

Step 6. Collecting feedback

You can test your mobile app idea from your Shopify store at any stage, starting with people you know and continuing to recruit ad hoc interview teams. When you test your product on real users, you can gather their feedback on the app’s strengths and weaknesses. Then, find ways to improve the look, functionality, and usability of your app based on the feedback you receive.

Step 7. Release the app to the app stores

Once you’ve designed and completed your app, it’s time to publish it to app stores like CH Play and iOS so your customers can download and use it.

If you’re building a native iOS app, only Apple device owners will be able to access it. If you choose to create an app for Android devices, you’ll release your app to the Google Play Store for Android users.

Conclusion on How to Convert Shopify Store to Mobile App

Above is the professional process to convert Shopify store to mobile app that BSS Commerce wants to share. Hopefully, the above information can help you in the process of designing your sales application. With the increasing trend of online shopping, converting Shopify stores to mobile apps is not only an opportunity but also a necessary factor to meet the needs of modern customers.

If your business requires you to convert Shopify store to mobile app and own a professional online eCommerce app, please contact BSS Commerce immediately so that our team of experts can support you for free today!