Both Amazon India and Flipkart have announced the launch of their iOS apps for users in the country. This move comes after some months of both of them launching their Android apps in the country. Launching an Android app makes sense as the predominant user base in the country runs Android on their phones. Apple’s devices, although not a majority are also seeing decent traction in the urban areas in the country, especially the new iPhone 5S and 5C which are being heavily marketed by the company here.
Both iOS apps provide all the features that users can get on the desktop. Flipkart has managed to deliver a stellar smartphone app on both these platforms in terms of design and functionality. Amazon’s app may not have the design chops of Flipkart but it is very functional and allows you to switch between many different countries that the company operates in. While both of these apps have an option to Shop by Department, Amazon’s app comes with a barcode reader and an option to compare prices for products.
Amazon and Flipkart are stepping up the competition between them and since both of them operate now operate on the marketplace model, this could be a boon for sellers in the country. As we all know, mobile is the next big frontier for e-commerce in the county and adapting to this is the next biggest steps for online sellers.
Some figures on the rise of mobile in Indian ecommerce:
We have data from Ebay.com which paints a positive picture of mobile adoption and shopping globally.
a. eBay.com’s mobile revenue was $13 billion in 2012 and is expected to cross $20 billion by the end of this year.
b. One third of all eBay transactions originate or are touched by mobile. This includes using mobile for price comparison , research or checkout.
The eBay India Mobile Commerce Survey also gave some very positive numbers on the rise of mobile.
a. Price comparison was the number one activity for mobile shoppers and around 68% of the users engaged in this activity. This is due to the price conscious nature of the market and you as a seller should be careful to price your products properly or you might risk losing customers.
b. Products between the price point of Rs.3000-10000 are preferred when it comes to buying on the mobile. This accounts for nearly 27% of the users surveyed.
c. 59% of mobile shoppers would prefer to buy products using their mobile rather than go shopping in crowded market areas.
d. Mobile Phones (62%), Home Appliances (44%) and Clothes+Footwear (41%) are the leading categories when it comes to purchases driven by mobile.
The importance of full fledged mobile apps:
As you can see in the data mentioned above, many people are now converting to shopping via their mobile and the launch of Android and iOS apps by Indian e-commerce companies is to address this need and make it as easy as possible for users to buy goods online. Users can now buy on the go from anywhere without any hassles and this will definitely result in people buying more products than before because the pain points are now quickly disappearing.
Editor team is specialized in introducing the marketplace content targeting the Indian online sellers. They plan and coordinate to bring the appealing content for the small businesses on how to partner with the e-commerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart and strategies for improving their online business.
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