Apps are becoming increasingly common and almost all of the larger retailers now have apps which can be downloaded on a number of devices. Some e-commerce website owners still have yet to create an app for their business and often it is because they don’t realise the value it can add or that in fact, it doesn’t have to costs thousands of pounds to make one.

The beauty of apps is that you can start off with something relatively simple and then build on the functionality by releasing updates.

If you sell products online then having an app often increases your sales and you can allow the user to customise the app in certain ways which they find easy to use and useful. You can get them to opt-in to notifications which you can then send to them to show them when their order has been dispatched or when there is a particular product on sale.

More and more people are using their mobiles to shop and make purchases and having an online website that is mobile compatible is important but may well start to be phased out in the future by apps.