iOS + ANDROIDShopping apps

Ecommerce Mobile App Development

Give customers a useful way to shop with you on iPhone and Android.

Bring your products, customer accounts and shopping experience into a branded mobile app connected to your online store.

We help you assess the right approach, define the features and integrations, and plan the work from implementation through launch and ongoing support.

Explore App Features

For existing ecommerce businesses planning a customer-facing mobile app.

What you get

A Shopping App Your Customers Install

This is an app for your customers to browse products, manage their account and shop from their phone, so they can purchase on the go and find it fast and simple. It is connected to the systems behind your online store rather than creating a separate business to manage.

Depending on the implementation, your existing store can remain the main source for products, stock, pricing and orders. The actual data flows are defined during scoping. We do not promise instantaneous synchronization or a copy of every website function.

Is it right for you?

Does a Mobile App Make Sense for Your Store?

A useful app gives customers a reason to install it and return. We assess that reason before recommending the build, and there is no minimum revenue or traffic you need to qualify.

Good situations to assess

  • Customers buy repeatedly
  • The brand has an engaged audience
  • Frequent product launches or replenishment needs
  • A loyalty program that could benefit from app access
  • A substantial existing mobile customer base
  • A practical plan to promote and maintain the app

An app may be premature when

  • The store has little established demand
  • Purchases are infrequent, with limited ongoing engagement
  • The mobile website has unresolved buying problems
  • There is no installation or retention plan
  • The business cannot support ongoing software and service costs
App features

Build Around How Your Customers Shop

Not every feature is included in every project. We separate essential functionality from optional scope, and confirm what your chosen approach supports.

Product browsing and search

Categories or collections, search, filters and product detail information supported by the chosen solution.

Variants and product choices

Size, color and other selections. Personalization, bundles and configuration need a separate compatibility check.

Cart and checkout

A supported purchasing flow connected to the store and relevant payment systems. We do not promise every wallet or payment method in every country.

Customer accounts and orders

Account access, order history and tracking where supported. An existing browser login does not automatically carry over.

Wishlists and loyalty

Supported saved-product and loyalty functionality. Website plugins do not automatically work in a separate mobile interface.

Push notifications

Opt-in notifications for suitable launches, offers and updates. Segmentation depends on the provider and permissions, and delivery is not guaranteed.

Reviews and customer support

Supported reviews, chat or contact functionality where scoped.

Measurement

Agree on the app events and reporting that matter to your business.

Advanced requirements such as augmented reality, barcode scanning, B2B or field-sales ordering, and complex subscriptions are assessed separately.

Two routes

Choose the Right Route to Your Shopping App

Neither route is better for everyone. We compare capability, cost, ownership and maintenance with you.
Managed launch

Managed Shopping App Launch

Best suited to: requirements that fit a proven ecommerce app platform and its supported integrations.

  • Branded implementation and screen configuration
  • Defined configuration options
  • A vendor subscription, with plan-based capabilities
  • Provider dependencies
  • Launch preparation and submission assistance
  • An ongoing support scope agreed up front

The app platform belongs to its vendor, not to WEP. We explain subscription costs and limits before you decide.

Tailored build

Custom Shopping App Development

Best suited to: distinct requirements that existing solutions cannot adequately support.

  • Greater flexibility in features and flows
  • More detailed scoping
  • Dedicated engineering and testing
  • Maintenance responsibilities
  • Higher implementation complexity
  • Defined code ownership and licensing

We assess a custom requirement and confirm the delivery approach and resources with you before agreeing a scope.

Compatibility

Connected to Your Existing Ecommerce Business

Shopify is often the easiest place to start, because several established app platforms serve it. BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Magento and other platforms need an appropriate solution and a compatibility review, and they do not share the same launch path.

An integration installed on your website is not automatically available in a separate mobile app. Some functions may need an app-provider integration, an SDK, an API connection or custom work, and we do not promise that every Shopify app, WooCommerce plugin, login, payment token, discount or subscription flow carries over. For technical requirements, see our ecommerce development services.

Shopify Select PartnerOfficial Shopify PartnerView Shopify profile ↗

Our Shopify and BigCommerce partner status relates to those ecommerce platforms. It is not Apple, Google or mobile app certification.

What the compatibility review covers
Before we scope
  • Products and variants
  • Prices, discounts and promotions
  • Inventory
  • Accounts
  • Orders and tracking
  • Loyalty and reviews
  • Subscriptions
  • Search
  • Payment and checkout requirements
  • Markets, languages and currencies
After the build

Plan for Customers to Install and Keep Using It

Publishing the app is one step. Customers also need a reason to install it and a useful experience that brings them back.

Launch support we can scope

  • Links and QR codes
  • Website app-promotion placements
  • Email or SMS announcements
  • Suitable app-exclusive benefits
  • Permission-based notification planning
  • Deep links to relevant app content, with fallbacks

Scoped, not unlimited: marketing support is not included without an agreement.

What we can measure

  • Installs and activation
  • Active users and repeat usage
  • Purchase completion
  • Notification opt-in and retention
  • Crashes and failed flows
  • App-attributed sales, with a defined measurement method

Careful reading: app customers may already be your most loyal buyers, so higher spending does not by itself prove the app caused it.

How it works

From App Requirements to Store Launch

We test failure conditions as well as ideal flows: loss of connectivity, expired sessions, product availability changes, failed payments and denied permissions. Offline shopping or checkout is not included unless it is explicitly built and supported.
1

Assess the opportunity

Audience, goals, existing store and reasons to install.

Assess
2

Confirm the approach

An app platform or custom development, where justified.

Approach
3

Define the scope

Screens, features, data flows, integrations and responsibilities.

Scope
4

Implement

Build or configure the agreed app and connections.

Build
5

Test

Supported devices, shopping flows, accounts, payments, links and integrations.

Test
6

Prepare and submit

Store listings, test distribution and submission under agreed account arrangements. We cannot guarantee approval dates.

Launch
Publishing and ownership

Launch Under Clear Ownership

We recommend merchant-controlled Apple and Google developer accounts, with suitable delegated access for us. We confirm account eligibility, verification and commercial arrangements with you first. Apple and Google make the approval decisions, and wrapping a website does not guarantee acceptance.

Before you agree, we explain what is yours (your brand and data), what the agreement says about custom source code, and what belongs to a third-party app platform. We also explain what stops working if a software subscription ends and what can be transferred.

What the scope addresses
Agreed in writing
  • App name and identifiers
  • Store listings and screenshots
  • Review access where needed
  • Signing and release access
  • Privacy disclosures and permissions
  • Account deletion functionality, where required
  • Third-party SDK information
  • Submission and review-response assistance

Payment rules differ for physical goods and for digital content or services used inside an app, and we assess them for your case. Legal and privacy text should come from, or be reviewed by, your own adviser. We do not promise universal regulatory compliance.

Ongoing support

Keep the App Working After Launch

A shopping app needs attention as operating systems, store APIs and connected services change. We define the ongoing arrangement with you, and we cannot promise one build stays approved and compatible indefinitely.

What ongoing support can cover

  • Operating-system compatibility
  • Store submission requirements
  • SDK and dependency updates
  • API changes
  • Bug investigation and crash reporting where included
  • Testing and releases
  • Supported app configuration changes

Your website and your app

Our website maintenance options cover your website. App-store release management and native mobile engineering are not part of a website maintenance retainer, so we confirm the app support scope separately.

Pricing

What Determines Your Mobile App Quote?

The quote depends on the delivery approach, features, integrations and ongoing support. These items are identified separately: setup or implementation, custom functionality, integrations, vendor subscriptions where applicable, developer-program accounts, third-party services, ongoing maintenance and optional marketing support. The timeline follows scoping and depends partly on your readiness and app-store review.

Our foundation

Ecommerce Experience Behind the App

We are an ecommerce agency with 20+ years of ecommerce experience and partner relationships with Shopify and BigCommerce. We do not show app screenshots, store listings, ratings or download figures on this page, because we do not have approved client apps to show. The phones above are an illustrative concept.
Client reviews

What clients say about working with WEP

Real reviews of our agency. None of them is about a mobile app.
Read all reviews

Web commerce pros created a really lovely design for our website. They also changed the layout for our images and updated/resized images so that the site is overall much more attractive. We have been receiving a lot of positive feedback from customers on the ease of use and the overall look of our site. In addition, we are very grateful to Roy for coming up with a creative solution for allowing customers to easily create their own quotes, which has been very helpful to both our operations and our customers.

Anna Flanguagelizard.com
Design & custom features

Webecommercepros are great web developers and good people. They moved our 1,000+ page website from our old platform to BigCommerce and did it fast and efficiently. They created all of our new artwork, 301 redirects, converted all of our products and more in record time at a very reasonable cost. We use them for all of our ongoing work like increasing load speed, updating our theme and shopping cart and site changes that we ask for. Highly recommend!

Cary Cliffordhubcapmike.com
BigCommerce migration

Very responsive to all needs. Have continued to provide great ongoing support. Fast, efficient and fairly priced.

Keith Johnsonamericanweapon.com
Ongoing support

Like the same says "PROS" these guys are really pro at what they do. They get the tasks done on time, reply to all emails on time and deliver what they promise, having been working with them for more than 5+ years now. I would highly recommend these guys to any one looking for web services.

Manny sTXPowerSports.com
Ongoing support
FAQ

Mobile app questions, answered

Plain answers about shopping apps, integrations, publishing and cost.

About the service

It is the work involved in creating an iOS or Android shopping app connected to the systems behind an ecommerce business. The scope can include shopping features, integrations, testing, publishing and ongoing support.

This service focuses on apps installed on customers’ phones. The implementation may use native components and supported web-based flows where appropriate.

We assess both as part of the requirements and confirm the supported devices, implementation and release scope in the proposal.

An established app platform may suit standard requirements. Custom work may be justified by functionality that existing solutions cannot support. We compare capability, cost, ownership and maintenance implications.

Usually the app can be planned alongside the existing store. Whether the current setup supports the requirements is assessed before work begins.

Let’s talk

Let’s Plan Your Ecommerce Mobile App

Tell us about your store, your customers and the experience you want to offer. We will help assess the approach and requirements for an iOS and Android shopping app.

Please don’t include passwords, signing keys or customer exports.

Or call 888-711-2347

Discuss your app project