“There’s an app for that” may become less of a reality and more of a catch phrase.
Merchants seem to be shying away from creating apps for specific mobile devices and are instead creating sites that are native to mcommerce, according to Bernardine Wu, founder/CEO of ecommerce consultancy FitFotCommerce.
Speaking on March 2 at the NEMOA Spring Conference in Boston, Wu noted that there was a big push for apps a few years back because of the iPhone. “But now merchants need to decide if they want to build one for the iPhone or the Android or for Blackberrys, or create a site that can be seen on several devices.”
Another reason for the lack of app interest: App saturation. Wu said when apps were all the rage, users would download several for their phone, but really only use the same four or five on a regular basis.
That doesn’t mean Wu is ready to ignore apps, however. If a merchant has a specific reason for an app other than to launch the mcommerce site in a new window, such as to provide the customer a game, a configuration tool or some sort of entertainment, she would advise considering an app.