The way people shop has changed a lot in the last few years. In 2025, there’s an app for literally everything! Whether it’s shopping for clothes, groceries, home decor, electronics, furniture, or even booking a plane ticket or a dentist appointment. According to statistics, people around the globe spend 100 billion hours shopping online in a year. This goes on to show how mobile shopping has taken over the world!
Today, the e-commerce market is as massive as 6 trillion dollars. And it is only expected to rise significantly by 2027 to 8 trillion dollars. So, for your start-ups and new businesses, having an app is not just a need. Instead, it’s a must!
This makes choosing the right ecommerce app development company such an important decision. A good and well-built app means your customers are happy. They are able to view the products and services smoothly. Happy customers are more likely to return back to your app. Results? Increased sales and growth of your business.
Here are seven key traits that you should look for when choosing a company for your start-up:
1. Experience with Different Types of E-commerce Apps
Let’s start by clearing a common misconception: E-commerce is about clothes or gadgets. No, E-commerce is more than that.
There are many types of e-commerce stores out there, including:
- Home rental apps (like Airbnb)
- Freelance service apps (like Fiverr or Upwork)
- Food delivery apps (like Zomato or DoorDash)
- Digital service apps (like Netflix or Skillshare)
An ideal mobile app development company should know how to create all types of apps. You must ask them about their previous work and if they have built apps for different industries. And if they have helped start-ups like you, that’s a big plus!
2. User-Friendly Design and Smooth Performance
A good app should be easy to use for everyone, even for people who are not that good with tech. That’s because most people will leave your app if it’s too slow or confusing.
Here’s what a good app company focuses on:
- Responsive design that would work on all screen sizes
- Making sure the app loads in under 3 seconds
- Clean design with easy navigation
- Clear buttons and menus that guide the user smoothly
A good user experience is a requirement. Why? Because 88% of users are less likely to return after a bad user experience. This shows us how important it is for your app to be user-friendly and responsive for the users.
3. Safe and Flexible Payment Options
Customers want to feel safe when they are shopping from an app. If your app looks suspicious and not trustworthy, they will not buy anything.
An experienced e-commerce app dev company will help you in:
- Adding SSL encryption and secure payment systems
- Offering trusted payment options like PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Wallet
- Let users choose how they want to pay
- Make sure the checkout process is quick
Few or strict payment options will send your potential customers away. In addition to this, it will also hurt your brand’s reputation and credibility.
4. Must-Have Modern Features
Now, users don’t just want a mobile app. They want an intelligent app. It should be able to adjust to their lifestyle and include smart features.
Here are some features that your app should include:
- Voice search (users can speak instead of typing)
- Advanced in-app search to quickly find what they need
- Push notifications to share deals and updates
- Wishlist and favorites to save items
- Offline browsing so users can still access parts of your app without the internet
A company offering mobile app development services would know how to add these latest features to make shopping interesting and easy!
5. Smart Product Recommendations
People love it when the apps show them exactly what they want to see or buy, even before they search for it. This is known as personalization.
This is how personalized recommendations work:
- App remembers what users search and buy
- Suggests products they might like
- Gives special deals based on their shopping history
- The chances of people buying again increases
Apps that have smart personalization for their customers sell more. They are more likely to retain customers, too. So, your app dev partner must know how to offer such smart recommendations.
6. Reviews and Ratings for Trust
Do you remember your last purchase online? Did you check the reviews? Well, reviews influence buying decisions of customers by a major 32%. It affects decisions more than even discounts or coupons.
That’s why you should make sure that your e-commerce app should:
- Show product ratings clearly
- Make it easy for users to leave reviews
- Highlight the best-reviewed items and good reviews
People trust what other people think online and have experienced with a company. Hence, they are more likely to trust them and buy their experience rather than your product solely.
7. Ready for the Future: Voice, AI, and AR
Trends in technology are shifting every day, and that too, fast. Therefore, the ideal app dev companies are those that are prepared for the future.
For instance:
- Voice recognition is becoming increasingly common, with people using voice commands to search or even order something.
- Augmented Reality (AR) helps users to see their expensive purchases like furniture in their real life through their phones.
- AR is becoming more common, and its market is expected to grow to thirty billion dollars by 2026.
Therefore, if your app includes these advanced and user-friendly features, it’s more likely to attract customers. This can also serve as your competitive edge in the market.
Why Start-ups Can’t Skip a Mobile App in 2025
Start-ups need more than a responsive website to succeed in the market. They need a well-rounded and user-friendly mobile app. A mobile app is just faster, easier, and feels more personal. You can send push notifications of your campaigns and discounts. You can also suggest products that the customer has already viewed multiple times or has added to the cart. To sum up, an ecommerce app is not just an accessory; it’s a must-have for any start-up.