Commerce

Ecommerce App Development

Shopping apps for Android and iOS, built for the customers you already have. Apps earn their cost through repeat purchase, not acquisition — so that is what we design them around.

The short answer

What is ecommerce app development?

An ecommerce app is a retention channel. Nobody installs an app to buy from a brand for the first time — they install it because they already buy from you and want it to be faster next time. That single fact should shape every decision in the build.

So the priorities are different from a store: a sign-in that is not a barrier, saved payment and address details, reorder in as few taps as possible, order tracking that removes support calls, and notifications that are useful rather than constant.

Scope

What we build

Native shopping apps

Android and iOS apps backed by your existing store or a dedicated commerce API.

Cross-platform apps

One Flutter or React Native codebase for both platforms where the UI suits it.

Shopify and WooCommerce companions

Apps that sit on top of an existing store rather than duplicating its data.

B2B ordering apps

Repeat ordering for trade customers with account pricing and credit terms.

Delivery and tracking apps

Customer-facing tracking, plus driver or fulfilment apps where operations need them.

Loyalty and rewards

Points, tiers and offers tied to the same customer record as the store.

Why teams call us

Business problems this solves

If more than two of these describe your situation, the problem is usually structural rather than cosmetic.

  • Repeat customers re-entering the same details on every order
  • No direct channel to reach customers who already buy
  • Cart abandonment on mobile web that an app flow would avoid
  • Support load from "where is my order" enquiries
  • Loyalty programmes nobody uses because they live on a separate site
  • An app that was built once and never updated to match the store

How it works

Our process

  1. 01

    Retention case

    Whether an app is justified at all, based on your repeat purchase rate. Sometimes the answer is no.

  2. 02

    Commerce API

    Confirming the store can serve an app — catalogue, cart, checkout, orders and auth.

  3. 03

    Flow design

    Onboarding, browse, product, cart, checkout and reorder, designed for thumbs.

  4. 04

    Build

    App, API integration, payments, notifications and analytics.

  5. 05

    Store submission

    Play Store and App Store listings, review requirements and release configuration.

  6. 06

    Post-launch

    Crash monitoring, funnel analytics, OS updates and iteration.

What you get

Deliverables and features

Deliverables

  • Android and iOS applications
  • Commerce API integration or a dedicated backend
  • Payment integration with saved methods
  • Push notification setup and segmentation
  • Play Store and App Store listings and submission
  • Crash reporting and product analytics
  • Release and update process documentation

Features

  • Catalogue browsing, search and filters
  • Product pages with imagery, variants and stock
  • Cart, saved addresses and saved payment methods
  • One-tap reorder from order history
  • Push notifications for orders, back-in-stock and offers
  • Order tracking and delivery status
  • Wishlists and loyalty points
  • Guest checkout with optional account creation

Stack

Technologies we use

We choose tools for the next three years, not the next three months — and we document why, so your next developer is not guessing.

  • Flutter
  • React Native
  • Kotlin
  • Swift
  • Node.js
  • Firebase
  • Razorpay
  • Shopify Storefront API
  • WooCommerce REST API

How we think about it

Our approach

Design approach

App design is thumb-first. The primary actions sit in reach at the bottom of the screen, forms use the right keyboard and autofill, and the app stays usable on a weak connection — cached catalogue, optimistic UI, and clear feedback when something fails. We do not gate browsing behind a login screen; that is the fastest way to lose a new install.

Performance and security

Cold start time and scroll performance are the numbers that decide whether an app gets kept. We keep the initial bundle small, load imagery progressively, cache catalogue data locally, and monitor crash-free session rate after release. An app that stutters on a mid-range Android phone will be uninstalled regardless of what it can do.

Budget

What drives the cost

We do not publish price ranges, because a number given before we understand the work is not a real one. These are the factors that actually move it.

  • Whether an existing store already exposes a usable commerce API
  • Native versus cross-platform, and whether both platforms are needed at launch
  • Payment methods and whether saved cards or tokenisation are required
  • Depth of loyalty, offers or personalisation logic
  • Whether staff-facing apps are in scope alongside the customer app

After a discovery conversation we give a fixed scope and a fixed number before any work begins.

Questions

Ecommerce App Development — frequently asked

Do we actually need an app?

Only if you have meaningful repeat purchase. If most customers buy once, a faster mobile site will return more than an app will. We would rather tell you that at the start than build something that gets installed and forgotten.

Can the app use our existing store?

Usually yes. Shopify and WooCommerce both expose APIs an app can sit on, so catalogue, pricing, stock and orders stay in one place rather than being duplicated.

Native or cross-platform?

Cross-platform suits most shopping apps — the interface is largely standard and one codebase halves the maintenance. Native makes sense when you need deep platform integration or unusual performance from specific screens.

How do app store submissions work?

We prepare the listings, assets and compliance details, and handle submission. Both stores review builds and can reject them, so we schedule a buffer rather than promising a launch date we do not control.

What happens when Android or iOS updates?

Apps need maintenance whether or not you change anything — OS releases, SDK deprecations and store policy changes all force updates. We cover this under an ongoing arrangement.

Can you build the delivery or warehouse side too?

Yes, where it is genuinely needed. Driver and fulfilment apps are usually simpler than the customer app but have stricter offline requirements.

Start here

Ready to talk about ecommerce app development?

Tell us what you are trying to achieve and what you are working with. We will come back with an honest view of scope, approach and whether we are the right fit.