10 Signs Your Shopify Store Needs a Mobile App
Not sure if your Shopify store is ready for a mobile app? Here are 10 clear signs that a dedicated app will significantly boost your revenue.
Is Your Shopify Store Ready for a Mobile App?
Not every Shopify store needs a mobile app right now. But for many stores, the signs are clear — and ignoring them means leaving significant revenue on the table. Here are ten data-backed indicators that your store is ready for a dedicated mobile app.
If three or more of these apply to you, a mobile app should be a priority investment.
Sign 1: Over 60 Percent of Your Traffic Comes from Mobile
Check your Shopify analytics. If more than 60 percent of your traffic is from mobile devices, you have a massive audience that would benefit from a native app experience. And here is the painful reality — your mobile conversion rate is almost certainly lower than your desktop rate.
The average Shopify store sees a 2 to 3 percent desktop conversion rate but only 1 to 1.5 percent on mobile web. A native app closes this gap, delivering 4 to 6 percent conversion rates by providing a faster, smoother experience designed for mobile from the ground up.
For a store getting 50,000 mobile visitors per month, moving even 15 percent of that traffic to an app with three-times-higher conversions translates to thousands of dollars in additional monthly revenue.
Sign 2: Your Mobile Cart Abandonment Rate Is Over 80 Percent
Cart abandonment on mobile web is painful. The average Shopify mobile web abandonment rate is around 85 percent — meaning for every 100 customers who add items to their cart, only 15 complete checkout.
Mobile apps reduce cart abandonment to approximately 20 percent through:
- Saved payment methods that eliminate tedious form filling
- Persistent carts that never expire
- Faster page loads that keep momentum through checkout
- Push notification reminders that recover abandoned carts
If your cart abandonment data makes you wince, an app is the most effective solution.
Sign 3: You Have a Loyal Customer Base with Repeat Purchases
If a significant portion of your revenue comes from returning customers, those customers are your ideal app users. Repeat buyers already know your products and trust your brand — they just need a more convenient way to shop.
App users have three to four times higher lifetime value than web-only customers. They buy more frequently, spend more per order, and remain active customers for longer periods. Converting your top 500 to 1,000 repeat customers into app users can meaningfully increase your total revenue.
Sign 4: Email Marketing Performance Is Declining
Email open rates have been declining industry-wide for years. If your promotional emails are getting 15 percent open rates (or less), it is increasingly difficult to drive repeat sales through email alone.
Push notifications have 50 to 70 percent open rates — three to five times higher than email. They cost nothing to send and deliver instantly. For stores that depend on customer re-engagement for revenue, push notifications through a mobile app are a game-changing addition to the marketing mix.
Sign 5: Customer Acquisition Costs Are Rising
If your Meta, Google, or TikTok advertising costs per acquisition have been climbing steadily (and they have for nearly every ecommerce brand), you need more efficient retention channels.
A mobile app shifts your marketing mix from expensive acquisition to cheap retention. Once a customer installs your app, every subsequent interaction — push notification, app open, browse session — costs you nothing. Over time, this reduces your blended customer acquisition cost significantly.
Sign 6: Your Competitors Have Mobile Apps
Open the App Store and search for terms related to your niche. If your competitors have mobile apps and you do not, customers who prefer app shopping are going to your competitors by default.
First-mover advantage in mobile apps is real. The first brand a customer installs in a product category tends to keep that home screen spot. If your competitor claims that position first, winning it back requires significantly more effort.
Sign 7: Your Average Order Value on Mobile Is Lower Than Desktop
If mobile AOV is 20 percent or more below desktop AOV, it indicates that your mobile experience has friction that prevents customers from adding more items to their cart.
Apps increase AOV through:
- Faster product discovery that encourages browsing
- Personalized recommendations based on browsing history
- Wishlist functionality that lets customers save items and buy later
- One-tap reordering of previous purchases
Sign 8: You Run Regular Promotions and Sales
If flash sales, seasonal promotions, and limited-time offers are part of your marketing strategy, push notifications are the ideal delivery mechanism. They create immediate urgency with instant delivery.
A flash sale announcement via push notification reaches 50 to 70 percent of your app users within minutes. The same announcement via email might reach 15 percent over several hours. The difference in revenue impact is substantial.
Sign 9: You Spend Heavily on SMS Marketing
SMS marketing is effective but expensive. At 0.01 to 0.05 dollars per message, a campaign to 10,000 subscribers costs 100 to 500 dollars. Push notifications deliver the same immediacy and similar or higher engagement rates at zero cost.
If you are spending 500 dollars or more per month on SMS marketing, a mobile app with push notifications can replace a significant portion of that spend while improving engagement rates.
Sign 10: Your Product Catalog Updates Frequently
If you regularly add new products, update prices, or rotate collections, a mobile app keeps your most engaged customers informed automatically. New product alerts, price drop notifications, and back-in-stock alerts all drive immediate revenue that would otherwise require email campaigns or paid advertising.
What to Do Next
If three or more of these signs apply to your Shopify store, it is time to invest in a mobile app. The good news is that building one has never been faster or more affordable.
With BrewmyApp, you can:
- Sign up for free — no credit card required
- Connect your Shopify store in minutes
- Design your app with the visual editor
- Preview on your device before building
- Launch on the App Store and Google Play within a week
The cost is a fraction of what it used to be, and the ROI is proven. Every month you wait is revenue you are leaving on the table.
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