How to Create An App Like Amazon? – A Complete Guide to Develop a Marketplace App

Do you want a wonderful e-commerce app development idea? Or are you wondering how to develop an app like Amazon or if you want to start an online selling business?

If yes, then the following article should be of immense help to you with some useful information you may want to know.

As we know with the increasing number of electronic devices, Amazon is the best online shopping app.

Amazon online shopping Apps are easier than ever. You can shop anywhere you wish to such as in busses, in trains, while you are at work. But now, the market is quickly becoming saturated because customers have many options to choose from.

Thus, the competition between various e-commerce sites like Flipkart and Amazon is now fiercer than ever.

All these e-commerce websites are coming up with better and more innovative ideas.

You can start your own e-commerce business with properly built and well-planned mobile applications along with advanced features.

The only key to success in this business is to stand out in the crowd.

Facts & Stats about Amazon and Ecommerce Industry

As per the Survey, due to the increase in demand for online shopping, most US consumers are relying on online shopping and it is estimated that by 2040 approximately 95% of the purchases will be made online.

According to the survey, around 68% of women look for product reviews before buying a product and approximately 56% of women will go through social media pages before making a purchase.

It is expected that the online retail market size will be $73 Billion with the exponential growth in the internet and digital population of 687.6 Million along with an e-commerce penetration of 74%.

As per the survey reports, it is found that approximately 48% of people shopping online usually spent more than what they have planned. And also 85% of consumers shop from different devices.

Users prefer to shop from a store that offers more discounts and personalized coupons.

It is estimated by the experts that by the end of the year 2021, US mobile commerce sales will eclipse $420 billion because the conversion rate of mobile apps is 3 times higher than mobile sites.

Advancement in technology has changed the way people shop and has brought major changes in the field of the e-commerce sector.

Amazon Business Model

It began in 1994, Amazon expanded from a small book store and became the everything store. Amazon’s business model is based on its online store. Over 5 Billion dollars of revenues was generated in 2017 when physical stores of Amazon were launched.

Another thing that plays an essential role in Amazon’s overall business model is Amazon Prime which is a subscription-based service that makes customers overspent and being more loyal to the platform. Apart from that Amazon also has its cloud infrastructure called AWS that is leading worldwide and a business with high margins.

Besides, Amazon also has an advertising business that is worth a few billion dollars. Amazon measures its success via a customer experience, lowering prices, stable tech infrastructure, and free cash flow generation.

Amazon Business Model in a Nutshell

Amazon is the largest marketplace. Amazon is expanding worldwide, even though the United States represents the primary source of income for Amazon. With time, net sales have increased than ever it was in 2014. The products represented approximately 70% of total sales in the year 2016. Services sales have been increasing at a fast pace.

In terms of Operating Income, the high margins derived from the services sales were affecting the growth on a larger scale. By having a closure look at the revenue sources, it is crystal clear that subscription and AWS services have been growing.

These factors signify the growth rate of Amazon and the expansion of its services across the world.

Build An App Like Amazon Clone in Just 5 Steps

1. Market Research on your Products
2. Make List of Features for Amazon Like App
3. Choose the Operating Systems for Ecommerce Industry
4. Use Industry Best Technology for Marketplace App
5. Find Best E-commerce App Development Company

Market Research for Marketplace App

The first thing you need to decide is the products to sell and your target audience. Once you are done with this, the next step is to research your market in your niche. Conduct proper research by investing some time on the internet and find out which other applications are selling an equivalent sort of goods. This will help you in taking the right decision about your business plan and you can then proceed ahead without a fail.

Make a List of your eCommerce App Features like Amazon

Features implemented in an app are the most important factor that needs to be given time while developing an app because the features will decide the future scope of the app. You need to work on the functionality of an application that should be easy to access. That will enhance the user experience.  Developing a simple and easy-to-use application will attract more users and will convert the visitors into potential customers. Here are some of the features listed below you need to consider while making an app like Amazon:

Login/Signup

The login and registration for the users should be easy and should be done with minimum details in a very short time.

Easy UI and Navigation

An e-commerce app is a place where people scroll for different options and search the entire app to find what they are looking for and eventually end up buying things they didn’t want to buy in the first place. So, it is essential to ensure easy navigation and UI to deliver a wonderful user experience.

Advanced Search

You have to work on this aspect so that the users can search for anything they desire and get an appropriate result for the search.

Display Related Results

A relevant product must be displayed on selecting a specific item to improve their shopping experience.

Wishlist

Implementing this feature will enable users to keep the items they might want to purchase in the wishlist along with the change in the prices stored in the wishlist.

Multiple Payment Options

There should be an option of multiple payments for more convenience and a better shopping experience.

Multi-currency Support

If you are looking forward to making your app successful and internationally popular, then you cannot miss out on this feature. This would enable users to buy products from any corner of the globe.

Return Item

You need to implement this feature to gain more trust and ensure users that they can return the item anytime if they don’t like it will improve the sales.

Easy Checkout

The checkout option needs to be easy and faster which should ask for minimum details.

Push Notifications

One of the best features is notifications for any app. By implementing this feature in your app you can retain more users by reminding your users about the discount, offers, new arrivals, and much more.

Ratings and Review

The users like to buy a product by looking at reviews first so by adding this feature the users can rate the product they have purchased and that will help other customers while making a purchase.

The list of features could be very long. You can hire an app developer who can develop an application that meets your requirements.

Final Operating System

The next step would be to figure out the platform for targeting users. The two platforms that are in high demand these days are Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Let’s see some of the factors that will help in choosing the right platform to launch your app:

It is a well-accepted fact that rich people own iPhones whereas middle-class users go for an Android. So you need to choose which users are you targeting?

You need to know the geolocation of the users because Android influences people globally but iOS rules in North America and Europe.

The last thing you need to keep in mind is the time it takes to develop an app. Android apps have the broadest reach whereas Apple Applications are fast to develop.

Technology Stack used to make E-commerce App

iOS and Android have divided the digital space of the mobile world among themselves and have their advantages and disadvantages. So you need to know these differences while developing an e-commerce app. Let’s see the important factors:

Programming Languages

The main difference lies in the coding terms. If you desire to develop an Android. e-commerce app, you can use Java or Kotlin whereas if you are looking forward to developing an iPhone eCommerce app, you can go for Swift. These programming languages have a rich ecosystem.

You can choose any programming language as per your requirements. For small projects, you can opt for hybrid development due to its framework that compiles one code for both platforms.

Development Speed and Complexity

When it comes to speed and complexity, there is a big difference between iOS and Android. Since Android has a vast number of supported devices, it takes more time to craft an e-commerce Android app. More time will be consumed on OS fragmentation.

Deployment Process

Android apps are easier to launch on Google Play than Apple counterparts. Android testing tools are better than the tools offered by Apple Xcode.

Launch Your E-commerce App in Market

Before releasing an application, there comes deployment to App Store or Google Play. It takes some time to review the platform, you get a time of merely 2 days to fix the vulnerabilities found. When you are done with the above-mentioned steps, you can launch your e-commerce application on App Store or Google Play Store.

Find The Best E-commerce App Developer or Company

Outsourcing is a global term and businesses are more inclined towards outsourcing their IT requirements in the last couple of years. The other way out is hiring an in-house developer. Apart from this, hiring a freelance app developer is another option. There are pros and cons to all the approaches. 

Hire In-house Developer

• Pros In-house Developer

1. If you are hired in house eCommerce app developers for apps like amazon you are able to Face-to-face communication and understand your requirements to them properly
2. Working in the same office hours enables clear communication. Face-to-face communication helps in avoiding misunderstanding and increases effectiveness.

• Cons Inhouse Developer

1. High Cost
2. In-house development is much more expensive comparatively. The final price gets affected by rent, taxes, software, hardware, and much more.
3. Lack of tech experts.
4. It is quite tough to hire the right app developer at affordable prices. There is an increase in demand for tech experts in the rising IT market that makes it often hard to find an app developer because of the increasing competition.

Outsource Your Ecommerce App Project with App Development Company

• Benefits of an outsourcing project

1. Cost flexibility
2. There are several companies worldwide that offer affordable prices. Eastern Europe, Central, and Western Europe are some of the most popular regions for outsourcing.
3. Huge talent pools
4. The IT sourcing market provides many technical experts that have knowledge and experience. Outsourcing provides countless hiring opportunities to choose the best app developer.
5. Scalability
6. You can increase or decrease the number of experts in the development process as per your requirements.
7. Faster project delivery
8. Outsourcing app development lets reduce the time spent on recruiting. It helps in delivering your project faster.
9. More technologies to from
10. You have more options to choose from with the required skill set.

• Cons of an Outsourcing project

1. Security risks
2. Outsourcing lacks face-to-face communication and it won’t be in your hand to control the entire app development process. You might not feel well-protected in terms of security.

You can choose Echo Innovate It as your outsourcing partner to boost the productivity of your business. You can grow bigger and gain a competitive edge by continuously expanding your reach. Echo Innovate IT has more than 12+ years of experience in this industry. We provide top-notch services at affordable prices without compromising the quality. Our only aim is to satisfy our customers. You can trust us with the entire app development process and relax!

E-commerce App Like Amazon Overview

You need to think about features to be implemented in your e-commerce app from a business perspective.

Registration and login

The first and foremost step is to register on any app. E-commerce apps like Amazon have two types of registration or login options i.e. as a buyer or a seller.

Account page

Enables e-commerce apps to provide important information and updates when required.

Content management 

Each e-commerce application should provide users with various options of products. Content management features can help users by creating menus with photos of the products, descriptions, etc.

Order management 

This feature enables online stores to manage their incoming orders along with tracking the statuses of all the ordered items and keeping track of product delivery time.

Payments receiving 

Once the item gets delivered, the seller gets its payment made by clients via an e-commerce app.

History of order 

This feature enables the users to access the entire history of the order placed through an application.

Revenue dashboard 

This feature is unique because it gives an overview of the revenue history made with an application.

Things to Keep in Mind While Develop E-commerce App

Developing an e-commerce app involves a complex structure. So, it is better to give your job to a well-reputed mobile app development company.  There are a few things to keep in mind while developing an e-commerce app to make your app successful.

•  To enhance user experience, you need to provide easy navigation and attractive UI designs.
• You need to make your idea unique to stand out from the crowd.
• Explore other applications by conducting research and developing an excellent app like Amazon.
• You need to pre-decide the communication flow with the development team, employees, customers, stakeholders, etc.
• You need to choose the right platform for managing an application as per your budget and implement the best features in your application to meet the needs of the users.

How to Make Money with eCommerce Website or App

You can make your e-commerce apps even better by implementing monetization strategies. You can turn your app into a source of additional income for your business. Let’s have a look at some of the ways of monetizing your e-commerce app like Amazon and turning it into a profit-generating machine.

In-app purchase offers

Every person is interested in downloading an app that offers assured gifts on each purchase. This way you can drive huge traffic on your app, increase your sales, and gain more app downloads. This is a very great idea for the monetization of an e-commerce app to make users rush to it.

Freebies and coupons on purchase

Some e-commerce apps get popular by offering customers new opportunities in the form of coupons or gifts on certain purchased items. This can turn the ROI figure of an e-commerce app in a positive direction.

In-app advertising

In-app advertising has always been the best way for monetizing any app. It is one of the most viable monetizing avenues for e-commerce apps. The great thing is in-app ads do not interfere with the basic UI and user experience.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is one of the most common monetizing strategies which is embraced by numerous e-commerce apps across several platforms. You can allow brands to do marketing for their products by mentioning your e-store at every place. You have to build a strong loyal user base and sustained reputation for your app to monetize your app using affiliate marketing.

SMS Marketing

By using this technique, you can send important notices for app updates, reminders, contests, coupon discounts to your customers. SMS marketing strategy is one of the more effective ways to strengthen your business and this will drive more users back to your app.

Cost of E-commerce App Development Like Amazon

As we know, each business has different demands and requirements so the app development cost of an e-commerce app like Amazon varies depending on several factors.

Here are some of the major factors that influence the cost of the app development that will help you estimate the final cost of app development:

Experts Required in the App Development Process:

• Project manager
• App developers
• UI/UX designers
• Back-end Developers
• Front-end developers

QA Expert

Hiring an app developer might cost you somewhere between $15-$50 based on the average hourly cost in Dubai, the Middle East, India, etc. the cost may vary if you choose to outsource the development team from the USA or UK. It would cost you somewhere around $100-$200 based on the average hourly cost.

UX/UI Design of the App

The price of designing an application varies based on the features, complexity, and size of an application. On average, it might cost somewhere between $1000-$3000 but again the price may vary as per the hour cost charged by the UX/UI designer.

Backend and Frontend Development

Backend and Frontend development is the most important part and plays a huge role in affecting the overall cost of app development. It can cost you around $5000-$10,000.

Therefore, According to the clutch survey e-commerce app development like amazon can cost you somewhere between $20,000-$30,000 but the app development communities and experts told it will cost around $15,000 to $20,000 with MVP for a singular platform.

Conclusion

Now that you have understood the essential development steps and estimated the cost of each phase, you should start planning the project. If you are following the Amazon clone app, you should make it run on multiple platforms like iOS, Android, or cross-platform.  Since we know there are numerous applications available in the market in today’s date so you have to think out of the box and be unique to stand out from the crowd. 

If you are looking forward to developing an app like Amazon and have a great idea of app development, then you need to hire a mobile app development company who can craft your ideas into reality i.e. a perfect online shopping app.

Being one of the leading companies, Echo Innovate IT is the right choice for you. Contact us today!

FAQ’s of E-commerce App Development Like Amazon