Are you planning to build your first mobile app? Have you never collaborated with mobile developers in the past and are worried about the cost of developing a mobile app? The cost of mobile app development varies a lot; it depends on the features and functionality, the experience of the developers, platforms you’re planning to build, and much more factors. Building a mobile app is not just about coding, but a bunch of processes and tasks done by designers, developers, quality assurance experts, project managers, and other professionals. Cutting down on the design does not mean reducing the cost of app development; it can mean destroying your project.
Before you get started with application development, you should define your eCommerce business goals. Some of the questions you should try to fetch answers to are:
- What kind of eCommerce mobile app do you want to launch?
- Which platforms do you want to focus?
- Who is the target audience?
- Are you selling products or services?
- What modes of payments would be used? How can the customers pay for products or services?
- Who will manage the delivery?
- How can product pricing be changed?
- Do you need any commission model?
Get answers to all these questions and then move on with deciding on what type of app you would want to develop. Once you’re clear with your expectations about the app, you can think of ways to penetrate the market in the modern digital world.
Though there are a lot of mobile app development companies and easy access to the development tools, there are some challenges that every eCommerce business owner may face while thinking of developing the first mobile app.
Here are some of the tips and tricks to help you reduce the app development costs:
1. Outsource the project
Upwork, oDesk, Elance, and Freelancer are some of the freelance websites that can help you develop your mobile app at cost effective prices. The minimum cost of building a mobile app could be anywhere between $150,00 and $450,00. Outsourcing your project can help you save up to 70% of the development costs. Freelancer has more than 9 million projects and over 17 million users. You get access to a massive community of developers when you choose such freelancing platforms. Signing up at such sites is easy and simple and you can post the jobs to get bids from freelancers and agencies from all over the world.
Hiring dedicated freelancers and teams from such websites is a cost-saving option for startups, small, and mid-sized businesses. The immediate benefits of hiring individuals or agencies from such websites are time and cost saving, access to a large pool of designers and developers, review and rating system, and payment to be released after the job is done.
2. Cross-platform app development
Some business owners make the mistake of developing different versions for both iOS and Android, which means that you need to pay for two apps instead of one. Building a cross-platform app can be a cost-effective solution to cut down costs of app development. Such apps reduce the man-hours and make your app accessible to all the major platforms and they appear and work like native apps.
You can cut down the app development cost by 30-40% by opting for cross-platform apps. These apps have a highly reusable code and so, a mobile app can be built for different platforms. PhoneGap, Xamarin, NativeScript, Sencha Touch, and Appcelerator are some of the popular examples of cross-platform frameworks that can be used to save money on mobile app development costs.
3. Ditch Push Notifications
Did someone tell you that ditching push notifications could save 30% of your budget? Yes, that’s true. If your app has a lot of push notifications, then it would require ongoing maintenance. Most of the users do not like push notifications and so, you can avoid unnecessary ones.
Of course, some push notifications are mandatory. If you own a pharmacy app, then notifying the users about when it’s time to refill the medications from the prescriptions can help to increase sales and make it easier for the users to place orders. Be prepared for the ongoing maintenance and expenses associated with the push notification. Ditch the push notifications if you have a tight budget for app development.
4. Continuous Testing
Quality assurance is something you cannot ignore when you’re developing an app for your business. If your app is tested only after the project is completed, bug fixing can be a problem. It may cost you a lot of additional money that can raise your app development budget. Continuous mobile testing during all the stages of app development can help you save costs as the issues can be fixed there and then before moving ahead to another stage. Avoid testing the app after all stages are released. Look for mobile app developers who test the app at each and every stage of development.
5. Agile methodology
Agile project management in mobile app development facilitates rapid development, project specification compliance, and budget control. In the case of larger app development projects, developers can break down the tasks into smaller development cycles. Smaller chunks of work are easier to manage for the developers and customers. Under Agile methodology, developers and testers work together and it speeds up the development.
Wrapping Up
Outsourcing, cross-platform development, ditching push notifications, continuous testing, and Agile project management are top 5 ways in which enterprises can reduce mobile app development costs. Reduce your mobile development bills and build an inexpensive app to achieve your business goals and start making money.
