GBCORP BLOG · IT SERVICES
White Label Shopping App: When You Already Have a Website
If your shop already sells well through a website, do you need an app as well? Often not. The answer comes from one figure you already have: how often the same customers come back.
A white label shopping app is a branded store app on iOS and Android, with catalogue, cart, checkout and a merchant dashboard, running on an engine someone else maintains. GBCORP’s edition serves the app and the website from one catalogue. For a shop starting from nothing, that settles the matter. For a shop that already has a website and customers, the question is different: what would an app add that the website does not already do?
What each one is good at
| Job | Website | App |
|---|---|---|
| First visit | Found through search and links, no install needed | Needs a reason to install |
| Repeat purchase | Has to be found again, and signed in to again | On the home screen, already signed in |
| Reaching the customer | E-mail, often unread | Push notifications, if permitted |
| Checkout | Details typed or saved per browser | Saved account, fewer steps |
| Loyalty | Points on an account page | Points and a wallet card in hand |
| Search visibility | The reason to keep it | None of its own |
The repeat-customer test
Look at your orders for the past year and work out what share came from returning customers, and how often they buy. If most customers buy once or twice a year, an app will sit unopened, so spend the money on your website and your e-mail instead. If a solid group reorders monthly or more, an app gives them a shorter route, and the plan needs only a modest lift in their orders to pay for itself. Groceries, beauty, pet supplies, coffee and other repeat goods tend to pass. Furniture tends not to.
One catalogue, not two
The trap for an existing shop is running two of everything: products, prices and stock kept in the old website platform and again in the app. GBCORP’s edition is one store across the web and both app stores, so the cleanest route is to move to it entirely. If your current platform must stay, a connection that keeps the two in step is custom work, scoped and priced first. Decide this early, because it decides the budget.
Checklist before adding an app
- Measure the share of orders from returning customers.
- Work out how much extra ordering would cover the plan.
- Decide whether to move the whole shop or connect the two.
- Export products, customers and order history, and check them.
- Plan redirects so old product links keep their search value.
- Choose the first reason customers will have to install.
The numbers to expect
The configured shop goes live within one to five working days on the web, with store listings after review, at a flat monthly plan and no commission on your sales. Extensions arrive in releases of two to six weeks at a fixed price. Customised or more complex functionality is quoted separately before any work starts.
A worked example
Consider a specialty tea retailer with a healthy online shop and two stores. Order data shows that a third of customers reorder about every six weeks and account for over half of revenue. That group justifies an app, while the rest do not need one and will keep using the website. The retailer moves the shop onto one catalogue, keeps the old addresses redirected and adds points that work online and in the stores. The first reason to install is simple: your usual blend, your saved details and points on every order. A card on the receipt and a note in the order e-mail do the work of inviting people. After three months the retailer compares orders per customer before and after installing, and decides how much further to promote it.
Moving website customers across
Customers who already shop with you need a reason, not an announcement. Offer the app at the moments they are already engaged: the order confirmation, the receipt, the parcel insert, a banner on the website for returning customers. A one-off reward for a first app order helps, and so does a benefit that stays, such as points, early access or saved details. Do not force anyone. People who prefer the website should keep it, since an annoyed customer is worth less than a website order.
What not to put in the app
A shopping app does not need your blog, your company history or a copy of every website page. It needs search, the categories people use, the last order, the basket and the account. Every extra menu item makes those harder to find. A website is a place to be discovered and to explain, and an app is a place to act quickly. Look at what returning customers do on the site today, and make that the first screen.
Push notifications by behaviour
Push is the main thing an app adds, and it is easily wasted. Messages tied to the customer’s behaviour work well: an order status, a restock of something they bought or a reward about to expire. Broadcasts to everyone, several times a week, teach customers to switch notifications off, and often lead them to delete the app.
Stock shown honestly
An app customer expects what the screen says. If the stores and the online shop share stock, decide how often figures update and how much you hold back as a buffer, so the last item is not sold twice. A polite “only two left” is better than a refund message the next morning.
Search visibility stays with the website
Apps do not replace search. People still find new products through search engines, so the website remains your front door. Keep product pages, structured data and addresses in good order, and treat the app as the place those customers go next. Cutting website investment because you now have an app would cut off the source of new customers.
Reading the result
Compare like with like. App users are often your best customers already, so raw figures flatter the app. Look at how the same customers behaved before and after installing it: orders per customer, time between orders and average basket. If those hold steady, the app is only moving orders rather than adding any, and that is useful to know.
Ownership terms
The customer list, order history, domain, store listings and payment-gateway account remain yours, in a dedicated project you can export at any time. Multi-vendor selling and request-for-quote modules can be switched on later without a rebuild. GBCORP takes no commission on your sales and stays out of sight.
Questions we hear first
Will an app hurt our search ranking?
Not if the website stays. If you move platforms, keep the addresses or redirect them, so existing pages keep their value.
Can customers use the same account on both?
Yes. One catalogue serves the iOS app, the Android app and the website, with the same cart and account.
Do we pay commission on sales?
No. Card payments settle to your own gateway account, and GBCORP takes no commission.
What about returns and stock?
Stock, delivery zones and fees, order status, returns and customer messages sit in one dashboard.
Where to start
The GBCORP E-commerce and Shopping App is the priced starting point; the GBCORP white label app hub explains how it is configured. For a shop starting fresh, read white label ecommerce app; for what a retail app must do, read shopping app development.
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