What is a social commerce app?
A social commerce application is a web or mobile application that enables users to buy products and services using their social connections. Social commerce apps typically allow users to create a profile, follow other users, and send them virtual “gifts” in exchange for discounts on items they want. Users can also post comments about the gifts they receive from their friends and view sales trends for individual merchants.
Social commerce apps are similar to most other retail apps with the exception of shopping apps, which are also considered social commerce. Groupon is one of the more common examples of a social commerce app.
Examples of social commerce apps built with Crowdbotics:
- A social media app focused on shopping. Users post a product or deal they find in a store with picture, description and price. Users can see a wall showing the other users posted near them via zip code. Businesses can promote certain posts based on business subscriptions.
What is the typical cost to build a social commerce app?
A social commerce app usually costs about $37,500 to build. However, the total cost can be as low as $25,000 or as high as $50,000. A social commerce app with a low number of features (also known as a minimum viable product, or MVP) will be more affordable than an app that includes all intended functionality.
For example, here are some previous social commerce app price quotes from Crowdbotics:
How long does it take to build a social commerce app?
A social commerce app usually takes 200 hours to build. However, a social commerce app can be built in as few as 200 hours, or in as many as 200 hours. The exact timeline mostly depends on how complicated your specific app is. As a general rule, it will take longer if you require highly custom designs, niche features, complex logic, or non-standard release platforms.
For example, some previous social commerce apps build with Crowdbotics received the following hourly estimates:
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Crowdbotics has quoted and built hundreds of applications for teams of all sizes. Browse our historical estimates by industry and app type to understand possible costs and considerations.
How to successfully grow your social commerce application
Social commerce apps can grow quickly by capturing the attention of a large group of users with an in-app promotion, such as a “flash sale” or “limited time offer.” Having limited time offers helps to build customer loyalty and increases the app store rankings of social commerce apps that are able to drive viral growth. Users are more likely to return to social commerce apps if they feel that their purchase was worth it. Social commerce apps should also provide incentives for returning customers, such as points for referring new users or special discounts for existing users.
Risks and challenges of building a social commerce application
Social commerce apps rely on customer-facing social interactions or the development of a network of users in order to generate revenue. If your app is built upon the premise that users will share their information with friends as a condition of using the app, you need to make sure that your privacy policy is clear about what information is shared with third parties. There are also compliance risks associated with payments processed across social media platforms.
