This article originally appeared in Insider Intelligence's Retail & Ecommerce Briefing-a daily recap of top stories reshaping the retail and ecommerce industries. Go further: For more on what makes retail mobile apps sticky as well as which retailers’ apps had the most valuable features, see our US Retail Mobile App Features Benchmark 2022. Overall, app capabilities must help consumers save time and money and make the shopping experience as frictionless as possible on the small screen.Features that enhance the in-store shopping experience-like product availability and location at a preferred store and price check-are particularly valuable.

Important capabilities include in-app notifications for when items are ready for pickup, scanning and saving gift cards into the user’s profile, and store stock availability.What this means for retailers: Retail mobile apps featuring specific functionalities can be the means to a superior customer experience, especially those that allow customers to plan their journeys as well as foster speed and convenience. Yet, while the pandemic spurred many consumers to adopt retail app technology more quickly, many features are gimmicky or glitchy and cause more friction than convenience.According to McKinsey research, 70% of consumers who began using in-store self-checkout in the past two years intend to keep using it post-pandemic.

Seamless app