E-commerce App Development for Independent Online Shops

What an e-commerce app adds to your online shop

Your online shop already works on a phone browser, so why have an app? For a one-off visitor, there is often no need. For your best customers — the ones who come back every month — an app removes friction: they stay signed in, their address and payment method are ready, their order history is one tap away, and they can choose to hear about restocks and new collections.

Apptavio builds custom shopping apps for iPhone and Android that connect to the shop you already run. You keep managing products and orders in your current platform; the app is a faster, more personal front door for loyal customers.

Who it is for

E-commerce apps work best for independent shops and brands where:

• Customers buy repeatedly — food and drink, pet supplies, beauty, supplements, hobby supplies, coffee, specialist clothing.
• There is a community or regular drops, such as limited releases or seasonal collections.
• Your shop runs on a platform with an API, such as Shopify or WooCommerce, or a custom system with documented endpoints.
• You want a channel you control, alongside email and social media.

Features we commonly build

Shopping

• Catalogue with categories, search, filters and product variants.
• Product pages with your photos, descriptions, sizing information and stock status.
• Basket and checkout using the methods your payment provider and platform support.
• Saved addresses and order history with one-tap reorder.
• Wishlists and back-in-stock alerts.

After the sale

• Order status and tracking links.
• Easy access to returns information and customer support.
• Reviews from verified buyers, if your platform already collects them.

Retention

• Member-only offers, early access to drops, or loyalty points.
• Push notifications for customers who have opted in, sent with restraint.
• Personalised home screen based on categories a customer has bought from.

How we connect to your shop

The app does not hold its own copy of your business. It reads products and creates orders through your platform's API. In practice that means:

• Shopify provides documented APIs for storefronts and administration, and many shops use them for custom apps.
• WooCommerce offers a REST API that can be used when the store is set up for it.
• Custom platforms can work if they expose a reliable API; if not, we may need to add one, which adds scope.

Some features, such as particular checkout options or loyalty programmes, depend on your platform plan or apps you already use. We check this early, and we never assume an integration exists until we have confirmed it.

Payments and store rules

For physical products, apps usually take payment through a standard payment provider or your platform's checkout. Apple and Google have separate rules for digital goods and subscriptions consumed inside an app, which generally must use their in-app purchase systems. If you sell anything digital, we review the current App Store and Google Play rules for your case before recommending an approach.

See your shopping app before you buy

We can build a free, personalised, interactive concept of your app from your existing website. It uses your brand, product categories and sample products from your public pages, and you can tap through it in a browser on your phone or computer — browsing, product pages, basket and account screens.

The concept is a prototype: products are illustrative, nothing can be purchased and nothing connects to your shop yet. A person reviews every concept before we send it, and there is no obligation. We email you a private link when it is ready.

How the project works

1. Free preview of your app, based on your website.
2. Scope call to agree features, check your platform's API and plan.
3. Written quote with screens, features, integrations, price and estimated timeline.
4. Design and build in React Native, Expo and TypeScript — one codebase for iPhone and Android — with regular test versions.
5. Submission to the App Store and Google Play under your own developer accounts. Approval is Apple's and Google's decision.
6. Ongoing maintenance for operating system updates, platform API changes and new features.

What affects the cost

Custom apps start from €1,499 (indicative starting price). For shopping apps, cost depends mainly on:

• Your platform's API — well-documented platforms are quicker to integrate.
• Catalogue complexity — variants, bundles, subscriptions or made-to-order products.
• Checkout approach — native checkout versus a platform-hosted checkout.
• Customer accounts and how they link to your existing customer records.
• Loyalty and personalisation features.
• Push notifications and the logic for who receives what.
• Maintenance — platforms and operating systems change regularly.

Honest limitations

• An app does not bring new customers by itself. It is most effective for people who already buy from you, so plan how you will invite them to download it.
• Store approval is decided by Apple and Google. We build to their guidelines but cannot guarantee the outcome.
• Push notifications only reach customers who opt in, and too many messages lead people to turn them off.
• If your platform restricts API access, some features may not be possible or may require a higher plan.