Remember the good old days when we used to browse the e-commerce sites for hours staring at thousands of products on our desktops only to end up buying a Batman tea coaster?

Well, times they are a-changin' for sure.

Myntra already did it. Flipkart is doing it as we speak. Snapdeal has no intention of doing it.

Most of the big e-commerce players are shifting from mobile-first to mobile-only approach to push sales and to offer the 'best shopping experience' to today's connected customers.

And why shouldn't they? Studies have shown that the mobile phone penetration is 140% in urban areas! In 2013, only 5% of the e-commerce transactions were through a mobile device, and now, the figure has more than doubled to 13%! (PwC reports)

No wonder even the local food delivery startups such as Dazo and TinyOwl are exploring the app-only way.

Is 'Mobile-Only' THE Only Way?

Here's what the industry insiders think:

App is the future

"Indian mobile penetration is huge and when an app manages to customize the experience of an user, I would vote for an app and not a mobile web. It is only a good sense that brands will try and move towards a mobile-only space."

Partha Sarathi Guha PatraCo-Founder & Director at SafetyKart Retail Pvt. Ltd. & Mentor at SRV Damage Preventions Pvt. Ltd.

"Yes there have been quite a few negative impacts on Myntra's app-only move, but that is the nature of mankind. We do not take changes well. Once we get accustomed to something, it is difficult to accept any kind of change.

This attitude will also change. If everything is available on your phone, you won't need to shift to a laptop or desktop. Everything is available 'on the go'.

When I first saw the Myntra app-only move, I called them up and said "ho kya raha hai?" but then I understood it's an apt move."

Rajesh MunjalChief Operating Officer at Carzonrent India

Arkajyoti BhattacharjeeDigital media professional

"Yes I really think so app is the future ... It is very convenient and friendly to use while moving. On the contrary, for mobile website, at the end of the day, all traffic on the mobile web belongs to Google and, the mobile web doesn’t give the same kind of freedom and framework to engage a user.

From a business angle, this makes a lot of sense. The metrics are moving from getting ‘traffic’ to acquiring ‘users’. A user on the app is more engaged since he or she has already taken the effort to download the app and it opens up a lot of possibilities to give a good experience."

The App-Only Way

According to a spokesperson from Flipkart, 70-75% of their total traffic has been coming from their mobile app, so it definitely makes sense to go app-only. There are, after all, numerous advantages to the approach - An user is always online through the app, which will lead to real-time, organic transaction and engagement. It will lessen the time and effort of filling up forms and ordering a product.

Also, the app owner can create a totally personalized shopping experience for the users, by taking in account their preferences, browsing and shopping pattern.

Instead of investing on channels to drive traffic to the website, the brands can focus their attention on a single channel and create a new revenue model well-suited for their marketing strategy.

The most useful tool for these e-commerce sites - cookies also prove to the most harmful for them. A cookie helps the brands to target their users based on their online behaviour, but the insight generated isn't private - the competitors can also reap the benefits of these third party cookies. With an app, you can iso-late the user behaviour.

App vs. Website

The brands get it now, with an app they can customize the user experience and interaction, they can stay ahead of the competition and can save money on the marketing front.

But are we, the customers, ready to adopt the app-only approach?

Mobile internet packages a bit too costly?

With so many affordable 3G, 4G connections available, we still prefer these high speed internet devices over the mobile internet packages which prove to be a bit costly. It's not practical to expect that an user will use the limited internet balance to browse through products on an app. They will wait for a wi-fi zone to shop online.

What about impulse buying?

A user can view more than one product, can go through the descriptions and the reviews and browse through all the choices while shopping on a desktop site. It allows them to look for new products and even buy more than they first intended. An app restricts the user in this matter; it reduces the chance of impulse-buying

.Space crunch!

Even though the mobile penetration rate is high, everybody doesn't have a high-end smartphone with 8-16 GB memory. These shoppers will browse through the responsive sites instead of downloading the app. Even if they down-load it, when their phones will slow down, they will uninstall the apps they don't think is absolutely necessary.

High chances of loyalty shift?

According to market reports, most of the other e-commerce competitors are not forcing their users to choose a specific channel for online shopping. This can lead to a major loyalty shift as many users may not be comfortable with the idea of shopping through an app. Myntra has reported a dip of 10% in sales in the first month of their app-only venture.

What's your verdict?

There's a slight chance of the whole effort backfiring. If a brand concentrates too much on the app, they can get completely ignored in the social web, what's worse they can even be forgotten when faced with a plethora of exciting apps. On the other hand, if they concentrate all only on the web, they will get out-shined by their competitors, and lose out on important tools that can drive sales.Essentially, shifting to the app-only approach means that the brand is ready to do something radically different and innovative to retain the loyalty of the existing customers and to attract the interest of the new potential customers. If that's not the case, then the safest bet should be a mobile-first website. Isn't it?

Sources:

*Disclaimer: All pictures have been downloaded from the internet. No copyright infringement intended

http://yourstory.com/2015/05/myntra-app-only-move-mobile/http://www.livemint.com/Industry/J9VeQxowSOlHU8ZMUParUL/Flipkart-moves-towards-becoming-apponly-platform.htmlhttp://retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/e-commerce/e-tailing/many-unappy-flipkarts-move-divides-users/47982189http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2015/5/14/apps-versus-the-web