Are you looking to develop a retail app to boost sales but worry about the hefty price tag?
Good news — you don't need to break the bank or have a degree in computer science to get into retail app development.
With the rise of no-code platforms, you can develop a retail app independently, even without coding experience.
This article will show you how to develop a no-code retail app in 7 simple steps.
Why Do You Need a Retail App?
A retail app will help you sell more products, reach a wider audience, and expand your customer base. You can take orders at any time of the day, which can significantly fatten your bottom line.
You can build two kinds of apps: A web app and a native mobile app.
As its name suggests, users will access your web app from the web — web apps are essentially functional websites that allow users to create accounts, log in, make purchases, and more. Like websites, web apps can be search engine optimized (SEO) to drive more traffic.
Native mobile apps, on the other hand, don’t live on the Internet — they’re downloaded directly from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store to users’ mobile devices. Instead of opening a browser and navigating your web app, users will simply tap your app’s icon on their phones and instantly start shopping.
A web app and a native mobile app are ideal, as you can position your web app to folks who prefer shopping on desktops and to the billions of app store users.
Getting Started
Drawing up an action plan before developing your retail app using a no-code app builder is wise. This will ensure you get all your ideas methodically organized and know how to position your app to reach the most users.
Before you start developing a retail app, execute the following tasks:
- Conduct market research: In 2024, getting feedback about what customers want in a retail app is crucial yet incredibly simple. Using a platform like Survey Sparrow or Survey Monkey, you can create questionnaires and send them to a pre-selected demographic to uncover what customers want.
You’ll be able to discover your app’s most optimal layout, how to feature products, when to run special offers and almost anything else you can think of. These platforms won’t break the bank: Survey platforms start at around $25/month.
Also, it’s a good idea to see what apps your competitors offer. Jot down what makes these apps stand out and where they fall short so you can know what you’ll need to bring to your app.
- Get an Adalo membership: Many no-code app builders exist, but Adalo is one of the most powerful. It’s also simple enough to use right after signing up.
Don’t have any technical or coding skills? Perfect — Adalo is truly no-code, featuring a simple drag-and-drop interface that works by seamlessly piecing together your app by dragging elements onto a building canvas.
You can take payments through Adalo’s Stripe integration and set up deliveries via Zapier via Adalo’s integration with ShippyPro.
- Wireframe your app: In app-building, wireframing uses a digital tool to draw up your app’s blueprints. This will put your idea on paper (or a screen), giving you a proper map for tailor-making your retail app.
We suggest you use free wireframing software like Figma’s Wireframing tool.
How a Retail App Works: The Nuts and Bolts
All apps, no matter what purpose they serve, are composed of these 3 parts:
- The Frontend: This is the part of your retail app that users will see and interact with. It’s sometimes called the “user interface” (UI). Your app's frontend will feature all the goods that you sell.
- The Backend: Like a living organism, your retail app will have a brain or central nervous system. This part of your app is known as the backend. It will pull up product information, connect with payment and delivery platforms, and execute many more tasks.
- The Database: Although technically part of the backend, databases are their app component because they store all your app’s information. The backend transports data into your database when a customer fills out a form on your app, makes a purchase, or whenever you add new items.
Here are some examples of data stored in a database for a retail app:
- Your products: Pictures, descriptions, and pricing information for the goods you’re selling
- Member profiles: Each member's name, location, and credit card info
- Payment info: Dates, times, and money each client spends on your products
- Any other data: Chat history, special offers, sale period data, and anything else you can think of
If building a database seems difficult, don’t fret: Adalo has a prepackaged database that’s as simple to edit and build as an Excel spreadsheet. If you have a pre-existing database using Google Sheets, Airtable, or Xano, you can connect it to Adalo with a few clicks and zero fuss.
7 Steps To Develop a Retail App Without Code
We’ve provided you with enough background info about planning for your retail app, but now it’s time to get down to business: Let’s start building with Adalo!
But first, an intro: While crafting your app, we realize that you might have some questions that our guide didn’t address. Don’t worry one bit because Adalo has an answer.
Adalo’s enormous ecosystem is packed with all the necessary information to ensure a pleasant, learning-filled app-building experience. Check out these helpful resources:
- Adalo’s App Academy: This is Adalo’s app school, and it’s got loads of courses, tutorials, and guides that can help you learn every aspect of Adalo’s app-building interface.
- Adalo’s Forum: If you have questions about a feature or functionality or want to connect with others embarking on their app-building journey, this messageboard is the place to do it.
- Adalo’s YouTube Page: Packed with 150 video tutorials, you’ll see visual demonstrations about integrating with third-party apps, adding new components, and much, much more.
OK, it’s building time!
Step 1: Finding the Right Template
Adalo offers nearly 40 different app templates, and luckily for you, it has one that fits the needs of almost anyone creating a retail app. This template has everything you need to build your retail app, such as screens for products, a login page, a payment page, and more.
If you want to add other screens, it's simple — we’ll discuss how to do this in Step 4.
Step 2: Customizing Your App with Adalo’s Building Interface
Now that you’ve got your retail template open and in front of you, it’s time to add your unique mark by leveraging Adalo’s easy-to-use building interface, made up of the following 3 parts:
- The Building Canvas: Your retail app template is the centerpiece of your building canvas. You’ll see all the app screens in front of you. Click on the screen you wish to edit and zoom in using “Ctrl +.”
- The Settings Ribbon: Laid out horizontally at the top of your screen, leverage the Settings Ribbon to preview your app, change the settings on your Adalo account, share your app with a link, and toggle between other apps — Adalo lets you build up to 10 apps, but you can only publish one.
- The Editing Dashboard: Located on the left-hand side of the building interface and dropping down vertically, this is Adalo’s main building tool. You’ll use it to customize, configure, and build your retail app to your tastes, needs, and requirements.
The Editing Dashboard’s Components
You’ll see that the editing dashboard has several different parts. An icon denotes each part — you can see each icon’s function by hovering your mouse over it.
Here’s a list and description of each function of The Editing Dashboard:
- Add Component/Add Screen (“+”): Use this to make new screens and add elements like buttons, forms, pictures, and more.
- Branding Button (an artist’s palette icon): Press this to change your app’s colors and fonts.
- Screens: Use this function to navigate to any screen on your app quickly. You can also create a new screen with this function, too.
- Database collections: This is where your database lives. You can create new database tables, add items, and more.
- The Settings button: Use this button to give your app a new title, create a description for the app stores, connect to APIs, and allow others editing permissions.
- Publish: You’ll get to know this functionality once you finish building. Ultimately, this button lets you launch your app to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. In Step 6, we’ll provide more details about publishing.
- Analytics: Once you’ve published your app, you’ll want to see who’s using it, where they’re from, and what functionalities they’re raving about. This button provides all the info and more.
- Version History: If you like to create several versions of a project, mix and match features, and then release the best one, this button is for you. Adalo lets you build several different app versions, and you can access them here.
Step 3: How To Customize Your Apps’ Data
As we said earlier, Adalo comes with a prepackaged database that you can customize and configure to meet the requirements of your retail app. Adalo’s databases are organized into these 3 parts:
- Collections: These tables appear like spreadsheets. Your retail app template comes loaded with 7 different collections. Feel free to delete the unwanted ones by clicking the 3-dot button to the right of the Collection title and selecting “Delete.”
You can also add new collections by clicking the orange “Add Collection” button at the bottom of your collection list.
- Properties: Properties are just another name for the titles of the rows inside your collection. You can access them by clicking on each collection. The properties will appear in the editing box on your Editing Dashboard’s immediate right.
When you click “View/Edit Properties,” each property is displayed as the title of the rows inside each collection.
- Records: This is the information inside each collection — the “data” part of the database. Your records will update whenever you add new products or when users purchase or view products.
Connect Your External Database with Ease
If you already have an external database, connecting it to your Adalo app is simple. Click “Database” and then select “Connect to External Data Source” at the bottom, and follow the instructions. Easy-peasy.
Step 4: Adding and Deleting Screens, Inserting Elements
Although the Adalo template has everything you need to build a stellar retail app, we get it: Many folks want to add new screens for their special features or delete a few they don’t need.
To add a new screen, press the big, colorful “+” button at the top of your Editing Dashboard and select “Add New Screen.” This part of the Editing Dashboard also allows adding new elements like buttons, forms, and more. Just find the element you want and drag it over to the screen on your building canvas.
Deleting a screen is as easy as pressing the “Screens” button, clicking on the unwanted screen, pressing the 3-vertical dots button, and selecting “Delete Screen.”
Step 5: Previewing Your App
After building a few screens, you can see how they appear and function live by pressing the green “Preview App” button on the Settings Ribbon. Select which device you’d like to see it on, such as an iPhone 15, Samsung Galaxy S20, tablet, or desktop device.
The Preview App feature also lets you click through your app, providing a taste of your user experience. If you find any issues, note them and resolve them immediately.
Step 6: How To Publish Your App to the Web and App Stores
First, publish your app to the web so users can find it via Google search. Publishing your web app takes very little time — much less than publishing to the app stores.
From your Adalo account, click on your profile button at the top right corner of your Setting Ribbon, click “Settings,” and select “Domain.” You'll need a custom domain to publish your app to the web (www.YourCustomDomain).
No worries if you don’t have a custom domain! You can get one cheaply from Ionos or Go Daddy.
Next, push the “Publish” button on the Editing Dashboard, follow the directions, and your app will go live online!
Publishing to the Apple App and Google Play Stores
While publishing to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store is a bit more time-consuming, you’ll get your app in front of a large audience, and folks can download it directly to their phone, allowing them to access your retail app in a jiff.
Plus, when most people think about an “app,” apps that they download from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store come to mind. So, publishing to the app stores gives you app authority.
While the Apple App Store and Google Play Store have different publishing procedures, you’ll need to prepare a few things before you begin the application process. Here’s what you need to accomplish before you publish:
- Tailor-make an on-brand app icon: Your app’s icon will appear right next to it in the app store search results, so ensure it looks spectacular. If you have an established logo, simply use that as your icon, as people will associate your logo with your app.
Don’t have an icon? Don’t worry. Using a tool like Looka, you can build your professional app icon without any tech skills. Luckily, you don’t need to be a graphic designer to create an eye-catching app — just use a program like Looka to create a professional and unique app icon.
- Research your competitors: Look at your competitors and read their app descriptions. Note the keywords they use, and try to use them and other synonyms in your description. For instance, if your competitors use the keyword “clothing app,” use the synonym “apparel app” and “casual-wear app.”
- Write a killer description: Using a combination of your competitors' keywords and synonyms, write a concise meta description summarizing everything your app provides.
You don’t have to use every last character of each app store’s 4,000-character limit, but you should include all the keywords and describe your app’s special features so it’s optimized for app store search results.
- Provide pro-level screenshots: This goes without saying, but you’ll only want the best screenshots that clearly illustrate your retail offerings and your app’s features. Poorly presented screenshots will most likely result in fewer downloads.
Once you’ve finished the above steps, it’s time for publishing.
Publishing to the Apple App Store
First, navigate to the iOS developer page and create an account. Then, you’ll need to pay the $99 annual fee, which recurs yearly.
Don’t forget to sign up for Testflight, Apple’s app testing program that lets 1,000s of folks try out your app and offer feedback that you can implement to improve your app.
When you’re done with testing (which can take a few weeks), go to your Adalo account and follow the iOS publishing procedures after selecting “Publish” from the Editing Dashboard.
Publishing to the Apple App Store can be quick, with over 90% of submissions being reviewed within 48 hours. However, Apple has stringent publishing procedures, so you may be delayed for weeks if your app is appealed or rejected.
Publishing to the Google Play Store
Like with Apple, create an Android developer account and pay a one-time $25 set-up fee. Be sure to select the option to allow testers to try out your app just like you did with Testflight.
After you’ve made some updates per user feedback, return to your Adalo account, press the "Publish” button, and follow the instructions for Android. Delightfully, Google’s acceptance process is less strict than Apple’s, with approvals ranging from a couple of hours to a few days for most applicants.
Step 7: Taking Payments with Stripe
You build a retail app for selling products, so naturally, you’ll need a way to get paid. Adalo’s Stripe integration covers this.
Setting up payments with Stripe is easy. First, you’ll need to create an account with Stripe. Then, return to the Editing Dashboard, click the colorful “+” button, scroll down to forms, drag the specialized Stripe payments form over to the desired screen, and watch the money flow in!
Next Steps: Getting Users, Tracking and Analytics, Maintenance
Your work isn't done even after you’ve published your retail app. To ensure your app runs like a Swiss-made pocket watch, you must maintain it by monitoring its daily performance.
Luckily, Adalo is built for app maintenance. You can find all the info you need about users, the time they spend on your app, and more by selecting “Analytics” on your Editing Dashboard.
If you run into any bugs or glitches, fix them immediately. An underperforming app will shed users at an appalling clip.
You’ll want to undertake marketing efforts to popularize your app. Adalo has the perfect source for that: Our detailed app marketing guide contains everything you need to know about popularizing your app.
Work on marketing your app every day, and you should see your user base start growing. By following these steps to develop a retail app, you'll be well on your way to reaping financial benefits and expanding your customer base.
