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Home » Blogs » Mobile commerce vs. desktop commerce: Where should SMBs invest more?
By Gaurav Parvadiya | Last Updated On November 18th, 2025
Every day, your target audience is on their phones scrolling, browsing, and shopping. And still, far too many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are still ignoring mobile commerce and are still putting more focus on desktop sites. This half-baked approach is more than an oversight, it is a blunder that is going to cost you. SMBs have no option but to implement mobile-first strategies. The situation in the mobile economy is no other than a mobile-first economy. The undeniable truth is that morale in the economy is low, retrievals in customers are low and the businesses that are in the market relish lack of competition. These businesses are the last in the pecking order.
The mobile economy is no other than a mobile-first economy. The truth is, morale in the economy is low, retrievals in customers are low, and the market is brimming with competitors. These competitors relish a lack of competition. Their approach is blunder. SMBs have no option but implement mobile-first strategies. What is your game plan to ensure you are not at the trailing edge of the market?
According to mobile, the statistics are overwhelming. In 2023, mobile phones accounted for over 57 of all eCommerce sales in the United States. Trends don’t simply disappear. They tend to persist, and this trend is a clear sign. People in the world today want ease of access at their fingertips. The resources that mobile phones provide are unprecedented.
Not doing anything about the changes in the market could mean the end for retailers.
Imagine a mother who is so busy she can only use her lunchtime break to shop or a business person who makes a last minute purchase on the train. For these consumers on the move, it is not good enough to simply have a mobile friendly website. They want an app – it has to be quick, tailored to the user, and effortless. Spending on mobile e-commerce is essential for businesses who want to be relevant and compete in 2024.
Most consumers start product searches using their phones. “Mobile-First” has become a mantra in the digital age, and a recent Shopify study has found that mobile friendly policies have seen an SMB increase in conversion rates by 60 percent. Users now demand a mobile experience intensively, and their demands should be met.
With time, technology has become more meshed with our fundamental tasks. Programmers work day and night to create simpler user-interfaces with each passing day, and with each mobile technology advancement. Anything less could mean the end for an SMB.
Mobile apps enable multifaceted personalizations like automated text and email communication, systematically targeted offers, and personalized engagement reward opportunities. McKinsey reports that businesses that implement mobile personalization achieve retention rates that are twice as high as businesses that only implement web static experiences. This also means sustained repeat purchases, increased overall customer value, and a significant competitive advantage over those businesses that still operate desk bound systems.
Consumers are increasingly gravitating to offers that are personal and make them feel valuable as a customer. Picture getting a targeted online email promotion to get a discount for a product you like during the time you are most likely to buy it—this is how niche marketing and customer loyalty is crafted.
Mobile apps facilitate payments for items in the store and the ability to save preferences significantly. A mobile phone base optimizes the mini web experiences and is geared towards generating a sale through a dedicated mobile store app. BigCommerce observed that mobile checkouts achieve higher rates of conversion than any other checkout method. Mobile revenue opportunities is a very exciting place for those small and medium sized businesses that are ready to grow.
In comparison to the canvas of the app where the user does not have to wait for the pages to load or the commands to respond, the user experience on the desktop site sings of frustration. Such reminders remind us why the phrase ‘Time is Money’ is so crucial in today’s world.
The mobile market is still largely untouched, meaning there is a lot of unclaimed revenue, as well as the opportunity to shift the balance of power away from the more agile competitors. The case for mobile is simple. Not to invest is to slow down growth.
For small business, manually tailoring a native app comes with significant expense and long developmental timelines. Nonetheless, with tools such as Twinr’s no-code Builder, mobile transforming websites into mobile native apps comes with a development timelines of days, not months. This democratization of mobile transforming websites into mobile native apps truly means democratization of mobile transforming websites into mobile native apps for small business without technical resources.
Consider the advantage of being able to scale your business by enhancing your digital presence. No-code tools allows business to capture web traffic and convert them into app users, This results in improved digital customer engagement score metrics.
Your work starts to the second your app goes live. Customers need loyalty programs, pop up flash sales, blitzes, and timing, and personal messages to keep them til the end. Real-time communication retention, conversion, and brand loyalty, all soar to new heights. Twinr users report a 40-70% uplift in repeat orders after launching tailored personalized push promotions.
From this perspective, a notification about a flash sale could instantly create a repeat customer. This demonstrates the importance of fostering customer relationships.
With Twinr’s embedded analytics, SMBs can track app events like user behavior, session length, and spending over time. More time spent in the app correlates with enhanced marketing, and changes in ROI-centered products and the app encourage spending.
Case in point: A regional boutique used Twinr to app-ify their website. In less than a month, they achieved a loyalty program launch, yielding a repeat sale increase of 50%. This was achieved with accurate data-driven personalization and engaging communication techniques.
A boutique was able to leverage Twinr’s mobile solutions to increase repeat purchases by 100% in 3 months. Customers continued to receive automated push notifications with added value which delighted and surprised customers, showing the importance of communication.
A small chain restaurant completely digitized their ordering and loyalty program that is centered on the mobile device. This initiative decreased the company’s reliance with third-party apps and achieved a remarkable 35% increase in order frequency.
Through the use of a no-code app, in less than a week, a local home sheet store was able to increase the stores average order value by 20% through smart offers that were placed in the app. Each purchasing journey was simplified and personalized for the consumers which shows the benefits of mobile investment for small and medium businesses.
The stories above show how some mobile investments, however small, can result in significant growth for small and medium businesses.
Take Note: Each day you put off adopting mobile strategy, offers a free space to competition with mobile-first strategies.
The prescriptive option is how robust your mobile commerce strategy is will dictate the growth of your SMB. Spending, time and loyalty is more easily achieved on mobile apps as opposed to the desktop version. Ignoring this fact can eliminate relevant mobile and desktop streams. The good news is that services to ease the building and scaling of mobile business systems have emerged like Twinr.
Start creating an app for your SMB and gain a competitive advantage by leveraging the power of mobile commerce. Build your app today and expand your business with the growth and engagement mobile commerce offers.
Q1: Why is mobile commerce more effective than desk top for SMBs?
Engagement, conversion, and customer retention rates are all higher with mobile due to a user’s more personalized, instant, and effortless access. Mobile is a crucial for growth as consumers favor mobile devices for shopping, making mobile shopping experiences essential for every SMB.
Q2: Are small businesses able to develop mobile apps even if they don’t possess any coding knowledge?
Yes, if the business were to use the No-Code Builder offered by Twinr, they would be able to convert their website into an app without having to go through any complex coding processes.
Q3: In what ways does mobile app engagement increases retention?
loyalty programs, personalized push messaging, and timely targeted communication broaden the relationship and engagement. Brand buybacks, recurring purchases, user engagement, and value over time are all outcomes of strong engagement. That’s the key to retention.
Gaurav is the founder and CEO of Twinr, a tech entrepreneur with a decade of experience and a passion for SaaS. With a Master's degree in Computer Science, he specializes in no-code development, driving innovation in the mobile app industry. When he's not busy growing the company, you'll find him writing about tech, growth, software development, e-commerce, and occasionally sneaking in a game of badminton.