Magento, a provider of comprehensive open source eCommerce Web solutions, announced today that it’s debuting a new white-label mobile app offering to help customers using its Web platform enter the mobile commerce sector as well.
Magento identified the problem of many Online retailers not wanting to bother with creating their own mobile strategy, which most likely involves costly mobile application development for numerous platforms. Since its customers are already familiar with the Magento platform for their Online store fronts, the white-label solution aims to fill a void and make it easier for retailers to enter the mobile realm.
Launching as Magento Mobile for the iPhone platform, the solution essentially translates an existing e-commerce site into a mobile app that fits each device, complete with a full catalog, product search, a shopping cart, ratings, and reviews. Support for Android and iPad are in the works as well. The retailer has full control over the appearance of the app and even includes full PayPal support for checkouts.
Down the road, Magento plans to add additional functionality such as barcode scanning, private sales, A/B testing, and analytics. Magento charges an $800 set-up fee and then a $700 annual fee for the service, which many retailers will be glad to pay to avoid the headache associated with going it alone, especially when it would involve hooking in a comprehensive back-end like Magento already provides.
