M-Commerce App in 90 Days – Is It Realistic? How to Avoid the No-Code Trap and Not Lose Customers on Black Friday

It is no secret that AI supports app development, but artificial intelligence alone cannot guarantee that the software will run smoothly and stably.

Under these circumstances, should you trust promises that an m-commerce app can be built in just 3 months? It is possible, but success depends on several factors, such as the choice of technology, how AI is being used, and the project scope.

Key takeaways

• Traditional native mobile app development for Android and iOS takes more time and higher budgets due to separate codebases, while alternative no-code builders generate bloated code that causes performance drops during peak sales traffic.
• Reducing deployment time and maintaining software stability is achieved by focusing on an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) with core m-commerce features and utilizing cross-platform technologies like Flutter.
• The Flutter-based Rappid Workflow system uses AI to automate repetitive coding tasks and adapt existing architecture to custom UX/UI designs, retaining custom business logic written by developers instead of outsourcing it entirely to artificial intelligence.
• This approach can reduce the time of m-commerce development cycle, lower initial project costs, and ensure app loading speeds that meet performance standards.

What technologies are used in mobile commerce projects?

When browsing offers, you will probably come across terms like native apps, React Native, or Flutter. What do they mean for your budget and schedule?

• Native app – it is built with a specific platform in mind: Android or iOS. It requires building two separate apps if the project is to reach users of both systems, which extends development time and increases costs.

Still, native apps are recommended for certain projects, especially when many advanced features need to be coded.

• Cross-platform apps (such as Flutter) –  a modern alternative to native technologies; they allow you to build a single app for both platforms. Instead of hiring two developers, you only need one to have an app on both iOS and Android, making project delivery cheaper and faster.

At Holdapp, we often choose Flutter because it ensures stability and high performance, while also handling smooth UI rendering exceptionally well. What does this mean in practice? Product images load quickly, and customers don’t abandon the app thinking it barely works.

While the development of Flutter itself has significantly accelerated mobile app building, increasingly advanced AI models have taken this process to a whole new level.

How quickly can a mobile commerce app be created?

Everyone has their own approach to using AI when working on an app. At Holdapp, we started with two assumptions:

1. AI is excellent for automating repetitive processes.
2. M-commerce apps share the same set of essential core features that enable sales, such as a shopping cart, product page, search bar, or user account.

With this in mind, we started developing Rappid Workflow based on Flutter. This is our proprietary system where AI adapts our code to the UI project. However, we prepare both the architecture and the UX/UI design ourselves; we do not outsource this to AI. The business logic is also created by our developers, custom-tailored for each individual project.

What do we gain from this approach?

• The app is built faster because we don’t have to write it from scratch. Essential m-commerce elements (such as the shopping cart, product page, and checkout) are already prepared and only require adjustments, which is where AI helps us.
• Lower project costs – you don’t waste your budget on hours of repetitive developer work, as AI quickly handles it based on pre-prepared materials and workflows.
• Software stability, better performance, and security – we achieve this because the architecture was developed by experienced programmers, not artificial intelligence.
• UI design aligned with mobile e-commerce app standards – we have designed a system that includes all screens and processes standardly used in shopping apps.
• Customization options allow us to adapt the look of the app to the client’s needs. Every brand has its unique branding, and we closely follow its guidelines when working within Rappid Workflow.

No-code app builder vs. Rappid Workflow

When you start thinking about an app, you might come across ads of app builders that promise fast and cheap development without the need for a software house. What’s the catch? Builders are cheap because they generate repetitive, often unnecessarily bloated code that fails to withstand sales peaks.

Rappid Workflow utilizes AI, but it is not just another app builder. To create apps with our system, programming knowledge is necessary, and AI serves only as a developer’s assistant. Builders do not provide the same stability and speed as apps built by experienced programmers. This also translates into performance and, consequently, user experience.

Why are no-code builders a risky option for a mobile e-commerce app?

• Loading speed: Code from no-code builders is usually bloated. According to research by Forrester Research, users expect an app to load within 1 second. Every additional second means a drop in conversion rates.
• No vendor lock-in and full customization control: Most often, no-code solutions have limited capabilities, even assuming that you can use extra plugins. With your own code, you can build many more different solutions, whereas, in no-code tools, you often cannot implement something due to the limitations of the builder you are using.
• Faster deployment of changes: Having your own code allows you to work on new solutions and deploy changes immediately. With a no-code platform, you have to wait for the platform to roll out the necessary features before you can use them, which extends the time to market for new functionalities.
• Easier bug fixing: Code from such tools is sub-optimal, so when errors occur, they often cannot be fixed because they stem from issues within plugins or other components to which we have no access.

Exemplary comparison: Rappid Workflow vs native apps and no-code

The specified implementation times are estimates and apply to the MVP. The actual time depends on the scope of work for the specific project.

App development stages with Rappid Workflow

We divide the entire process into short, two-week periods called sprints. Thanks to this, every two weeks you can see new working elements of the app and maintain full control over the budget.

Step #1: Requirements discovery

The process begins with an analysis of your needs and selected tools, followed by the presentation of an initial prototype of the e-commerce app.

Step #2: Analysis and estimation

Once all project requirements are known, a detailed cost estimate is prepared in a short time.

Step 3: UX/UI design

The app interface is modified to perfectly match your brand’s visual identity and provide customers with the best possible user experience (UX).

Step #4: App development

We utilize the Rappid Workflow system to create the mobile app, and the entire product is subjected to thorough testing by a QA specialist.

Step #5: Launch in stores (Google Play and App Store)

The finished product is submitted to the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, where your customers can download it.

Is it possible to build a working app in 3 months?

Simply using modern technologies is not enough. The project scope is also crucial. It is better to focus on an MVP with the most essential features and gradually release subsequent ones. Otherwise, adding new features can go on indefinitely, and instead of 90 days, the project will take much longer before the app finally reaches the hands of customers.

If you want to build a custom loyalty system from scratch, 90 days might not be enough. Instead of spending 6 months writing the new loyalty program, we can integrate the new app with your existing loyalty system in just a few days. You can always add a changed loyalty program in a subsequent iteration.

For starters, it is better to launch a tested app with core features, ensuring a faster return on investment (ROI). The final build time depends on how many features you want to include in the first version of the app. The size of the store also plays a role.

Is it feasible to build an MVP of an m-commerce app in 90 days? ?

You can have an m-commerce app MVP in 90 days, provided you choose to automate certain stages of its build instead of writing all the code from scratch, and your store is not too large (an aspect developers need to evaluate).

The Rappid Workflow system allows you to hand over repetitive elements to AI, which in turn builds upon the code written by our developers.

This significantly shortens MVP development time, reduces the risk of crashes on days with increased online store traffic, and allows you to start generating revenue much faster than through the standard app development path.

Want to know how many days it could take to build your app? Contact us and schedule a call.