Why doesn't a regular customer come back to your PrestaShop store on their phone?
The first order comes from an ad. The second and third depend on how short the way back is, and on a phone that way is at its longest. Below are three reasons, none of which an app removes on its own, but each of which it changes.
Coming back takes several steps
Browser, store address, login, search in the catalogue. Each of these steps loses some customers who just wanted to repeat their last order. On a computer that's a minor thing, on a phone on the move it isn't.
A message that never arrives
An email lands in the Promotions tab or in spam, an SMS costs money per message, and ad reach gets bought all over again for every launch. A regular customer's return then comes down to chance, not a moment you chose.
A mobile site isn't an app
A responsive store looks fine on phones and tablets, and that's where its advantage ends: no icon on the home screen, no basket remembered between sessions, and it never reaches out first. The difference is in repeat visits, not looks.
A native app, or a module that wraps a website?
This question comes up on every call, and rightly so, because the term PrestaShop mobile app covers two different products on the market: a ready-made mobile app builder in module form, and an app built for a specific store. Below is what you get from us.
A native shell, not a shortcut to a website
The app is a native shell for iOS, Android, or both, installed from the App Store or Google Play. It has its own splash screens, its own navigation and its own notifications. An icon that just opens a browser wouldn't pass review at either store.
A shared catalogue and shared orders
Product listings and the basket use the API of the same store you already run. There's no second catalogue or second customer list, and a promotion set up in PrestaShop works in the app immediately, with no separate rollout.
Native where it shows
Notifications, login, payment and screen transitions run at the system level, because those are what decide whether an app feels fast. Everything else uses the store's own layer, and that's a deliberate trade-off: it brings the build cost down from several hundred thousand to a few tens of thousands.
What that means for updates
A change to the catalogue, price or content reaches the app with no update needed on the app store, since it comes straight from the store. We ship a new version only when the shell itself changes or when Apple and Google raise their requirements, which is usually once every few months.
A PrestaShop mobile app you can download and tap through today
Surf Inc. is a brand we co-build: its store runs on PrestaShop, and the app is published under the brand's own company, not JustIdea's account. The screens alongside are real views from the App Store and Google Play, not a mock-up. The store stayed where it was, because the app uses the same catalogue, basket and customer accounts.
Both versions, for iOS and Android, passed Apple's and Google's review. No budget shortens that stage, which is why we build it into the schedule from the start, rather than tacking it on at the end.
Which e-commerce stores a mobile app actually makes sense for
An app works on customers who have already bought, so whether it makes sense shows up in your store's data, not in a pitch deck. Below are four conditions we check on a consultation call before quoting anything.
Customers come back for another purchase
Cosmetics, fashion, supplements, pet food, accessories. Where a purchase repeats every few weeks, an icon on the home screen cuts the way back to a single tap. For a purchase made once every few years, that advantage has nothing to work with, and we say so directly.
Most of your traffic comes from phones
If most store sessions come from mobile devices, an app extends a channel that's already working. We check the share in your GA4 before quoting, not after the build, since it's what decides whether the project makes sense.
You run launches, drops or limited runs
A push notification about a sale starting arrives in seconds and doesn't compete with the Promotions tab in an inbox. This is the strongest scenario for this channel, and the most common reason fashion brands come back to us for an app.
You sell directly, not only through a marketplace
An order placed in the app doesn't hand a commission to a marketplace, and customer data stays with you. If all your sales currently go through a marketplace, it's worth having your own store first, and an app only after that.
How clients rate us across different services
A mobile app is a project measured in quarters, not weeks, so choosing a contractor weighs more here than almost any other decision on this list. Below are ratings for the whole agency from Google, Facebook and Clutch, each with a link to the profile where it was given.
weighted average of 224 reviews across three platforms. Clients gave them, and each site below links to the profile with the full text of every review.
Read the reviews
The app runs on the same store, so the proof is the same too
The app doesn't sit next to the store, it sits on it: they share the catalogue, basket and customer accounts. Below are the statuses JustIdea maintains on both sides of that connection, and for winning the first installs.
PrestaShop Expert ★★★
The mobile app talks to the store over the PrestaShop core API, and that API changes between releases. The top tier of the agency programme means we see those changes before publication and have somewhere to report a platform bug.
Top E-commerce Developers Kraków 2026
A ranking of e-commerce developers, where Clutch calls the author of every review before publishing it. The ranking speaks to projects that have launched and have users, not to announcements.
Meta Business Partner
An app needs to be shown to someone, and installs are mostly bought on Facebook and Instagram. Partner status gives us access to event-quality diagnostics, so we see which installs end in an order, not just a download.
ExpertSender Premium Partner
Push notifications go out from the same tool that sends emails and SMS, so you set a segment once, not three times across three panels. Partner status gets us implementation support on the maker's side, not just documentation.
GetResponse MAX Trusted Partner
An alternative to ExpertSender when you run communication around the app mainly by email: welcome flows, segmentation and sign-up pages run in the same panel. We get a maker-side contact and deliverability support from the partner status, not from a helpline.
How much a PrestaShop mobile app costs
Fixed packages for standard builds, and an individual quote where the store has its own logic: multistore, B2B pricing, an ERP connection. The package covers the build, the launch and 6 months of warranty afterwards.
iOS or Android
Launching on the platform where you have more customers today. The second one can be added later, but then it's a separate project with its own review.
- ✓ A native app for iOS or Android
- ✓ Integration with your existing PrestaShop store
- ✓ Push notifications and audience segmentation
- ✓ Listing on the App Store or Google Play
- ✓ Deep linking and GA4 event tracking
- ✓ Build in 4-5 weeks
- ✓ 6 months of warranty after launch
iOS and Android
Both apps are built from one set of screens and go to review in the same week. That's why they cost less than two separate projects run one after another.
- ✓ A native app for both iOS and Android
- ✓ Full PrestaShop integration: catalogue, basket, accounts
- ✓ Push notifications on both platforms
- ✓ Listing on the App Store and Google Play
- ✓ Deep linking and GA4 event tracking
- ✓ Build in 4-5 weeks
- ✓ 6 months of warranty from launch
- ✓ A two-hour workshop on notification scenarios
Multistore and B2B projects
Several stores in one app, B2B pricing and limits, an ERP or WMS connection. Here the quote comes from analysing your store, not from a package.
- ✓ Several stores served by one app
- ✓ B2B pricing, discounts and limits
- ✓ ERP, WMS or CRM integration
- ✓ White-label solutions
- ✓ A dedicated project contact and agreed response times
- ✓ Support for 6 to 12 months
Running these as two separate projects would cost more than buying both platforms together in one package. Net prices, and developer account fees with Apple and Google are paid directly by you.
