July 29, 2022

9 Must-Have Features for an Online Store

By Sumit Sinha-822 Views-No Comment

90% of the book readers prefer to buy the books from online platform. And, 57% readers like to read the eBooks. Online book Store saves time and money. And eBooks save billions of trees…This is a very positive trend..

In this article wherever I have mentioned eBook, it also includes book. 

The days of going to a bookstore and thumbing through shelves looking for the perfect read are becoming increasingly rare. Online Books store are taking over, and publishers/authors are vying to open up an online Book store.

In recent years, the rise of mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones has made them much more accessible. With this increased accessibility comes an increased demand from customers who want to buy their favorite titles anyhow.

Now let’s start from the costing for the start up of the Online Book Store. (Click to see the sample of eBook)

How Much Does It Cost To Build An Online Book Store?

The cost of Online Book Store web development in the market ranges from £650 to £25,000. However, the development cost of any web application varies based on the features set you added to the application.

Websitewalla provides a very competitive price based on your needs. We have mentioned the standard features in this article. 

How Much Does It Cost To Build An eBook Reader App Like Amazon Kindle?

The cost of iOS eBook apps development or Android eBook apps development ranges from £15,000 to £95,000. However, the development cost of any mobile application varies based on the features set you added to the application.

Further, the cost to build eBook mobile apps might also go beyond the estimated cost based on the platform, mobile app type, design complexity, team size, and hourly rate of the mobile app developers.

What are the ongoing expenses for an eBook store?

The ongoing expenses for an eBook store business are identical to the startup costs. They include web hosting, SSL, daily backup fees, and cover design costs for new books. Continuing to sell already published books usually costs nothing.

Websitewalla also provide the Instant eBook Publishing tools and trains you that you can add millions of books by your own without having any back support.

Who is the target market?

eBooks appeal to almost everyone, including people of both genders and of all ages. The genre that’s chosen will determine the particular demographic that a business targets, but there are genres for every interest and every person.

How does an eBook store make money?

An eBook store makes money by selling copies of eBooks. eBooks are usually sold through an existing platform, which may be a business owner’s website, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes or another platform.

How much can you charge customers?

Most eBooks sell for anywhere from £0.99 to £9.99. The most popular price range is between £2.99 and £9.99, for publishing platforms frequently offer higher royalties at these price points. (This discounts eBooks that are given away for free to grow readership).

Kindle-like eBook Application Development

How much profit can an eBook store make?

An eBook store business can be a highly profitable venture, but success is far from guaranteed. One survey found that the average income of self-published authors was $10,000, and half of self-published authors earned less than $500 in a year. Some businesses, however, earn much more. Hugh Howey earns six-figure sums in a month, and Amanda Hocking has over $2.5 million in sales. (These sums aren’t only from eBook sales, but eBooks account for a large portion of these figures.)

How can you make your business more profitable?

An eBook store business can increase revenue by offering print books through a print-on-demand service and audio books. Once a book a written, it’s easy to convert it from an eBook to either of these other formats.

Can you sell physical books?

Yes, You can sell millions of physical books and our system provides tracking system for the order and delivery.

Can you make it multi-publisher platform?

Yes, This is always profitable with low cost. What you need to do is sending email to the publishers worldwide. When both agrees on the business terms, our system can help you to provide them access to upload their books or eBooks. 

How can you pull reader’s traffic on the website?

The most easiest method is to provide Millions of Free eBooks on your website. And then autogenerated suggestions based on the reading pattern of the reads can convert you a sales. There are many other technical and technical features that we should discuss now.

To make it easier, here are 10 must-have features for building a successful online Book store.

develop-ebook-app-like-kindle

1. Broad Collection of eBooks

A great book experience begins with a broad collection of available book, both installed and ready to read, and those that can be sourced. 

Apart from the typical categorization based on the genre, there are certain other features such as Book status, be it their availability, delivery status, or order status if the order is in progress or completed.

The online Book store should facilitate several other options to sort books based on reader ratings, Book size, or any other requirements. Top developers have integrated both artificial intelligence and machine learning to help them cater to the user’s needs based on their buying behavior.

For example, if they’ve read books by a particular author before, the app will suggest another read by the same author. Or if you have bought a book of particular genre, it should suggest another books of the same genre. 

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2. Support Diverse Formats

The popularity of eBooks has led to an increase in the number of online eBook stores. There are various formats available today, including EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT files, and Word documents. 

Most of the reading apps or online eBook stores support them all. The evolving needs of the reader arise due to the different types of devices they use to read their books. Therefore, it becomes inevitable for ebook stores to support all eBook formats. 

Conversion from one format to the preferred format is an excellent way to rope in as many readers as possible. Even if your eBook store can render support for at least a few formats, it would be deemed good enough.  

Moreover, there should be a seamless mechanism to convert the eBooks from their existing format to the format supported by your online eBook store. 

3. A Reader-Friendly User Interface

To build a successful online eBook store, a user-friendly design is crucial. The interface has to build a design suiting the reader’s needs enabling a smooth and effortless experience while reading books on mobile devices. 

Most of the interactions used in the real world are based on paper books; therefore, it becomes significant to repurpose them. They have to be thought out and re-designed for digital use. 

Several well-established conventions can be adopted while designing an online store. The most common one is the progress display bar which helpers readers figure out what stage of the loading process they have reached and how much longer it will take to get complete access.

Another best practice allows users to choose the size of the font and colors based on their preferences.

4. Reading Tools Ideal for Online eBook Store

Now that the reader is enjoying a good book, it’s time to add some tools and services to make it even more appealing and useful. Standard features such as a bookmarking tool, dictionary, and note-taking options can help create an immersive reading experience.

Some eBook stores have advanced tools that make e-reading easier. For example, they can set to play audio features by automatically integrating them to address the pronunciation of a specific word. If the reader wants to visually understand an object, incorporating a short video clipping could give better clarity. Many platforms allow users to use text-to-speech technology for this purpose.

5. Reading Gamification

The term “gamification” often describes the implementation of game-like design elements in apps. While this implementation is common, you can apply it to a broader range of features such as stickers, badges, streaks, levels, and more. 

These features frequently supported by rewards tend to be a standard option in most online eBook stores. For instance, features like the reading speed often enhance the user experience for the reader.

6. Store & Sync Favorite eBooks

In a modern eBook store, it is almost a given that an eBook will be saved locally on the device. It is not uncommon for users to add eBooks directly from their library. 

However, once added to your app’s library, saving them to a cloud backup mechanism shall allow users to empty their device’s local cache without worrying. 

It further enables a sync mechanism where the eBooks are available with reading status info across all devices owned by the user. Certain eBook stores even tend to waive off few eBooks and offer free eBooks online.

7. Support Different Platforms

With the increase in the number of gadgets and devices, making your app compatible with the frequently used devices or platforms is crucial. The success factor in this regard is making sure that the user can easily read their eBooks on multiple devices and operating systems.

It is highly relevant to make the app compatible with different operating systems and devices, and even on desktop computers and laptops.

8. Social Media Integrations

Eventually, all online stores have to take into account the role of social media in our lives. Earlier, books were recommended by word of mouth or people reading together at book clubs, but modern apps that offer integration with social networks make it easier than ever to connect with others online. 

Many services allow people to share what they are reading or what they recommend. One such example is Goodreads that allows connecting with other people who have similar interests in books. 

They also allow users to participate in challenges where each user completes reading a certain number of books within a certain date. The forum promotes interactions allowing people to discuss their opinions.

Considering the current reader behavior styles, online eBook stores should let users share their views on social media platforms for better engagement and reach.

9. Secure and Convenient Payment System

A convenient and secure system paves the way forward to becoming the best eBook store. Facilitating customers to make payments using various modes like credit/debit card payments, smart cards, e-cash, mobile wallets, QR payments, and many more can help customers buy a subscription in just a few clicks. Moreover, the secure payment mode wipes away all traces of insecurity which helps in enhancing users’ trust.

Such online options help the reader opt for a monthly or annual subscription rather than purchasing a single book that cannot render access to the broad collection of eBooks.

Features and Costing

Basic Features-Cost to develop On-demand E-Reading Apps like Kindle

END USERUSERADMIN
Basic featuresApplication AccessAdmin Login
Location SelectionDashboard Analytics
Book CategoryManage Users
SearchManage Location
LibraryManage Search
Read BookManage Library
Download BookManage Book Upload
StoreManage Orders
Rate BooksManage Notification
Filter BooksManage Book Category
NotificationManage Ratings
Account SettingStatic page content management
Reading SettingsManage Reports
PaymentManage Payment
CMS 
Cost to develop an Online Book Store£650 -£20,000

Add-On Features

END USERUSERADMIN
Add-on featuresBot supportAdvanced Analytics
Voice SearchManage bot

Conclusion

With an online eBook store, you can drive conversions and increase your visibility online. All this and more are feasible by including essential features such as a comprehensive search tool, categories based on relevant topics, and user reviews of eBooks. 

By incorporating these features in place, you can ensure your online eBook store guarantee a successful platform for readers or even render impeccable eBook library services to meet the evolving needs of the reader.

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