Main Street Merchants Run More of Their Business by Phone

Retail has evolved from a brick-and-mortar storefront to an anywhere, anytime experience.

PYMNTS Intelligence‘s “2025 Global Digital Shopping Index” found that 48% consumers across the globe use their smartphones for purchases. Approximately 60% of consumers browse merchant websites on their phones multiple times per week, and nearly one-third perform this activity daily.

However, while big-box giants race to lock customers into walled app ecosystems at huge expense, small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) don’t need massive IT budgets to win the mobile game. For most merchants, the fastest route to growth isn’t a costly, high-maintenance app, but rather a high-performance, mobile-ready website. Not only are mobile websites cheaper than apps, they also allow SMBs greater opportunities to gain new customers and avoid excluding large customer segments that are unable or unwilling to download apps.

The Cost Barrier

While dedicated apps offer superior conversion rates for repeat shoppers, the barrier to entry remains prohibitively high for many SMBs. Building a custom native app from scratch typically costs between $50,000 to more than $300,000, and ongoing maintenance adds 15% to 20% to that cost annually. For a startup or an early-stage merchant, these costs can lead to a long timeline for a positive return on investment.

In contrast, a well-designed mobile website is more cost-effective, with development costs ranging from about $6,000 to $70,000 depending on complexity. This allows small merchants to enter the market quickly, test business hypotheses, and scale their digital presence gradually as their budgets allow.

Discovery and the Acquisition Channel

In addition to their cost, apps also have several intrinsic disadvantages compared to mobile websites. A primary limitation of mobile apps is that they are generally not indexed by search engines. If a consumer Googles a specific product or solution, they will find not an app, but a website.

For SMBs focused on growth, search-driven traffic and SEO are essential for acquisition. One study found that 43% of all eCommerce website traffic came from organic searches, as well as 24% of all eCommerce purchases.

Mobile websites also allow customers to instantly access a store page when clicking on an ad, rather than going through an intermediate step of downloading an app. This eliminates a key friction point, with one study finding that more than 90% of users reported some level of frustration when forced to download an app to make a purchase.

Avoiding the ‘Tyranny of the Apps’

Pushing consumers exclusively toward apps can also lead to digital exclusion. Approximately 8% of consumers over the age of 16, do not own smartphones, particularly older demographics or those with limited financial resources. Campaigners in the United Kingdom have dubbed this trend the “tyranny of the apps,” saying those without smartphones are increasingly penalized by being locked out of deals and discounts.

SMBs that prioritize a high-quality mobile website ensure they remain inclusive. Unlike apps, which often require specific OS versions or high-end hardware, a mobile site works on any device with a browser, providing cross-platform accessibility for a diverse customer base.

The PWA Middle Ground

For SMBs that want app-like functionality, such as push notifications or offline access, without the six-figure development cost, progressive web apps (PWAs) are a potentially compelling hybrid solution. PWAs work through a browser but provide a mobile-like experience, and they do not require an expensive approval process in the App Store or Google Play. They cost 40% to 60% of a comparable full app.

Putting It All Together

As mobile commerce becomes the default shopping experience, SMBs’ smartest investment may be a fast, discoverable and frictionless mobile website that meets consumers where they already shop, such as on search engines, social platforms and mobile browsers. These websites offer SMBs a lower-cost, more accessible path to customer acquisition and long-term growth than traditional apps.

As technologies like PWAs continue to narrow the experience gap between apps and websites, small merchants may find they can deliver app-like convenience without the app-sized price tag.

For all PYMNTS digital transformation coverage, subscribe to the daily Digital Transformation Newsletter .