How to Create an App like Amazon? Cost & Features Guide

Are you thinking about to create an App like Amazon? The growth of the Amazon app from being a simple online bookseller shop to the biggest global e-commerce is surely something to study and get inspiration from. But note that it is not a simple task to build up such a profitable and scalable app like Amazon.

You will require the help of an efficient developer team along with a smart and unique plan of action. But before anything, you will need to understand the process of making such e-commerce apps.

This blog will make you understand each step behind the making of an app like Amazon.   

The E-Commerce App Market and Amazon Statistics

• The global eCommerce retail sales will surpass 8 trillion dollars by 2027.

• Amazon has witnessed a sharp 11% increase in its net sales from $574.8 billion in 2023 to $638 billion in 2024.

• With a net profit of 59.2 billion U.S dollars one of the leading e-commerce giant. 

• The retail e-commerce sales can cross above 4.3 trillion dollars worldwide in 2025.

• Amazon globally tops as the most popular e-commerce site with 12.92% desktop visits leaving eBay on the second place with only 3% visits. 

Understanding Amazon’s Business Model

Amazon is not just an e-commerce app. Over the years it has developed and spread its business across several fields. Among them the ones that worth a mention are:

Retail and E-commerce Business

Amazon is most famous as an online marketplace where they sell a huge variety of products from A to Z. They offer an easy, quick, and reliable product delivery by connecting customers with third-party sellers.

AWS

It is Amazon’s cloud computing service which again drives major revenue for the enterprise. It offers secure storage solutions for companies.  

Amazon Prime Subscription

Amazon smartly gained revenue from offering its Prime subscription which includes facilities like free-shipping, access to its OTT platform; Amazon Prime Video, etc.

Device & Digital Services

Amazon has developed its own custom digital devices as a part of its business model. These include Amazon Echo Speakers and Kindle e-reader. 

Why Build an App Like Amazon?

There are numerous reasons why you should build an App like Amazon. Let’s quickly note them before heading forward;

• Instant Global Reach: With an Amazon-like shopping app, you can offer a greater reach to your products, surpassing the local barriers.

• Greater Customer Engagement: You can enjoy greater customer engagement with custom push notifications and AI-based recommendations. 

• Valuable Data Collection: Integrating apps into your business also helps you with valuable data. They are consumer preferences, habits, etc., to further market your products strategically.

• Customer Retention and Revenue: With custom product suggestions, such an App can ensure customer retention and increased revenue. 

Top 5 Amazon Competitor Apps

Though you can consider Amazon to be the pathfinder, there are a considerable number of similar apps in the queue already. Study these 5 top competitors of Amazon to understand which features you want to include in your Amazon-like App development.

1. Walmart

This is yet another veteran e-commerce platform like Amazon with 30 years of successful operations, beginning in the US and spreading worldwide. In 2024, the platform enjoyed USD 643 billion in global net sales, both from its 10,616 discount stores and online app.

Features 

• Immediate in-store pickup with next-day delivery

• Wide range of products, from groceries to the latest electronic gadgets

• Walmart Plus membership with the facilities of free shipping along with exclusive deals

2. eBay

E-commerce apps are impossible to discuss without mentioning eBay. This massive shopping and auction site has been connecting buyers and sellers in 190+ markets globally.

Features 

• Offers auction-based buying and selling facilities

• International shipping options

• Custom recommendations based on the browsing history of buyers

3. Best Buy

Though started primarily as a brick-and-mortar store, Best Buy soon become a popular online shopping platform in the United States. This especially gives a hard competition to Amazon in the electronics and media category.   

Features 

• Easy searching facilities with comparison tool for electronic gadgets and appliances

• Facility to check the availability of products at the nearby stores and choose in between in-store pickup or home delivery

• Easy and free return and exchange facilities

4. Target

With around 2000 US stores and its online marketplace, Target bagged a net sale of USD 440 billion in 2024. It has an incredibly loyal customer base because of its convenient features like;

Features 

• On-time same-day delivery

• Custom product discounts and rewards using the loyalty program of Target Circle

• The most competitive pricing with the Price Matching

5. Alibaba

This China-based multinational conglomerate is now targeting other continents besides Asia. Its flexibility for B2B, B2C, and C2C sales makes it even more compact and self-reliant.

Features 

• International trading and cross-border transaction facilities for sellers

• Products at a wholesale price range

• Customization facilities on bulk orders with Alibaba Trade Assurance

Key Features of an App Like Amazon

For build App like Amazon , you should widely accept its key features. They ensure a smooth user experience, simplify operations, and offer easy transactions. Below are the key features that you can install in your app:

> User Registration and Profiles

Registration must be easy on any site. Customers can register directly with email addresses, social identifiers, or phone numbers. They can then create custom profiles to track order history, interests, and payment methods on registration to shop easily.

> Product Catalog and Management

The product catalog has to be well-structured, with products grouped by type, brand, price, etc. Products need to be easily uploaded, price-changed, and stock-checked with an easy-to-use interface. The catalog has to support high-resolution images, product description, and additional product details that the customer might need.

> Advanced Search and Filtering

An active search and filter facility should be provided so that customers are enabled to find the desired product in a time-critical action. The customer should be provided with the facility to search by product name, category, price range, price, brand, and others. Filtered models are limited in results, and it is simple to fetch the desired product.

> Shopping Cart and Checkout

The cart should be integrated such that it automatically adds, deletes, or modifies the products. Check-out payment at the time of payment should be convenient and hassle-free. Support for multiple payments such as credit/debit cards, online wallets, etc., should be enabled. It should also support the feature of entering discount coupons.

> Payment Gateway Integration

Include secure payment gateways such as PayPal, Stripe, and credit/debit cards to enable users to have a best-in-class payment experience. Enable the app to handle more than one currency and payment method. This makes it easy for global users to pay while their information is kept safe.

> Order Tracking and Management

Order status tracking should inform customers about the status of their orders. Customers should be allowed to check the status of their orders in real-time and be instantly notified of any uncalled-for delay. Integration with shipping carriers gives real-time tracking information.

> User Reviews and Ratings

Enabling customers to rate and review a product leads to transparency and trust. Customer feedback can also improve product and service quality on your website.

> Personalized Recommendations

Customized AI suggestions based on user browsing history, previous transactions, and interests improve customer experience significantly. Customized suggestions also improve purchase behavior and sales.

> Notifications and Alerts

Push messages engage the customer with offers, launches, and reminder order status. Personalized behavior alerts can drive conversion and loyalty too.

> Customer Support

In addition to all these needs to include amenities to facilitate more customer support. These include live interactive chatbots, 24/7 support, an empathetic support staff, and others. With all these amenities accessible, customers will build more confidence in the platform.

> Seller Management

An enterprise seller management platform gives sellers control of price, orders, inventory, and product listings. This feature is crucial for keeping the marketplace in its optimal state and ensuring a seamless selling experience.

Integrating Advanced Features for Your Amazon-like Marketplace

For the development of Apps like Amazon, newer and forthcoming features, as well as relatively current features, must be infused into them. Renowned mobile App development firm A3Logics incorporates these new innovations within a package in a within-reach pricing segment.

1. AI-Powered Recommendation Engine

AI-driven recommendation engine calculates user purchase history, interest, and behavior to recommend customized products. AI-driven recommendation engine improves the buying experience, produces additional sales, and creates brand loyalty.

2. Multi-Vendor Marketplace Functionality

The multi-vendor platform offers different sellers scope to upload their products, such as those on Amazon. It also offers different sellers simple space to apply order fulfillment, price, and inventory smoothly, hence being an end-to-end platform for different products.

3. AI-Powered Chatbots

AI chat facilities are a contemporary must-have to enhance customer satisfaction with on-the-spot service available 24/7. Chatbots can answer questions, help users search for products, and reply to complaints. This further helps reduce operating costs in terms of staff recruitment for similar job roles.

4. Visual (Image) Search

Using image search, individuals can photograph a product and subsequently search for the same products on the site. The tool helps users find the desired products easily even when they lack in delivering appropriate words in searches.

5. Voice Search and Shopping

A voice search feature allows customers to shop without their hands just by asking for what they require verbally. It is handy especially for the mobile shopper and is an easier mode of shopping.

6. 3D Product Views

Providing 3D product views allows customers to see products from all sides, thus making products easier to look at and giving them more confidence when purchasing.

7. Automated Inventory Management

A3Logics can implement automated inventory management systems to monitor stock, automate order processing, and avoid mistakes so that your platform will be in top condition.

8. Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality

Shopping with AR enables consumers to test products online before purchasing them. A3Logics integrates AR and VR technology into their Amazon-type shopping applications to enable users to imagine products in real-life environments, for instance, testing shoes or imagining furniture in their living room.

9. Drone Delivery Integration

Drones can be integrated to accelerate the shipping of orders for quick delivery. This will make your Amazon-like app even more efficient, innovative and futuristic.  

Essential Steps to Create an App Like Amazon

To develop online marketplace App like Amazon you will have to get along in completing various stages of app development. Starting from researching and planning to the final launch and follow-up updates these are the steps that you will take; 

> Market Research and Competitive Analysis

Even prior to going into development, there needs to be sufficient market research done so that you are aware of your end-users and what they require. By performing competitive research, you can see existing websites such as Amazon, Flipkart, or eBay, and you can see their strengths and weaknesses. Also, you can see their pricing model, features, business model, and reviews and refine your app’s vision and you are at the competition’s top level.

> UI/UX Design Strategy

UI and UX design have a very significant contribution to retaining customers. Users favor a clean, beautiful, and lovely design for ecommerce apps. Using wireframes and prototypes developers can offer a greater user experience. Easy navigation, easy product access with categories, and a responsive layout on all devices should be some of the things to tick right. Moreover, the UX design principles should offer frictionless and easy checkout processes for higher conversions.

> Front-End & Back-End Development

An on demand App development company usually prefer using React Native or Flutter for this purpose. For back-end development, they prefer Node.js, Java and Python for data processing. Also, choose a reliable database like MySQL or MongoDB to store product information and user profiles securely. 

> Mobile App Development (iOS and Android)

Design the app on iOS and Android such that it is usable by multiple users. Either design on native app development or make use of cross-platform platforms such as React Native or Flutter. This is designing the main functionalities such as modules for product searching, cart, and payments and making the app functional on various devices.

> Integration of Third-Party APIs

You can add third-party APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) to enhance the application. Add payment gateways such as Stripe or PayPal, shipping tracking software, and other third-party applications to enhance your app. Add social media APIs too to enable sharing and login for users.

> Testing and Quality Assurance

Quality Assurance (QA) and testing need to be performed in order to obtain your app bug-free and with expected performance. Test functional bugs, cross-device usability testing, and high-traffic load testing. Automated testing and manual testing need to be conducted to identify bugs or performance bugs. Testing your app under varying conditions will provide the highest degree of reliability and stability.

> Deployment and App Store Submission

After testing, release the App on App Stores (Google Play Store & Apple App Store). Both have their own respective submission process, e.g., app review & compliance checks. Ensure your app is complying with all guidelines & specs before submitting it to prevent maximum rejections.

> Launch & Post-Deployment Maintenance

There is also needed post-deployment maintenance subsequent to deployment. That is user debugging, fixing bugs, and adding features constantly with periodic updates to the app. Track how the app is doing through metrics and user feedback to improve the experience constantly. The app will be up to time and functioning as an ever-updating marketplace evolves due to constant updates.

How Much Does It Cost to Develop an App Like Amazon?

The cost to create an App like Amazon often varies due to several factors. Let’s discuss them a bit here to get the estimation; 

Development Costs by Region

In developed nations with good infrastructure and high-skilled developers, the cost of app development will naturally increase more than that of a developing country. In the USA you may have to pay $100 to $250 per hour to the developer while Indian developers can perform the job at a much cheaper rate. However, quality matters above anything.

Cost Breakdown by Features

With the basic features and functionalities of an ecommerce app, you can round the figure in between $50k to $80k. However, with modern features like AI recommendations, AR support, Voice search, etc. its cost can get to the height of $100k to $200k.

Hidden Costs to Consider

Besides this initial cost, your app will require time-to-time updates, bug fixes, and security labelling. All of these together can lead to the claim that the cost like Amazon App can be anywhere between $100k and $400k.

Technology Stack for Creating an App Like Amazon

Having the right set of tech stacks becomes quite essential for building an Amazon-like ecommerce app. These techs not only regulate the amount of efficiency on the regular operations but also the scalability of the app in the long run. You should include stacks including;

Area of App Development	Tech Stack
Database management	MySQL and MongoDB
Front-end development	Swift for iOS, Kotlin for Android, Flutter and React Native for both
Back-end development	Frameworks including Spring, and Django along with programming languages like Python, or Java
Searching and filtering facilities	Elasticsearch
Cloud Hosting	Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud or even AWS

Challenges in Developing an Amazon-Like App and How to Overcome Them

To develop an Amazon-like app, one has to beat numerous challenges beginning with technology and market rivalry. But all these can be overcome with proper tools and processes. Some of the biggest challenges and how to overcome them are as follows:

• Scalability: Scalability often seems a challenge as with a sudden growth in popularity these apps fail to offer integrity. Solve this by carefully choosing a strong framework and cloud base.

• Security: As security is a prime concern, mitigate it through implementing data encryption, two-factor authentication, SSL certificates etc.

• Performance Optimization: To avoid loading time and increase performance speed use CDNs to optimize the app code from time to time.

Best Monetization Strategies for Your eCommerce App like Amazon

Having an app-based online shopping website such as Amazon requires having revenue-generating strategies in place to ensure it becomes sustainable. Depending on your business or audience, the models differ. The following are the most popular revenue-generating models for your online store:

• Commission-Based Model: Make a percentage value of commission for each sale between customers and merchants on your platform. With this, you can deduct a fixed commission from the seller after each transaction. 

• Subscription Model: Offer premium subscription plans offering special advantages in the form of free shipping, pre-purchase, or discount. Here in exchange for a monthly, quarterly or yearly fee submission, users get a range of advantages and the platform gets profit.

• Advertising: Display targeted third-party network advertisements within the app, making money without compromising user experience. With more userbase, you can charge for more advertising fees and gain a considerable revenue. 

• In-App Purchases: Offer paid services like premium listing for sellers or ads to make them more prominent. Here you will simply charge extra commission from the sellers to feature their products prominently in front of the targeted customers.

• Data Analytics Services: With such a huge user data at your hand along with the analytics of their shopping preferences you can earn significant revenue from offering data analytics services for others. Offer data to sellers or third parties willing to obtain valuable customer data.

Develop Online Marketplace App like Amazon with A3Logics

Being one of the leading US-based mobile App development company, A3Logics can offer you the best quality ecommerce app just as you demand. With the help of their expert developer team, you can design and infuse the latest features or even improvise something new for your Amazon-like online marketplace app.

Conclusion

To create an App like Amazon, therefore, involves detailed understanding of its pre-existing features as well as new and advanced scopes for integration. It requires smart decision-making in terms of cost as well as strategies to retrieve that money through monetization models. Only by following the above norms you can get along to the next phase of developing an Amazon-like app.   

Create App Like Amazon: FAQ’s