Let’s clear up – mobile app development runs the business. Is it a modern kitsch or truly needed tool?
Only half of 2018 slipped. StatCounter reports: “More than 50% of people use their smartphones for online shopping”. Typical scenario – you set up a business and are thinking about “To Develop an app or Not”. What’s the answer?
Today we will guide you through this digital jungle, and together we will find the solution.
Types of Mobile Applications
The first our step is types of mobile apps. According to the usage, there are apps for:
- business;
- marketing, advertising, brand awareness and loyalty.
Business applications make the workflow, booking or purchase processes easier to do. This type of application can help your clients use your services.
Apps for marketing and everything which can help attract new visitors, engage, and promote the company’s services. For instance: games for children, development games and lessons, popular superheroes, etc.
What if to develop a mobile application for a loyalty program?
You have to launch apps smartly. When it comes to customers, all actions are optional. You have to convince the clients in a) the NEED of the installation, b) the simplicity of the usage, and c) evident problem-solving.
Well, everything sounds great but what’s the crux?
You can face an obstacle. Many users will deny installing an app if they can get the same information via a mobile browser. Most people think it is troublesome (you need to search in an online shop, download stuff and authorise yourself); and time-consuming. The most common issue – you’ll need to have extra space on your smartphone to install the application. As a result, the popularity of mobile apps began to sink. Five years ago near 30% of European installed an app once a month. Today up to 60% of users do the same but even rarely.
Business solution application – who needs IT?
There are several types of business which can’t proceed without an app. Here they are:
Services
Delivery food, the order tickets, book cinema, theatre or other performances tickets, etc. if customers regularly use such services they prefer to use apps. How often do you go to a cafe or restaurant nowadays? You will agree with me, that each time you think about going out, your hand takes the smartphone and launch an app for ordering.
With one click, you can fill an address and payment details. For the next orders, you will choose only the dishes. For the delivery service, this is an excellent opportunity to enlarge the clients base. The average cheque and the number of conversions will be growing thanks to personal discounts and special offers for using an application. This is also an excellent opportunity for restaurants “to bind” clients by the bonus program and increase profits through food delivery service. Also, preordering through an app can speed up the restaurant working mode on a daily peak hours, and, of course, attract new customers attention.
In the touristic sphere, a mobile application is a must-have. It provides a possibility for clients to book tickets, hotels, and in the end – save money. The amount of sold tickets is raising because the best place where you can do this – is your cosy home. No more queues and long city rides. Don’t forget to subscribe to the notification to be always aware of the tickets’ price.
Apps for shopping
Nowadays most people go shopping online sitting on the couch! And if you want to rock the massive sales peak and reach 10x goals, PWA will be a perfect solution for your business.
Mobile applications for shops and stores give an opportunity to order an item immediately from the catalogue, get access to exclusive content and be the first to know about special offers and discounts. Moreover, a long and demanding process of filtering, cart checkouts, payments will be a stumbling stone in quick order processing without developing a mobile application. The possibility of increasing the number of impulse purchases and bringing new brand clients depends on the app as well.
Taxi
You are running out of time and need to get on cab quickly. Your actions? Take a smartphone, launch an app, set geolocation and push the button. This is the most comfortable and most convenient way to get the desired destination and be always on time! There is no need to know the address literary, only set a marker on the map – that’s all. With an app, your potential client can place the order and pay it using two payment options: credit card or cash. Every user can track car movements and understand how soon you’ll get the destination point.
Sports, hobbies and eLearning
How to use a mobile app? For free video training and useful advice, watch video lessons, discover lifehacks, or read about the nutrition. You can check the timetable, sign up for a training session; and save cost by buying season tickets using a loyalty program. Furthermore, sports clubs with mobile app differs from the competitors and attract newcomers. An application works as a reminder not to miss training and a tracker of personal progress.
Social Media and Messengers
Do you remember all your passwords to social media accounts? How many profiles do you have? The digital world is full of surprises. So many creative people with wonderful ideas will keep you engaging with more and more social platforms. Big sharks of business often develop their messengers, task trackers, operation systems, reporting or educational platforms. They do worry about the security of standard services or social networks.
Corporate business applications
It’s common for companies to develop the application to organise and plan workflows, projects and keep the team’s work on schedule. This app typically includes a messenger, task tracker, operation system, reporting and training. The significant number of companies pay high attention to data security, and the only way is to develop own application then use open for everybody social network. That’s how they can automate their business.
Booking for everyday life
Living in a busy world, you have to solve your daily tasks in one click without spending much time. With a mobile app, you can book a visit to a doctor, beauty salon or pets clinic. One more option today is to chat with a specialist or to get online consultation! This you will get only having an app installed on your smartphone or tablet.
Living in the fast speeding era of business and IT – getting services remotely and online is a significant advantage! It doesn’t matter what do you want – new haircut, massage or book an online consultation with a pet doctor. Having an app, you are open for new opportunities!
Mobile applications don’t work if…
If you are a small business company and decided to create a mobile app for business development, be ready to invest in your future! After you launch an app some of the users may delete a program in one day after the installation.
But we have an option for you. It is better and even cheaper to build hybrid applications. Creating a web application for business, you will develop it both for Android and IOs Platforms. In this case, you save money and totally save functionality of the app.
Today searching engines analyse exactly mobile website versions as more prioritized for the rating system. Supporting and maintaining of three platforms, i.e. android, ios and desktop versions for your business application, will make your company stronger and win additional market share! But be ready to pay for:
- mobile service improvement and adaptation to the new gadget models.
- advertising campaigns;
- new users attraction for an app (banners, traffics, optimisation in app stores, etc.)
- user support and new functions installation.
Consider every pross and cons before creating a new application. Be ready to pay for your future development and success.
Original RU version of the article you can read here: GRAVITEC