A smartphone is our constant companion. It is with us everywhere 24/7: at work, studying, walking or meeting friends. Here are some interesting statistics. Referring to a 2019 study, every U.S. citizen spends an average of 3 hours 10 minutes a day using his phone. About 90% of this time falls on applications.
Mobile apps are considered one of the most powerful tools for communicating with the target audience from a business point of view. And the numbers are a pretty weighty argument in order to think about creating a mobile app for your business. In this article, we will tell about how the app will help your business grow.
What tasks can a company solve with its mobile application
Since a mobile phone is an environment in which your potential customer spends almost the whole day, you need to offer your services in a convenient format for the target audience. The mobile app will help to solve many problems of the company.
Sales boost
Why visit offices and shops if you can buy everything you need online? Therefore, users want to make purchases from their phones in seconds. Convenience — this is what will increase sales for your company. With the app, your services are located in the pocket of the target audience. You are constantly in touch with customers and can apply various methods of stimulating purchases.
Customers attraction
To get new customers, offer them a favorable bonus for installing the application. It is unlikely that someone will refuse, for example, a free cup of coffee or discounts on their first purchase.
Loyalty
Loyalty programs drive repeat sales. For example, accrual of bonuses motivates a customer to make several purchases before he can get a discount. That is, the buyer will come back again and again, accumulating points and the business will, again and again, make a profit and loyal customers. People are already tired of the many bonus cards that roll around their wallets.
A good example is Starbucks. In their application, customers received stars for each purchase and having accumulated the required number of stars, they get a free drink. There are many ways to work with loyalty using mobile applications. You can develop a special program for authorized users with bonuses, discounts, personal offers, add additional useful functionality to the app.
Audience analysis
You can collect and analyze all the same information about the audience of mobile applications, as about site visitors. Analytics systems can recognize users on different devices and thus collect more complete information about their interests and preferences. Such analytics allows you to create a more accurate portrait of the audience, and build a marketing strategy based on this information.
For example, Google Analytics for Firebase collects such information about application users: age, country, device brand, device model and type, language, gender, interests, the store from which the app was downloaded.
Competitive advantage
A high-quality mobile app shows customers that your business is in step with the times and that you are counting on long-term partnerships. The buyer would rather prefer a company that allows him to make a purchase quickly and conveniently. Therefore, while your competitors use outdated methods of promotion, it is worth making a choice in favor of a mobile application.
Notifications
Push notifications are messages that come to the smartphone screen from the app. According to statistics, push notifications double the traffic of apps. Using notifications, you can tell customers about promotions, news, special offers, and programs. Don’t send them too frequently so as not to bother users. We already talked about how to correctly implement push notifications in your app in the previous article.
Process automation
Company work processes can automate not only internal programs but also applications created for customers. So, for example, the app itself accepts and processes orders, notifies customers about their status. This also saves money on employees, because you no longer need to call on the call center to make an order, the application will do everything by itself. Taxi services like Uber are a great example of such automation.
Support
Using the app, it is convenient to advise clients and answer their questions. You can make chats with managers, consultants or support services. In this case, the operator on the other side can display all the information about the authorized user, so that it is easier for him to solve problems. Let’s be honest, many people now don’t like to talk on the phone. The ability to enter the application and solve the issue online is definitely an advantage.
Payments
Payments are the basic function for many commercial apps: a taxi service, an online store, an electronic library, an online service, and others. It’s so convenient to pay for everything in one click using a credit card, Google Pay or Apple Pay. The fewer actions a person needs to complete to purchase, the more likely he is carrying it out. Even from the point of view of psychology, it is easier for the buyer to part with the money using a bank card, not to mention one “Pay” button. Learn how to choose a payment gateway for your application in this article.
Which companies especially need apps
You can make a convenient and useful application for almost any business, but there are niches for which this is especially important. Companies in such areas should seriously think about the development of the app:
- Restaurants and cafes — promotions, menus, delivery orders;
- Tourism — search for hotels and resorts, booking tickets, interactive maps;
- Medicine — consultations, online appointment with a doctor, call a doctor;
- Entertainment and rest — any reservations;
- Automotive business — car rental, repair, and maintenance;
- Delivery services and shops — product catalogs, order, cost of goods;
- Sports — class schedule, online registration, reviews;
- Beauty industry — an appointment with specialists, price lists, information about services;
- Almost any company working in the service sector.
Let’s sum up
Any business should strive for development, as well as stay up to date with the latest technologies and respond to innovations that can make work more efficient. Mobile apps can provide many benefits to almost any company. If you are still not sure whether you need a mobile app, we hope that the above arguments will help you make the right decision.
The main thing to remember is that any product or tool should solve specific problems and contribute to the development of the company. If you are sure that your app will be useful for users, you can start compiling a list of functions necessary for it.
