COVID 19 has left an appalling impact on all businesses. However, small businesses were affected the most. According to the SMB or Small and Medium Business Group survey of around 500 businesses, the most affected small businesses were found out. Moreover, it was also understood from a survey that the smaller the business, the harder they were hit. This is the right time for these businesses to take advantage of mobile application development. Mobile apps will help them go beyond their physical constraints and have access to a global market. A good mobile application can help these businesses create significant revenue even during the lockdown.
The mobile industry has witnessed a large growth during the past few years. According to emarketer an average US consumer spends more time on their phones than on TV. Smart phones top this list. The usage of smart phones will steadily increase and it will make up the majority of the media consumption in 2020 and coming years.
In 2014, an average US consumer used to spend two hours more on TV than on their phones. But according to several e-market analysts, mobile has overtaken TV. Followed by a social networking app, digital audio applications are the most used among mobile applications. New data go on to show that smartphones will continue to dominate consumer media.
Mobile applications are becoming increasingly popular today. This is fueled by better mobile application development and mobile app design.
Applications are now using artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to increase their competitiveness in the market.
With better mobile app design also comes better UI and UX experience. 78% of consumers prefer to use a mobile application rather than a website because of this reason. Performance of an application is also what keeps these apps popular. The applications have to be functional and efficient. According to App Samurai, 76% of customers uninstall mobile apps due to frequent crashes. Thus, mobile app design plays an important role in the popularity of applications.
Another reason for the increasing popularity of mobile applications is due to the online shopping trend. Online shopping is the hot trend as 50% of the world’s populations have connectivity to the internet. 43% of Smartphone users find online shopping to be their top online activity.
According to Statista mobile phones generate 50% of the global website traffic.
This goes on to show that smart phones and mobile applications how now become an inseparable part of our life. Android users also had 2.56 million applications to choose from in the first quarter of 2020 alone. Thus, Google Play became the platform with the biggest number of apps.
A mobile application is also a great way to reach your customers. A mobile application also opens up a new channel of revenue for businesses. It is a simple and extensive way to increase revenue. An application will help you reach the vast majority of customers at a minimum cost. Following are some of the reasons why businesses need mobile apps:
Increased visibility
Better customer loyalty
Better brand recognition
A direct marketing channel
Increased profits
Increased accessibility
Better customer service
Expanded customer base
Business process optimization
In case you are still not sure why anyone would want to build their own mobile platform, here are justifications that will help you get excellent value for money.
Mobile applications provide the flexibility to target a global audience. According to Business Insider, India has become the largest market of mobile application downloads. US and Brazil follow suit. With every other person connected via the internet, people from different parts of the world can access your application. For example, translating your application into mainstream languages will help to double your global outreach. Another way in which apps help with the global audience is through sharing. Applications make it easier to share them and the in-app content. This will also help you to go beyond your local market.
The mobile app market is steadily growing and it shows no sign of going down anytime soon. With the increase in apps, competition is also increasing in the market. Businesses now have the challenge of making efficient apps to stand out.
50% of the world is connected to internet making online commerce convenient. The Internet has had a global expansion since the 1960s. The world is changing rapidly and more people come online every year. An average of 27,000 people was online every year in the last few years alone according to Our World in Data. Owing to the recent development of telecommunication and infrastructure of internet technology, the global average internet penetration has become 59 percent. With such a large internet user base mobile apps have become the most integral means to reach people for businesses.
Half of the web traffic in the world is comprised of mobile accounts. Mobile devices have been making 52.6% of global website traffic since 2017. While spending time on phone users spend 90% on mobile apps and 26% of people search for apps in search engines. Use of the mobile app is steadily increasing with 58% hike every year. This will continue to grow as business app downloads are predicted to grow by 16% in the coming years. This is another reason why mobile apps have become an integral part of the business.
By 2020, 83% of workloads of business will be managed by technologies like AI, ML, Blockchain etc. These technologies also help create faster loading and less power consuming applications. This will help the businesses get a step ahead of their competitors.
Here are few ways that your business will reap the benefits of creating a mobile app for your customers and achieve specific business goals.
With a mobile application, you will be available 24/7 to your clients. Your customers can easily access you by tapping on an icon. With the app, your customers can track your services no matter what kind of business you run.
Your customers can also be updated by way of push notifications. With these notifications, you can send them details regarding your new products, sales, discounts etc.
With mobile applications, you can keep your clients engaged by giving them customer loyalty rewards. This provides them with an incentive to stay loyal to your brand.
Customer engagement is important to maintain customer loyalty. You can build a better relationship with your customers by hearing their concerns and complaints. Apps provide online help desk provisions to fulfill this function. Business to customer communication also serves as a means for marketing your business. Apps receive the complaints and let you resolve them without any time lag. Reduced cost along with better accessibility is the key to customer engagement.
It is a great idea to add social features into a mobile application. Data shows that people spend a lot of their time on social media platforms and check-in just to see how their friends are doing. This idea can be used as a marketing strategy. People can see your brand while also getting in touch with their friends. Features like messaging within the app, comments, photo sharing features etc help in engaging the users. Enabling logging into the app using Facebook and Twitter is also a great idea. This kind of marketing technique has resulted in increased sales and customer engagement.
Mobile application development acts complementary to your website. Many businesses on a tight budget do not find it necessary to invest in a mobile application if they have a functional website. But an app adds on to the functionality of the website. A website can attract new users while mobile app helps you to maintain customer loyalty. Using a website usually requires you to open a browser and then find the website URL. However, with an app, you just need to touch the icon on your smart phone. Website is also a great platform for posting content, videos and pictures while the app provides a two-way communication channel.
Over the years the way people seek services and products have greatly changed. Earlier people used to recommend other products and web browsing was also used as a way to find new products. But now, people look for products whole travelling, waiting for an appointment etc. They can grab the attention of the users and will increase the visibility of your business.
The main goal of every business is to increase its customers, make their brand more popular, and increase sale and revenue. Mobile applications can attain all these goals and exponentially increase business growth while generating a lot of revenue.
In order to create amazing and effective mobile apps for your business, you are highly recommended to hire a mobile app development company that can integrate an advanced level of features and help you target the right audience through the app.
With the help of the right software development partner like aTeamTexas, we ensure to deliver a quality mobile app for your business scalability. Talk to our expert today! To know more about aTeam-India offerings, drop a mail to [email protected]
