In this article we aim to discuss how to develop a mobile app for business.
The main purpose of developing a mobile app for business is the interaction with customers. It would seem to give a lot of money for such a simple purpose is unwise, but just imagine: if there is a mobile application, you can notify clients about the location of offices or sales points without much difficulty, provide information about the best deals and the products’ or service’ availability or cost, to provide buyer feedback, organize the community of existing customers and attract the new ones.
And the list does not end there, mobile applications often implement the most daring and innovative ideas of entrepreneurs. Therefore, app development cost becomes simply an investment in your business growth and development.
A bit of related statistics
The popularity of mobile Internet in the world is growing rapidly. Recent Cisco’s study predicts the mobile data traffic CAGR of 53% during 2016-2019, reaching 30.6 exabytes per month by 2020. The growth of mobile technology is opening up a huge window of opportunity for all kinds of businesses.
Moreover, the successful market development nowadays is impossible without a mobile trends analysis and optimization. According to July 2015 Forrester Consulting’s research:
- 70% of interviewing decision-makers said that mobile application has driven them to transform their businesses and/or customer experience;
- Companies, that use mobile apps and analytic tools to collect marketing information, deliver notably higher ROI.
If your business site is not adapted for portable devices, be it Android, iOS or Windows Phone, Google will artificially understate the position of the site in the search results, which threatens a sharp loss of traffic and a decrease in the inflow of the new customers.
But the design and launch of custom mobile application give a quite serious leap. It requires the significant time and resources invested. The application won’t solve all the problems, but can significantly improve the already working business processes and increase profits. One of the important tasks of mobile applications is the sales automation.
In this regard, business owners often wonder if developing the mobile apps is really worthwhile. Can they get any remarkable benefits from it? And the answer is – they definitely can. Let us consider some of the main benefits of mobile app for business.
Perfect for smartphones and tablets
According to aforementioned statistics, a large failure percentage belongs to the websites that are not adapted to mobile devices. Viewing the site on the small mobile device’s screen is inconvenient because of the scale; it annoys users and pushes them away.
Mobile applications’ interfaces are developed with respect to the small screens since the start: the structure of the application is optimized for a comfortable navigation; all the necessary information is easily accessible. The application leverages the smartphone-specific features (calls, GPS, PUSH notifications, etc.).
Important marketing channel
Any active businessman would agree that standing out among competitors became difficult these days. In order to draw attention to the company, one needs to offer their customers something refreshing.
If the customer is already using a smartphone or tablet to find and examine the products, why not allow them to use it to buy what they need?
The advantage of the mobile app is that the buyers who originally are interested in a company’s products or services would install it and thus it can be used to deliver the new information, promotions, and special offers.
Plus, after the installation, the user device’s main menu will contain an application icon – an additional advertising for the company.
Constant, unobtrusive and cheap connection with customers
Presently, people rarely separate with their mobile devices. Mobile applications are used for tasks that are often resolved quickly, on the move, or those occurring regularly, almost every day.
For companies, this is a definite advantage: the clients are online almost invariably. Smart strategy and PUSH notifications’ segmentation allow reaching different groups of users.
The person who installed a mobile application is more likely to make repeated purchases since they are part of the apparent target audience. However, the PUSH notifications should be used to relay something really important or give the time/place related useful information.
Customer involvement
With the use of the mobile application, clients can efficiently exploit loyalty programs, discount offers and promotions, learn prices. Through the mobile app, the company can receive the direct buyers’ feedback on the quality of goods and services.
Often applications implement elements of the game mechanics, such as the accumulative discounts or bonuses for active campaign participation. Inbuilt reports can display how the interest of users changes with time, how often people use the application or to which extent.
Ability to remain at the lead
Mobile application gives form to the brand in the eyes of customers because in the user’s device, it is placed along with such popular apps as YouTube, Google, and Facebook.
According to a trendy belief, only the established and trustworthy companies create a mobile application. It is difficult to imagine that an ephemera firm will invest into the build of a mobile application.
Final thoughts
The complete range of mobile app for your small business source code benefits is rarely used even now. Usually, by the big brand companies, such as banks or retail networks. Therefore, there’s still time and place at the plethora of different markets to outrun the competition among the rising startups with the mobile app and win the hearts and thoughts of the potential buyers.
Anyway, if you’re interested, you can contact our sales representatives today, get a thorough consultation and learn about the cost to build a mobile app for business.
Max Hornostaiev, CTO of Erminesoft, an app development company. Being a CTO of Erminesoft now I always keep in memories my first programming experience at school and university to keep the same devotion. In 2015th it’s my 10th year working in IT – now I’m sure the key for the growth is knowledge sharing. That is why I lead our tech team with this in mind, helping them, giving advice and teaching.
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