Mobile app development is no longer considered just a branding exercise for small businesses. The rising popularity and inclination of the target audience of just about every business towards mobile apps have persuaded small business owners about the efficacy mobile apps show in generating incremental revenues for them.
Right from simplifying online purchases to ease in communication to easy access to information, the benefits of a mobile application development process are unprecedented for small businesses, and to top it all off, mobile apps are here to stay.
Why Do Small Businesses Invest in Mobile App Development?
In previous years, the growing cost of custom mobile app development made it impossible for small businesses to spend that much on an app of their own. However, the recent growth in software development technologies has streamlined the app development processes, so much so that even small businesses are also able to have an app of their own created so that their brands can excel in their respective business industries by fostering increased customer engagements through mobile apps.
Also, as social media use continues to rise, consumers are becoming more open to engagement with brands on a day-to-day basis, even if they aren’t specifically loyal to or purchasers of that particular business. Business owners and marketers are capitalizing on consumers’ desires for interaction by producing entertaining mobile apps.
Also Read: Engaging Ideas to Create Remarkable Mobile App Experiences for Users
While being fun to use, informational, or inspirational, a common characteristic of these apps is that they feature a strong call-to-action to persuade the user to purchase a product or in some way benefit the company in question. A mobile app also not only creates customer engagement for the business, but it conveys a brand’s essence of being responsible and customer-friendly by making the services available to the customer’s doorsteps through an app that is user-friendly and works according to the requirements of the consumers.
What Type of Small Businesses Should Invest in Apps?
According to the latest estimates, gyms and restaurants were the leading businesses who are actively engaged in the app development process, mainly to gauge customers, and to score popularity for their brands along with supporting their positive esteem in the market. However, golf courses, plumbing services, hotels, and even barber shops were found engaged in the app creation process, where most of the time the custom mobile app development services were outsourced to a professional app development service to fulfill their need.
But as the trend of app building is increasing, so are the expectations of the customers from the apps. The customer of today require more functional apps and those that are on the top of their game, in terms of both functionality and features along with a robust and intuitive app design. For businesses that meet potential clients at various locations, the ability to show data or portfolios is essential, which sometimes also goes on an offline mode. Using an app for this purpose can make the difference between closing the sale and losing the prospect to a competitor.
Also Read: Mobile App Design Trends Shaping the Mobile App Industry
What Benefits Could They Derive From their App?
A survey done not so long ago suggested that out of the overall sample size of small businesses that were surveyed, more than 62% had a mobile app or were in the process of building one. Out of these, 20% of businesses used their mobile apps purely for branding purposes, 30% were using them for business generation and 50% used them to build customer support and induce engagement.
A common user spends about 174 minutes on their mobile devices each day and checks their mobile phone as soon as they wake up in the morning. The mobile sales are estimated to have surpassed $74 billion in 2016. Which was 32% higher than the preceding year. 30% of all online purchases were done by millennials in 2016 and through their mobile devices only. Imagine the kind of business opportunity mobile apps possess for small businesses.
However, apps aren’t just for commerce businesses. Push notifications can be used by any niche to put your brand name directly in front of the smartphone owner. Apps can be used for any type of activity: booking systems, file uploads, vouchers, newsletters, digital magazines, support, providing information, logging exercise or nutrition, showing videos and so much more.
What is the Future of Mobile Apps?
The figures around app-driven revenue are staggering. Non-game app downloads are estimated to grow 23 percent in the next five years, exceeding $218 billion in 2020. Smartphone adoption in emerging markets should see mobile app store downloads more than double between 2015 and 2020.
The hike that is projected in numbers only suggests the domination of mobile apps that is going to happen in the near future, and the phenomenon has already started happening. More brands are actively engaged in-app marketing and in building mobile apps to easily distribute their services to their customers, which only conveys a clear message to small businesses, that to secure their future prospects of tomorrow, they must start investing in a mobile application development of their own, today.