10 Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Mobile App

“Does my business need a mobile app?”

This is a question that most businesses come across sooner or later in their journey.

Given the fast pace of digitalization, mobile applications have already penetrated nearly 55%^[i] of the worldwide web traffic. From social media to utility, lifestyle, and news – mobile apps are changing the face of many businesses.

There are now companies whose entire business models are based on mobile apps while for others, mobile applications play an integral role in supporting their operations. All in all, mobile apps have become an indispensable part of the business and digital landscape.

However, if you’re still not certain your business needs a mobile application, then this blog post is for you. So, keep reading!

Why Build a Mobile App for Your Business?

Around 6.37 billion^[ii] people worldwide use smartphones now, and 90%[iii] of the time spent on them is on mobile apps. The market for mobile apps is growing and getting bigger every day. According to reports[iv], there were approximately 230 billion mobile app downloads in 2021.

This data clearly shows that mobile applications are increasingly becoming consumers’ favorite way to interact with businesses. That is why, most businesses are now getting their dedicated mobile app to lure more customers.

Top Benefits of Mobile Applications for Businesses

The list of mobile app benefits is quite long. Let’s take a look at some of the top benefits you can get from having your own business mobile application.

1. Increase Your Visibility

Most users spend around 5-6 hours^[iv] daily on their smartphones. Though most of this time is spent on a select few apps, users still get a glimpse of your app while scrolling through their phones.

This may seem insignificant at first but wait till you understand its long-term benefit.

Our brain unconsciously records every text and image we go through in a day. When users see your app on their phones every day, it helps memorize your brand name. As a result, your brand visibility and awareness will increase effortlessly.

2. Create a Direct and Personalized Channel

While mobile apps work as a direct communication channel between a business and its customers, their biggest advantage is personalized communication.

Mobile applications enable you to personalize information such as messages, recommendations, and offers according to the user. With features like geolocation and user profile, you can further customize your messaging for higher relevance. This helps you deliver the information that your users might need, right at their fingertips. Additionally, push notifications can help you persuade users to engage with your business.

3. Offer Better User Experience

User experiences are integral for the growth of your business. Every enhancement on your digital platform is more or less made to improve the user experience.

A mobile application, with its engaging and user-friendly UI/UX, can offer a seamless browsing experience to users, thus increasing higher satisfaction. A satisfied user has a higher probability of doing business with you again in the future.

4. Improve Customer Engagement

Mobile apps are quite accessible and make for an effective way to target your potential customers. They create a direct interaction channel between users and the business where one can easily explore and engage as they wish.

Integrating social channels with your mobile application, further helps in extending your digital presence and enriching brand-audience communication. This also makes it easy for your customers to share your content among their peers, which ultimately boosts engagement.

5. Capture Customer Insights

A mobile application is an excellent way to collect and analyze customer data. It can help you gather insights on user behavior, time spent, areas most/least interacted with, customer feedback, and more.

Analyzing this data will help you better understand your users and their preferences that you then can leverage in your marketing. Furthermore, you can also improve your business offerings based on users’ interests and fuel data-driven decisions to generate the best possible results.

6. New Window for Revenue

Mobile apps is a personalized way of shopping for your customers. They make the purchasing process simple and intuitive which ultimately leads to a boost in sales.

A remarkable example of this is Domino’s Pizza app. When the company launched its mobile app for orders, it saw a 28% increase in its sales in the UK alone within the first six months. Today, the company gets 52%^[v] of its total orders on its mobile application.

Depending on your business type, you can also monetize your app using in-app purchases, freemium, and paid apps to earn additional revenue. If your users enjoy your app, they will be more than willing to pay for it.

7. Enhance Customer Service

Mobile applications are one of the most effective channels for customers to get in touch with your business. They provide easy-to-access information that results in improved customer satisfaction.

Mobile apps also build an instant feedback system that encourages customers to reach out to you for their queries and comments. This helps build a communication loop between your business and the customers, thus, making it an ideal customer service channel.

8. Stand Out From the Competition

In today’s competitive digital world, a mobile application gives your business a significant edge. It caters to the consumers’ need for speed and convenience better than other traditional digital channels.

You can also tailor your app to create a brand-specific environment that strengthens your brand image and recognition.

9. Cultivate Customer Loyalty

A mobile application plays a subtle yet important role in building trust with your customers. Being easily accessible, the mobile app provides users with the right information at the right time that helps them make well-informed decisions.

This facilitates maintaining a higher retention rate by offering customers valuable experiences that foster brand loyalty. Additionally, you can start loyalty programs that provide incentives to customers to stick to your brand.

Starbucks is a good example of that. They have a Star point system that rewards a customer on visiting a nearby Starbucks outlet. This encourages the customer to visit the outlet again to earn more rewards.

10. Leverage Technology Trends

Technology is evolving at an incremental pace today. Hence, to stay relevant, it is important to adopt newer technologies that help you offer better services. A mobile app is a perfect example of this.

You can add any new feature to your app to extend its functionalities and improve user experiences. For example, by integrating your app with IoT, you can embed your services to other devices like smartwatches, refrigerators, and air conditioning to build an advanced services ecosystem.

Key Takeaways

Considering the growth of the mobile app market, the question is no longer “does my business need a mobile app” rather “how to build the best mobile app for my business?” And for this, we recommend consulting an expert that can help you strategize the right approach for your business’s mobile app development.

Need Help With Your Mobile App Development Strategy? Book a Free Consultation.

References

[i] Statista – Mobile Internet Usage Worldwide
[ii] BankMyCell – Number of Phones
[iii] eMarketer – Mobile Time Spent 2018
[iv] Statista – Time Spent on Average on Smartphones
[v] Tahir M. Nisar, 2019, Smartphone and App Implementations that Improve Productivity, Berlin, DeG Press