The mobile apps for your business

In 2020, the global mobile apps market grew by 30 %, and the total number of downloads on the App Store and Play Market exceeded 143 billion. Users order services, book, and buy goods using their smartphones which are always at hand.

So, today let’s talk about how mobile apps can help your business grow, what you need to know about their development, how to scale it using mobile applications, and how to choose the right contractor.

5 handy features of Android and iOS apps for an enterprise

As you may notice, in the context of COVID-19, the industry of mobile apps is developing by leaps and bounds in different niches like banking, education, food, and non-food delivery. Therefore, adapting business processes to the current facts of life may require taking new measures. Let’s consider the features and benefits of such mobile helpers.

Additional sales and communication channel

Since the app launch, the sales funnel has taken on a new channel, and additional integration options have appeared. The user can place an order using the phone in a few minutes, contact support, and get advice in a few clicks. The channel generates cash flows, so you can gather analytics and adjust the company’s marketing activity. Moreover, you can connect beacons — wireless Bluetooth signals. Every time a visitor is in your business location or nearby, you will automatically remind him about hot and seasonal offers and notify him about promotions and new products. More than you think: coffee shops, restaurants, real estate agencies, foreign language schools, beauty salons, and fitness centers already use beacons!

Brand awareness

With each mobile app download and installation, the number of customers who “get acquainted” with your brand, products, team and corporate culture increases. Additionally, you get one step closer to your client: you know the tastes and needs, contact details, and target requests.

Automation of business processes

Basic retail functions include user registration, creating a personal account, participation in loyalty programs, product search and ordering, delivery processing, and payment. And finally, no need to store logs anymore: the app will do it for you.

Audience retention

Send push notifications about special offers, promotions, and updates — information is available in one click. Accordingly, it is more convenient to keep in touch with customers using the app than on the website or mailing lists.

Comparison with competitors 

Surprisingly, you may be the first to launch a mobile app in your industry. And that will become a competitive advantage and a benefit for potential customers. Undoubtedly, having an app becomes a bonus to the main product. In this topic, we told you when your business needs an app. Click here to look at the topic.

How to choose a mobile app developer?

In general, devs are working on Android and iOS platforms. The developer takes on a project starting with writing the software specs, collaborating with a designer along with the customer to reach the best result ending with uploading the application to Google Play, App Store, Amazon Appstore, Opera Mobile Store, and other mobile application markets. You can read more about how to create an SRS or a statement of work yourself in our article.

Key signs of devs’ poor-quality work:

• Lack of deep immersion in the project – the contractor is performing a pool of tasks with a superficial understanding of the values and trends of the market;
•  Doubtable and flat code — in the future, you will probably have to rewrite the system from scratch; obviously, finalizing a new module requires money and time;
• Visibility of work without giving direct results — the developer is writing the code whose functions are inconvenient and inapplicable, the reasons for this are written in point No.

If you’ve chosen the right contractor, then you get a system that can easily be modified and scaled in a timely manner. Moreover, a good contractor considers your business requirements, conducts calls reports on the stages of work, and requests feedback. You can read more about the bad contractor by clicking here.

Mobile apps development options

Basically, there is native and cross-platform development. What are the differences?

Well, native development is based on developing an app for a specific platform and operating system requirements. For Android, native applications are created using Java or Kotlin; for iOS, using Swift and Objective-C.

However, cross-platform development is the development of an application that can adapt to different systems.

Conclusion: choosing an option depends on the goals and scope of the project. However, we recommend setting up cross-platform development and creating your custom UI&UX design with an agency or a specialist with a good reputation. This way, you ensure that the deadlines will be met and your money will work over the long run.

In general, from our perspective, the best choice for cross-platform development is the Flutter platform, which is based on the Dart programming language.
Advantages:

1. quick compilation — you can see all edits in real-time;
2. personalization of widgets — you can work out the design to the smallest detail and subtleties;
3. availability of updates — the platform adapts to market trends; new tools are always at hand.

You can look at the examples of successful cross-platform applications that retain functionality and appearance on different devices: Facebook Instagram, Pinterest, UberEats, and others.

However, it will take time to develop complex applications using 3D graphics, augmented reality elements, and numerous screens. Therefore, we conduct free consultations and help you decide on technologies and tools to be engaged. For instance, the basic functionality of an Italian restaurant app that starts making deliveries around the city will look like this:

• user registration;
• opening the user account;
• storing customer data and menu search history;
• selecting the number of dishes;
• geolocation tracking.

Here is more about cross-platform development.

Mobile apps: usage statistics and trends

New trends and statistics on mobile applications are collected by App Annie. By getting the annual reports, you can track the App Annie Index – an indicator of the mobile applications development level in individual countries, to determine the trends of cross-platform development for Apple iOS and Android. According to App Annie world statistics, at the end of 2020, one user downloaded an average of 110 apps, which is 35% more than at the beginning of 2018:

Companies implementing mobile applications in their business processes increase sales and profit margins and raise their capitalization and market share. For example, AliExpress and The Weather Channel increased revenue by 80 % in the first year of the app’s launch. Uber, OLX, Starbucks, and Walmart have become recognizable leaders after the introduction of mobile apps.

Global companies, corporations, and holdings use at least 3 or even more mobile apps for:
1) internal work – monitoring the implementation of the plan;
2) communication with customers – this way, they increase sales and profits;
3) the management — making decisions and signing contracts with the help of digital signatures and seals.

ProArea team offers the development of mobile applications for your business. We will help you create SRS and define the project goals. 

We integrate applications with an internal CRM system.
To get a consultation, please contact us via email: info@proarea.co