At the time of writing, about 3.2 million apps are available on Google Play. Apple Store isn’t far behind with 2.1 million apps. Indeed, with mobile apps soaring through the ranks across verticals, app development is on the agenda of most product startups.
However, a host of considerations, from finance to technical feasibility, must be kept in mind before shaping up a distinct app idea. While mobile apps are great for growing business outcomes, you need to invest a lot of resources and time for that. So, it’s better to equip yourself with adequate knowledge before hopping on the bandwagon.
With that objective in mind, this article elaborates on the importance of mobile apps and presents different options for non-tech founders to proceed with their mobile app ideas.
Mobile Apps and Their Importance
From travel to food and entertainment to social networking, an app is available for literally everything. In fact, an average user spent about $5.03 on mobile apps in Q1 2022. Also, people increasingly engage with apps rather than other traditional options, which makes it apparent that mobile apps are here to stay.
Following is a rundown of crucial benefits they accrue:
Value to Customers
Business is all about acquiring, engaging, and retaining customers. While it is vital to promote your products, it is equally important to create a certain value for customers that can differentiate your brand.
For example, Starbucks uses a mobile app to reward the customers who are subscribed to their app. As a result, customers are motivated customers to buy from them.
All in all, a value-first USP or a value-creation program, for that matter, incorporated into your mobile app can do wonders for your business.
Strong Brand Building
Gone are the days when billboards and posters played a significant role in brand awareness and advertisements. Today, people have become adept at tuning out advertisements. That is why branding efforts have shifted towards creating a strong connection with potential customers on an emotional level.
Mobile apps provide a cost-effective and convenient way of building a brand that resonates with the target audience. That’s because they advocate for regular interaction between the brand and customers through regular updates and special offers.
Better Customer Connection
Mobile apps are essentially a vehicle for improving customer retention and loyalty, an objective worth pursuing. This is mainly because mobile apps enable customers to stay connected with their favourite brands and the products they use on a regular basis.
In other words, it is a platform that tells customers what you have in store for them and keeps them up to date.
Profit Boost
Dominos, the leading pizza restaurant chain, saw its profits rise to £73.16m from £62.1m when it launched its mobile app. It was a simple yet effective strategy to bolster the bottom line and improve business revenue.
When customers get a simple way to order online, they prefer using a mobile app rather than visiting or calling the store — as has been testified by the growth of mCommerce.
Altogether, mobile apps open various avenues for businesses to boost their revenues.
Crucial Mobile App Choices
Now that we’ve seen the importance of mobile apps and the benefits they generate for businesses, let’s discuss some key types for non-tech founders to consider.
Native Apps
Native apps can be used on Android, iOS, and other mobile platforms but they are built on a single platform. Native apps have the advantage of being closely tied to the OS and hence can be tightly integrated with the capabilities of the device. That said, the challenge is that making multiple versions of the same mobile app for each OS is time-consuming, expensive, and effort-intensive.
That’s why, many companies are coming around to believe that the best way to code and create apps for iOS and Android is through open-source technology like Flutter. It enables easy and smooth cross-platform mobile app development without writing the code for two apps separately. It only requires a single codebase for multiple platforms.
Technology used: Java, Swift, Kotlin, Objective C, C++, React.
Pros: Native mobile apps are reliable and fast in the performance context. They are also more efficient as compared to other types of mobile apps when it comes to leveraging the capabilities of the device. Further, they use the user interface (UI) of native devices to provide a more optimized customer experience.
Cons: If you start developing a native mobile app, the same efforts must be duplicated for different platforms. The same code cannot be reused for another platform. This increases the cost and effort in developing, maintaining, and updating the codebase for every version.
Web Apps
Web apps work like native apps but can also be accessed via a web browser on mobile devices. These apps are not standalone applications in the context of installing and developing the code into the device. They are responsive websites that adapt to the user’s device orientation.
Technology Used: HTML5, CSS, JavaScript,
Pros: There is no need to customize web apps according to the operating system or platform. So, it cuts down the cost of development. Plus, it does not take any space on your device’s memory as there is no need to download the application.
Cons: Web apps are entirely dependent on the browser of the device. The functionalities of a browser can be different from another, and that can provide varying user experiences. Even when web apps work offline, they will still need an internet connection to back up the data or refresh the screen.
Related Reading: Are Progressive Web Apps the right approach for your startup?
Cross-platform and Hybrid Apps
These are the web apps that look and feel like native apps. To an extent, they perform and behave the same way native apps do. However, they can work on multiple platforms.
Technology Used: Ionic, Swift, HTML5, Objective C, and others
Pros: Building a hybrid app is much more economical and quicker when compared to a native app. It’s a great choice for startups looking to hit the market quickly and maintain an agile strategy that allows them to refresh their app and keep iterating in response to customer needs. Besides, it’s an ideal choice for most startups.
Cons: Hybrid apps might not be able to utilize the full power of some of the advanced features built-into phones.
Wrapping Up
Mobile apps have come a long way in the past few years. They are now a mainstream-channel businesses use to generate revenue and sustain growth. The key is to use them effectively and invest in the right type of app that suits your business.
From a business standpoint, a mobile app should provide the customers with the right experience to lead them to perform a specific action. It should catch their attention and make them loyal to the brand and products they use regularly.
Reach out to us today to learn more about how we can help you build the right mobile app for your business.
