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How much does it pay off to develop mobile apps for business?

Not every businessman thinks about developing a mobile app for business, especially when it comes to small and medium-sized businesses. Business owners may need a mobile application in such cases:

  • if it is a mobile software that helps to manage internal processes in the company, i.e. automate business (for example, for restaurants, hotels, shopping centers) and increase the efficiency of employees (access to shared files and databases, communication, process and task management, etc.);
  • if it is a program that helps to solve business tasks (increase sales, improve customer loyalty and brand awareness, fulfill other marketing goals);
  • if the application is developed purely for customers, it can be a loyalty club in the application, or an application as an addition to the company’s services (online catalogs, banking, delivery trackers, etc.).

Even if you sell plumbing fixtures, a well-developed application can benefit your business, but in any case, the first thing to do is to carefully calculate whether it will bring the expected benefits, because it is not enough just the development of the application, a very important role is played by its promotion.

Let’s take a look at how you can develop your business with the help of a mobile app and thus contribute to its payback:

  • Attract and retain the target audience and thus increase sales (loyalty programs, notifications about discounts, promotions and novelties). In this way the business can carry out touchpoint with the customer;
  • To build up from competitors, because the competition among apps in this area is not so high. The business can offer extra bonuses to the customer just for using the app;
  • Build a loyal relationship with the customer – this benefit pops out as a result of the first two on the list. Everyone loves pleasant surprises, that’s what customers sign up for loyalty programs for. Take advantage of marketing promotions and other tools to build trust with customers through the app;
  • Build trust with customers by communicating through the app. According to surveys, people are 2 times more willing to use mobile apps from business owners if push notifications are properly set up in them. Users are more trusting and click on links if business owners notify their customers personally. In addition, there is a huge scope for targeting the target audience (for example, by geo-position and preferences);
  • Linking to the corporate website. The combination of a mobile app and a website will bring a company a double benefit, because they will complement each other: if a customer comes from a google search, the app can carry out a more personalized work with him.

There are many success stories in history of how a mobile app has made a significant impact on business growth.

And a couple more tips on what to consider if you are thinking about creating a mobile app for your business:

  • The cost of creating a mobile app for a business is often much higher than the cost of developing a website, and websites tend to have a better return on investment;
  • A mobile app for business is an investment for the future, because what may look quite uncompetitive today may become a market leader tomorrow;
  • Often business card applications remain lying in the far folders of smartphones, lost behind messengers, social networks and near-media applications;
  • Even more often, users simply do not want to clutter the phone storage, or provide personal data to a large number of applications, so the product must be of high quality and really useful to the user.