Thousands of businesses continue to build and launch apps for their products and services every single week. But should your business follow the trend? We explore this in our post today.
Reasons to Build an App for your Business
According to Hootsuite, the average time spent online by internet users aged 16 to 64 years per day is 7 hours. This alone offers massive possibilities to any business seeking to grow its market and reach more people.
An excellent way to capture and keep the attention of potential customers today is by developing an app for your business using a framework like Microsoft Powerapps.
Besides helping your business keep up with the trend, a suitable mobile app allows you to;
Increase your customer reach, experience, and engagement
The survival of any business is determined by its ability to reach and retain customers. A retail app allows you to increase your customer reach by connecting with them through it.
For example, current and potential customers are able to interact with your products and services. They can also easily make purchases from the convenience of their phones without having to visit their brick-and-mortar store.
Additionally, with an app, customers can engage freely with you and learn more about your business. The result is increased customer confidence and loyalty to your business.
Gather useful customer insights
One of the best ways to improve how you serve your customers is to understand what they want and need. This can only be achieved with comprehensive customer insights such as their demographics, buying power, and location.
Integrating a mobile app with machine learning allows businesses to understand their customer behavior when online. This could entail analyzing which products they check for long, how much they spend, etc.
This way, you can then analyze user behavior and offer more accurate predictive user experiences going forward.
Reduce operating costs
Using business apps and social media reduces operating costs, especially in marketing. For example, you no longer need to print handouts or run road shows when trying to promote your products or services.
Instead, all you need is to create a product campaign and promote it on your site or sponsor it through ads to reach a wider audience. Where needed, you can also implement email marketing, chatbots, and push notifications for quicker customer updates.
Enhance security with secure payment options
Online purchases are flawed by fraud and do not deliver what was promised. Such compromises make buyers suspicious and hesitant about buying online.
Luckily, you can reduce these fears by developing a reputable mobile app that allows your businesses to offer safe and encrypted payment options. The goal is to increase the level of trust and confidence customers have in your business.
Get customized features
To improve user experience, you can have your mobile app customized to match your business’s specific needs and demands. For example, you can incorporate a chat function if that helps to close prospective customers better.
You can also allow your app to use the location function if your business serves a specific geographical location so you are not wasting resources on a demographic your business doesn’t target.
Increase sales
Finally, taking into account all other factors, your app should be designed in a way that users can conduct the most common and required tasks without the intricacies of web-based sites. The software should be more customer-centric, showing them where they should go and what they should do with ease.
While at it, consider offering customers rewards in form of loyalty points or promo codes to allow customers to save on shopping.
Finally, you can use your app to entice users to browse through precise specifics of sales through pop-up notifications that appear after the launch. Remember to also leverage your business app’s trends, promotions, deals, and discounts to inspire customers to buy from you.
Overall, when used correctly, a business app can help increase product sales, make products easily available, and keep businesses relevant and growing.
Conclusion
When rolled out and managed properly, a well-designed, customer-centric mobile app can help your businesses reach customers who were initially beyond reach. With the increased online presence, you are able to engage potential customers better, promote your brand in a more effective manner, and ultimately grow your sales.
A retail mobile app also helps to make customer payments more secure which is important in establishing trust with them for long-term engagement.
Ready to launch an app for your business this year? Let us know your feedback in the comments section below.
Ingrid Maldine is a business writer, editor and management consultant with extensive experience writing and consulting for both start-ups and long established companies. She has ten years management and leadership experience gained at BSkyB in London and Viva Travel Guides in Quito, Ecuador, giving her a depth of insight into innovation in international business. With an MBA from the University of Hull and many years of experience running her own business consultancy, Ingrid’s background allows her to connect with a diverse range of clients, including cutting edge technology and web-based start-ups but also multinationals in need of assistance. Ingrid has played a defining role in shaping organizational strategy for a wide range of different organizations, including for-profit, NGOs and charities. Ingrid has also served on the Board of Directors for the South American Explorers Club in Quito, Ecuador.
