According to the statistical report by statista.com among the 462.1 million internet uses nearly 442.7 million uses internet via mobile phones. This shows clearly the need to optimise the usage to suit the mobile users. Also among the mobile users, it is seen that 90% of the time spent is in the apps. This has pushed the mobile browsing bit back due to availability of apps for all uses.
Here are some interesting info regarding app usage statistics as in the year 2015_
- Men in average spend 3 hours 45 minutes per month in mobile web and 29 hours 32 minutes per month in apps.
- Women in average spend 3 hours 46 minutes per month in mobile web and 30 hours 58 minutes per month in apps.
Today, mobile devices available for both Android and iOS come with massive inbuilt storage which allows the user to install more apps in the devices. Earlier, most utilities like booking movie tickets, news updates and general search were done through traditional browsing and activities were accessed through web pages. But currently the scenario is changing, the number of apps available in App store/Play store is gradually increasing in a good phase and people are slowly migrating to apps from webpages. The preference is increasing as the apps are just a touch away.
Hence, there is a shift in usage pattern of users. It is observed that mobile users are more inclined to apps rather than web pages.
Necessity for Business Apps:
A business has to create an app so that it optimises the usage the mobile users and helps in creating a brand value. In the year 2016, the number of smartphone devices shipped globally was 1,959 Million. This proves the necessity to create apps for the business and increase the reach of the product.
A mobile app plays an important role for a business:
- Serves as a direct marketing channel
- Provides value to customers
- Builds brand and recognition
- Understands the customer’s need
- Improves the engagement with customers
- Builds/Boosts customer loyalty
It will become a basic necessity for a business to create an app in order to band together with their customers and build the brand value. In order to survive in the competitive market, an app can play a major role for a business in future.
In order to make the App experience better and help in making the business run, 3 key factors are considered. These three factors play a huge role in defining the contribution of App to the business. They are
- App Analytics
- Cloud Enabling
- Digital Assistance
App Analytics:
Analytics helps in understanding the real status of the application. One cannot judge the performance of the application based on the downloads alone. Majority of the apps are not even used more than 90 days and are uninstalled sooner. It doesn’t affect the download count too and hence the right metrics are needed to understand the performance.
When you have the data you can focus more on what the users need and remove the unwanted features which are not used by an individual. In the future, businesses will have their hands on behavioural data like never before. This will help businesses to analyse and improve the mobile app experience to become more interactive.
Enable cloud:
Google is already coming out with this idea called Instant apps. Instant apps make the mobile app available to the customer without downloading it. The app is streamed to the user like a web page content. This streamed content still functions like the traditional mobile apps.
This cloud-enabled service will be a hybrid between standalone “app” and traditional “website” as a form of content experience into Instant apps.
Digital assistance on mobile apps
Digital assistants seem to have a greater scope of development in the future course of time. Digital assistance will change the way a user use a search engine to a more of an assistant based search in future. Presently, digital assistant apps like Siri and Ok google are in the nascent stage of development. These apps are popular and getting much smarter every year. Apps like Allo, which is integrated with Google’s digital assistant is a good example for the digital assistance apps that are available now.
This is the hot area of development in the present trend. Based on the trend it is clear that digital assistance will become a dominant one in the market. The biggest strength in integrating Digital Assistant gives a personal touch to the user thus giving an edge over the competitor.
–
Business Analyst Team,
Mallow Technologies.