It looks like it was a long time ago, but the first iPhone was introduced just over 10 years ago. With this began a real revolution in the way users interacted with mobile devices. Nowadays, the mobile application market offers millions of options that any user can download to their smartphone. Does your business need one? Opening a smartphone app is often more convenient than accessing a web page. Especially if your business requires interactions (direct sales) or frequent information exchange with your users, making a dedicated app available may be an excellent bet. Let's look at some examples.
If your business is the direct sale of products, such as electronic equipment, clothing, food supplements, among others, it means that you need to have a store. Many businesses start with just one online store before opening a physical one. This online store is usually accessible via a computer browser. This way potential customers can see your products, features and prices. If they are interested, they can later formalize an order by entering their details and payment method. Under these circumstances, providing a smartphone application can be extremely useful to your customers.
On one hand, by encouraging the app to download, you're promoting your brand, as the app icon will reside on the user's home screen. This way you ensure a constant presence. On the other hand, the visualization and ordering process can be optimized for mobile devices (which have a smaller screen size than a computer). Although many sites are already adaptable to mobile devices, it is always better to have a native application developed specifically for smartphones.
Additionally, there is another benefit of being able to save user data and payment locally, as well as a list of favorite products on your smartphone. This allows you to take advantage of local storage to store information that is useful and provides a better browsing experience for the user.
Other business areas where developing a smartphone app can be useful are all those that require frequent information exchange. For example, a currency exchange business often has to update its exchange rates. With a mobile app the clients can check in real time the latest exchange rates and thus know exactly how much is worth the amount they wish to exchange.
One advantage that smartphone apps have is the ability to receive notifications. In this way, each user who downloads your application immediately creates a direct communication channel with you. You can later use this channel to send promotions, for example. Smartphone notifications have a much higher conversion rate than email marketing. Because people are more selective in the apps they install, than in the places where they leave their email address, they pay more attention to a notification on their smartphone than to an email.
A mobile app can be a great asset to your business. It allows a constant presence of your brand in the pocket of your customers, as well as easy access to the goods or services that you sell. It also has a notification channel open permanently, through which you can send notifications to all your customers.