Why your business should extend to a mobile application?

A lot of businesses have a website (almost all of them) since it is considered to be the building blocks of the digital presence of a business. However, only a few businesses consider extending their idea to a mobile application to reach out to their customers.

Why are some businesses hesitant to use a mobile application for their business model?

1. Fear of strong Competitors — Some businesses do not want to go for a mobile application because their competitors already have one. But if there is PayTM, there is also Google Pay, PayPal, RazorPay, PhonePe; If there is Ola, there is Uber and Meru; if there is Zomato, there is Swiggy; If there is Amazon, then Flipkart also exists and they are all doing quite well. So there has to be a healthy competition among similar kind of businesses. Moreover, being at the same level as your competitor is better than being a step behind them.
2. All the necessary information and services are already available on the website — A lot of businesses think that mobile applications are not useful when all the information is already available on the website. Mobile applications are often built to make the website operations smoother. This is because sometimes even on the mobile version of the website, it is difficult for the users to access and use the website.

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Now that we have analyzed why businesses don’t wish to opt for a mobile application, let us tell you the advantages that are much more significant and overcome the challenges of having one.

Here is why you should get a mobile application for your business:

1. Connect better with your customers — This is one of the best things you can have with a mobile app. You can directly reach out to your customers with a mobile application, whether it is a new offer, a new milestone or continuing or discontinuing of any service. It is a kind of direct interaction through the push notifications that you can send and you can stay connected to your customers 24/7. You are a part of their mobile device means that you are a significant part of their lives. A few examples of active user-app interaction are — Amazon app, Zomato, Swiggy etc.
2. Branding — It is one of the most basic reasons why businesses choose mobile applications. People spend the maximum amount of their time on mobile devices. A mobile app increases brand visibility and interaction not only with their existing customers but also with their prospects. The more users are involved with the app, the more is the conversion rate.
3. An edge over your competitors — There are two aspects of this point. If your competitors do not already have a mobile application, then you can get the first-mover advantage and bringing innovation in your business idea can help you get more customers.
   If your competitors already have a mobile application, you can still go for it, and include features that would make your app unique and people will be willing to use it. You should also make sure that your app is very user-friendly and easy-to-use because if people face any complexity in using your application, they may not prefer to use it.
4. Customer Loyalty — Mobile apps help to gain and retain customer loyalty. Customer trust is obtained by providing better customer service. It can be done through chatbots, since they are available 24/7 and answer most common queries of the customer quickly, and improved convenience.
   App-based customer loyalty programs help businesses to retain customers as they provide early-bird discounts and special offers. Example — Starbucks Rewards.
5. User analytics — There is a huge amount of data that you can get once a user downloads and uses your mobile application. You can analyze the metrics and demographics of their user and it helps the businesses get more target customers in a better way. It also eliminates the tedious task of data entry operations.
6. Generate sales — All these advantages described above will help you get more leads and sales simply because your customers can get easier access to you and your business. Let’s suppose you included payment methods through other mobile apps like PayTM or BHIM, so it will be easier for the customer to make a payment rather than adding their card details (in case of a website). So a customer is more likely to use a mobile app as compared to a website.