Mobile apps change the market in all industries: from food deliveries to construction companies. If you are thinking about creating an app for your business, we advise you to take into account a few things. Maxim Myalkin, head of mobile development at KTS, shares his expertise in creating your own app, when it is profitable and not.

Users spend 88% of their phone time in apps. They are convenient because through apps one can solve many problems ― make purchases, acquire knowledge, make an appointment with a doctor. Applications can be customized to the needs of any business: 33% of companies in America have already created their own mobile service.

Let’s start with pros

Purchase conversion in apps is higher. The first reason why companies create their own services is that apps generate more sales than websites: they make 63% of purchases and conversion there is four times higher. Besides, mobile apps can help optimize workflows, get closer to the target audience, develop strong customer loyalty and reduce the company's costs.

Automation of a company's business processes. Optimization of a company's internal processes leads to the effective work of specialists and an increase in business profitability. Employees must promptly receive information about changes in the workflow in order to have time to react and not let the client down. Popup notifications in apps are more difficult to miss than messages in the department chat or in the mail. Firstly, there are fewer of them and secondly they are always visible.

It is easier for managers to control the workflow when all tasks and problems are seen in one place. For example, Uber made an app specifically for their drivers. Before creating the app, clients had to contact the manager and then the manager sent data to drivers. Now there is no need for an extra contact chain, all work is done by AI.

The interface of Uber – Driver

Increasing customer loyalty. It is important to motivate consumers to repurchase, because finding a new customer will cost 5-10 times more than retaining an existing one. The app will help you optimize the work with the target audience and stand out among competitors.

A good example is the loyalty system in coffee shops, when they offer the seventh cup of coffee as a gift. It is much easier with an app to track all purchased cups – data can’t be lost or forgotten as a list of paper. One of the first coffee shops in the world to create its own app was Starbucks. The service has 25 million users around the world, who create 53% of the annual company's income.

Cost reduction. Starbucks's application optimizes the work of the company itself: 4 out of 5 visitors prefer to pay for the order in the application and pick it up on their own. The coffee shop receives more resources for development, reducing employee costs.

Another example is the cosmetic brand Sephora. The company allows customers to virtually appreciate different shades of cosmetics. This is how the business saves on rent and test samples, reducing the costs of offline stores.

Sephora brand app

Closer to the target audience. The mobile app is one of the channels for connection with clients. Additional contact points make the company more "real" for users. Services make it easier for customers to communicate with you: they do not need to go anywhere or call, they can ask questions at any convenient time. Thus, you optimize the work of the support service and "tie" customers to the company's service. And through pop-up notifications, you will be able to inform the audience about promotions, discounts and upcoming events.

As for the cons

However, corporate mobile apps also have cons that can be stronger than pros.

High costs for creation and support. The development of your own app will require $40,000 to $150,000 and can exceed $300,000 in some cases. Let alone implementation which can take up to two months. Likely, you will need to periodically update the service which will also have additional costs. For small and medium-sized businesses, development and maintenance costs may be too high. Use a standard solution to start to understand whether you need to develop your own application - it is cheaper and easier. For example, AppMachine and BuildFire application builders.

​​The benefit depends on the number of users. The more people use the mobile service, the more effective it is. If your company focuses on a small target, or you have a seasonal business, it is more profitable to create a mobile version of a corporate website: easier, faster and does not require installation.

Summary

Mobile services optimize the company's work and the process of interaction with customers: despite the arguments against it, they remain the main trend in business development. However, development of a corporate app is not for everyone.

If your business is focused on a narrow consumer target, is seasonal or does not have the resources to create and support a mobile service, take a closer look at standard solutions or adapt the web version for mobile devices.

If your business is focused on the mass consumer, you have resources to develop and support the app, but you do not know if you need it, take a standard solution for the "test period" to understand what problems and tasks your own service will help you solve.