By 2017, the App Market will be a $77 BILLION Dollar Industry (Entrepreneur Magazine)
Businesses and individuals developing and selling smartphone and computer apps in the EU earned €17.5bn last year, a figure that could rise to €63bn in just five years. This is a huge industry!
The app industry is growing exponentially and now is the time to enter.
The market for mobile apps is already big – and it’s just going to keep getting bigger. If your business doesn’t already have a mobile app, it might be time to think about developing one to effectively reach your target market.
You can use fundamental HTML5 and Javascript knowledge to build entire apps and get them in to the biggest and most lucrative app stores. With App Design and a little know-how you can have apps in the store and earning revenue in just a few weeks.
What we know for sure is that a retail strategy involving only a physical presence or one that does not prioritise digital channels (mobile, in particular) – is almost certainly doomed.
There’s a major threat here to physical retail, but only if retailers choose to see it that way. The brands that will win are going to embrace the changing dynamics of their audience, re-orienting the shopping experience by blending the physical and the digital.
Having an app for your customers can put you ahead of the game in industry.
If you think that mobile apps are solely for big name brands like Tesco or AIB, you are wrong. More and more small and midsize businesses are following the mobile trend, understanding that an effective mobile strategy involves more than just a mobile-friendly website.
In fact, these days you’ll notice that many small businesses you interact with in your everyday life have their own dedicated mobile app — be it the corner coffee shop or the beauty spa downtown. These companies are ahead of the game when it comes to taking their marketing to the next level.
Apps serve many functions: they can provide general info, prices, booking forms, search features, user accounts, messengers, news feeds, and much more.
One of the biggest benefits of having a mobile app is that all the information you’d like to provide to your customers, including special sales and promotions is right at their fingertips. Through push notifications you’re getting even closer to a direct interaction, and can easily remind customers about your products and services whenever it makes sense.
You can provide value to your customers. How about digitalizing that loyalty program you have in place? Instead of sticking to the old point-collection card, make it possible for your customers to collect their rewards on your mobile app. The result? More downloads and more returning customers.
No matter whether you are selling flowers or spa services, your customers need a way to reach you. Having a messaging feature within your app can really make a difference in the way you communicate with your customers.
Stand out from the competition – These days mobile apps at the small business level are still rare, and this is where you can take a big leap ahead of your competitors. Be the first in your neighborhood to offer a mobile app to your customers. They’ll be astonished by your forward-thinking approach!
Here are some statistics to give you a clearer picture of how popular apps are today.
The volume of Mobile Phones is much higher than PCs.
- The average time spent on Mobile Apps is 64%.
- On an Average, people check their mobile every 6 minutes.
- People use mobile Apps 6 times more than the websites.
- 79% of smart-phones users use their mobile to make purchasing decisions.
- 50% of users make purchase on Mobile within 1 hour as compared to 1 month on Desktops.
- 73% of Business Owners use Mobile Apps daily.
- Business owners also use Mobile Apps for Customer Engagement.
