How does a Mobile App Fuel up Business Growth?

Posted by Parija Rangnekar On Filed under Offshore Software Development No Comments
How does a Mobile App Fuel up Business Growth?
Offshore mobile app Development Company
Take a look at these amazing stats concerning mobile app usage and the revenue generated by mobile app development.
  • The year 2021 witnessed a total number of 7.1 billion mobile users. This number is predicted to shoot up to 7.26 billion by the year 2022 and 7.49 billion by 2025.
  • There were 218 million mobile app downloads in 2020 which indicates a 7% surge over the period of one year.
  • 92% of a user’s mobile screen time is spent on mobile apps.
  • 51% of the users reported that they had discovered a new product through searches using their mobile device.
  • The global expenditure via the iOS/Google Play Stores has been recorded at 112 billion dollars in 2020 which shows a growth of 25% within one year.
  • The mobile ad expenditure was 240 billion dollars in 2020, which reveals a 26% growth within a year.
The aforesaid stats clearly indicate two crucial consumer behavioral aspects of the modern era – the extensive usage of mobile devices and the humongous popularity of mobile apps. Needless to say, mobile apps are essential tools that contribute to the growth of a business.
Let’s explore how mobile apps can be game-changers for businesses across diverse domains.

The Contribution of Mobile Application Development for Business Growth

Mobile app development
Promotes Brand Recognition and Provides a Competitive Edge
These days, every business encounters tough competition to make their presence felt amongst the masses. A mobile application combines the strategies of traditional and digital marketing – hoardings, newspaper ads, social media promotion, etc. – and employs novel methods to propagate their ad campaigns digitally. And, new-age users are more inclined towards mobile apps over websites. So, enterprise mobile apps turn out to be great tools that attract customer attention, enhance a brand’s online visibility, expedites brand recognition, and hence provide a competitive edge over peers.
Creates a Direct Marketing and Communication Channel
The presence of a mobile app promotes direct marketing as business brands can consolidate all information and make products/services available at the consumers’ fingertips with the help of various mobile app features like news feed, general info, user account, search functionality, etc. More importantly, products and services can be directly sold to customers via apps.
Entrepreneurs use mobile apps to effortlessly and effectively communicate important announcements such as promotional offers, product launches, etc. through real-time user notifications. This keeps the users updated about the launch of new products/services/ lucrative offers and reminds/encourages the customers to make a purchase.
Applications provide handy insights about the purchasing patterns of users, their geographical locations, and demographics. A thorough knowledge of user behavior helps businesses to devise better marketing strategies. And, knowing the user’s current location enables brands to leverage the geo-targeting feature – sending ads to the customers when they are within close vicinity of your store – for attracting consumers.
Expedites Sales, Drives Conversions, and Retains Customers
These days, it’s not enough to possess a mobile-friendly website for a business selling goods/services. A mobile app with an amazing interface is essential for accelerating sales and driving conversions. This is because several mobile apps features help in simplifying things for users – easy access to shipping information, effortlessly executing payment process, a hassle-free checkout process with the help of just a few clicks, etc. Moreover, it has been observed that the purchasing frequency via mobile app is 1.8 times more than the shopping experienced via desktop devices, and the users purchase more when using a mobile app rather than a mobile-friendly website.
Example:
The Touch of Modern app came into being as an eCommerce website in 2012, but soon planned to target mobile users as well. Surprisingly, after launching a mobile app, the number of customer orders skyrocketed from 30,600 to 131,000. Now, 70% of their sales are generated from their mobile app and 57% of purchases are from repetitive consumers.
The British marketplace Asda decided to launch a mobile app with the intention of simplifying and enhancing their customers’ shopping experience and accelerating sales. The enterprise conducted an extensive survey for identifying the customer requirement and gathered that the customers desire a mobile app with functionalities such as barcode scanner, store locater, recipe finder, etc. Asda’s mobile app provided all these features resulting in a huge leap in online customer orders. Almost 90% of their grocery orders poured in through the app and mobile sales contributed to 18% of their total annual revenue. This firm is currently the second-largest retailer in the U.K. based across 500+ locations.
Enhances Operational Efficiency of Businesses
Mobile app development facilitates internal operations, communication between various departments, etc. thereby improving the effectiveness as well as efficiency of business operations. Today, several firms struggle to manage employees working remotely –either from home or from remote field locations – resulting in inadequate communications between teams. The presence of a mobile app opens up myriad effective communication channels and hence, eliminates interaction hassles while helping teams to stay connected without much ado. This results in improved work efficiency, enhanced motivation, and lower operational costs.
Minimizes Operational Costs
Crafting a customized mobile app for businesses can reduce operational costs to a great extent. A mobile app turns out to be a useful tool that maintains online records of important data like timesheets, daily work orders, guest forms, online reports, inspection records, inventory information, etc.
Example: Cumberland Farms, a large-scale firm with 500+ gas stations/retail stores and over 6,000 employees, encountered problems to smoothly run its business. This is because all their record-keeping activities were executed on paper and the task of record maintenance seemed quite challenging. This resulted in slow processing times, which worsened as the company grew. So, they launched a mobile app that enabled them to create mobile forms for executing paperless operations. Consequently, they witnessed improved internal operations, enhanced workforce productivity, reduced operational costs, and experienced a higher ROI. Furthermore, the expenses incurred on paper – over 11,000$ per year – were saved.
Establishes an on-demand Marketplace
The whopping success of on-demand applications such as Uber, Postmates, Grubhub, Lyft, etc. testifies to the fact that on-demand marketplaces are the order of the day and a great hit amongst the users as well. And, for reaping the benefits of on-demand solutions, one need not set up a new line of business altogether. Established brands operating online can also architect an on-demand app solution for broadening their customer reach.
Example: Mobile app development has enabled the brand Rover to improvise their existing business model and this strategy provided them a golden opportunity to gain a competitive edge. Rover began as a website offering services like daycare, dog visits, dog walking, boarding, etc. They launched a mobile app with an intention of enhancing their existing infrastructure – introducing new and unique features that were not possible to offer using a website. The most notable feature was GPS integration that allowed the dog owners to track down the walkers and keep a tab on their activities while dog walking. Needless to say, Rover witnessed a massive surge in the number of registrations, with 10,000 new users per week. Thus, their mobile app solution enabled them to provide unparalleled customer services and also doubled their revenue generation.
Generates Revenue Streams through App Store Monetization Strategies
Subscription Model
If you possess a subscription-based business model and need to employ cost-effective and effective methods of accelerating conversions, there can be no better solution other than a mobile app. But, the question that baffles most app creators is: “How does a mobile app enable owners to make money in the app store?” Well, this is tricky and you need to follow the right procedure. If users have to pay for downloading your app, it’s less likely to fetch customers. So, you need a smart business strategy in place. Check it out!
Offer the basic features for free and employ a multi-tier subscription model for providing premium content. The subscription charges for each level should be decided as per the content/add-ons provided. Now, to convince customers into adopting your premium version, provide a free trial of your exclusive services to users. This policy is sure to convert a significant chunk of the free-trial users, resulting in a continuous revenue stream for your business.
Example: Spotify allows users to download the app for free. Thereafter, the users can upgrade to premium versions based on their choice, preferences, and the level of personalization required.
In-app Ads
Another crucial app store revenue generation strategy is in-app ads. For this, you need to rope in third-party businesses for posting ads within your app. This way, the business brands get an opportunity to advertise their offerings, while you gain an additional revenue stream. But, remember not to bother users with too many ads running on your app.
Example: The free version of several apps including YouTube contains ads.

EndNote

So, isn’t it a great idea to hire professional mobile app development services for architecting an impeccable and profitable mobile app for your business? If you are on the lookout for an experienced and proficient technology partner, the offshore mobile app development company will be a safe bet.

Closed-Loop Mobile Payments: All You Need to Know!

Posted by Parija Rangnekar On Filed under Mobile App Development, Offshore Software Development No Comments
Closed-Loop Mobile Payments: All You Need to Know!
Closed loop payment system
Executing payments via digital wallets/ Mobile payments solutions have become the order of the day owing to the emerging digital technologies and an increasing dependency on smartphones.
According to a research report published by the online portal, Mordor Intelligence, “The market value of mobile payment systems was 1449.56 Billion USD in the year 2020. The mobile wallet market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 24.5% during the next few years and the market value is predicted to reach 5399.6 Billion USD by the year 2026”.
Digital wallets have transformed the manner of making payments altogether. The two major categories under this type of payment methodology are open loop and closed loop mobile payments. The open-loop payment system involves using a single digital wallet via smartphones for making payments at several locations. Closed-loop mobile payments, on the other hand, requires prepaying a certain amount of money to one specific merchant or business brand just like using loyalty/gift cards at an apparel store or an eatery.
Out of these two mobile payment categories, the closed-loop approach is more preferable by merchants as well as consumers. In fact, the closed-loop payment model has revolutionized mobile payment one step further and elevated it to the next level! Let’s gather some quick insights on closed-loop mobile payments and the business benefits of adopting this approach.

What is Closed-Loop Mobile Payment?

A closed-loop payment refers to the payment transaction wherein a customer uploads money into a spending account linked to a payment device, just like the functioning of a gift card. This kind of payment happens between a spending account and a particular business brand. The mobile equivalent of this payment system is termed closed loop mobile payment. A closed-loop payment system uses mobile apps for managing gift cards and accounts via smartphone devices. Closed-loop mobile payment solutions allow users to check their balance within the system, make purchases using a mobile app instead of a physical card, and top up their account balance effortlessly. Customers can make payments using mobile devices/tablets to a specific retailer against an established account balance. Some of these solutions even provide the option of automatic balance top-up.
Any branded mobile payment or loyalty solution falls under this category. The TimmyMe app by Tim Hortons and the Starbucks smartphone app are popular examples of the closed-loop mobile payment model.
What is meant by a Closed-Loop Card?
A closed-loop card, also known as a single-purpose card, is an electronic payment card which the cardholder can use for executing purchases from a specific brand. Such cards usually bear the logo of the company where it can be used instead of bearing the logo of a primary payment processor such as American Express, MasterCard, Visa, etc.

Benefits of Closed-Loop Mobile Payments

Closed-loop mobile payments
Identifying Customer Behavior for Creating Effective Marketing Campaigns
This mobile payment processing model helps entrepreneurs to capture big data based on millions of customer transactions and then, analyze this data for gaining deeper insights into the buying habits of consumers. Once, the businesses get a thorough understanding of their target market and identify the purchasing habits of their customers, they can create customized promotions/offers and deliver the same to customers’ mobile devices.
Greater Customer Outreach
Mobile technology simplifies sending out purchase reminders to customers via notifications. Moreover, businesses can even set up geo-targeted notifications which get triggered whenever potential consumers are close to their store.
Enhanced Customer Loyalty
The ability to send customized promotional offers and loyalty incentives to customers via smartphone devices not only helps in retaining consumers but also enhances their loyalty quotient.
Competitive Advantage
Using the closed-loop mobile payment model, customers enjoy several benefits like smartphone friendliness, automatic balance top-up, the option of pre-ordering for avoiding line-ups, being able to consolidate several gift cards, and many more. This makes your brand the obvious choice for customers.
The exclusive nature of a closed-loop mobile payment system enables business brands to monopolize customers’ smartphone devices concerning services and products within their niche.
The aforementioned advantages help businesses gain a competitive edge over peers.
Higher Profits
When users add money to fund their mobile wallet apps or e-gift cards, it implies that they have technically spent money within your store. Furthermore, if customers fail to use up their remaining balance, you gain extra profit.

Why should Business Brands Adopt the Closed-Loop Mobile Payment Approach?

It’s high time businesses should adopt the closed-loop mobile payment strategy. Take a look at the reasons!
  • Billions of individuals across the globe own smartphones. As such, your targeted audience is more likely to possess a smartphone device than your firm’s gift/loyalty card. Besides, modern tech-savvy consumers are on the lookout for ways and means that will allow them to link their payment wallets with mobile devices. And, the closed-loop approach perfectly befits this requirement.
  • Consumers express interest in this system due to the bar code scanning abilities of modern mobile devices.
  • Such systems promise improved security. This is because they are not tied into carrier networks, users’ credit cards, or bank accounts, thereby adding an extra security layer between the merchant and the bank account.
  • Closed-loop mobile payments are less complicated and easy to execute.
  • This approach proves profitable for vendors as it involves lower purchase fees in comparison to direct credit card transactions.

Concluding Thoughts:

A closed-loop mobile payment system proves profitable for the merchant as well as their consumers. Therefore, if you possess the necessary resources, commence the mobile app development process by partnering with reliable developers and a merchant service provider for architecting an impeccable closed-loop payment system.
Are you on the lookout for a dependable software firm for building a closed-loop mobile payment system for your business? Contact Biz4Solutions, a renowned Offshore Software Development Company in India, with 10+ years of experience in serving global clientele!