It’s Time for “Apponomics”

Having an app is not a need now; e-commerce firms are actively pushing their consumers to their apps and encouraging them to buy through them with attractive discounts and sales. There was a time when sale was put on once or twice a year, but in present era it is every day and several hours sale. For a large percentage of Indians, the mobile phone is either the only or the primary gateway of the Internet.

Internet based companies and social media platforms are in race to acquire Mobile platforms companies. Mobile app also means less data usage and lower load on the server. Marketing cost on mobile app is lower than desktop. This year InMobi, the world’s largest independent mobile advertising company launched its first book, “Apponomics – The Insider Guide to a Billion dollar App Business.” This book is helpful for developers to turn their apps into a successful and sustainable global business.

The great benefit of e-commerce is one can click and buy. But there is a biggest challenge in Mobile app, one has to demonstrate to the people how wonderful the app is so they can download it in the first place and then show them how great the shopping experience could be over and over again. Between a Mobile app and Mobile website, mobile apps are faster and can provide a better customer experience.

There are crucial differences in the way mobile apps and mobile websites allow customers to navigate and experience the shopping journey. Although a mobile app functions a lot like a mobile website but it has certain functional and operational benefits over a mobile website. It gives businesses the advantage of having their own corner on a customer device. Because users have to download and install the app, businesses have more control over their presence on a device. For instance, a mobile app can be closed or inactive, but it still works in the background to send geotargeted push notifications and gather data about the customer preferences and behavior.

There are various considerations before making Mobile apps for a business. Cost of development is high and need to be developed and maintained separately for iOS and Android. It is possible to design Mobile apps for offline usage. Mobile apps provide high speed and rich user experience. In the end, Mobile is the primary source of traffic and conversions and it is becoming one. Products or service is sticky resulting in high percentage of repeat visitors and transactions and a loyal customer base makes the business case for apps very easy.

Planet of the Apps

India has the third largest mobile user’s country in the world. With data showing Indian users, spend an average 198 minutes each day on their smartphones. It is believed that mobile phones are the future of an economy. Soon laptops may become obsolete and everything in the world will be operated through smartphones and tablets. Many companies are trying to make this happen.

Smartphones are used on a large scale because of 1.3 Million Android apps and 1.2 Million Apple app available to use. With introduction of mobile apps, most businesses in the world are turning their focuses towards mobile apps. Especially in the Internet based business. For E-commerce, business mobile app is the future. Mobile apps began appearing in 2008 and are operated by Operating system of a mobile. Mobile app is a short version of a website and a handy layout to operate.

Every social networking, news, business, entertainment, and sports have their apps. This not only will increase the usability and business for app developers, but will also increase the use of smartphones. In India, number of toiletries is less than the number of smartphones people have. Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, and Google are the most dominating companies in mobile apps. I remember the first app I used was the Shazam in my Nokia Symbian phone six years back.

After that Whatsapp, the most used chat app in the world. As the time passes by, now I use plenty of apps in my Android Smartphone. It has become easy for me to collect any information in an instant of time from mobile apps. There is no doubt that mobile app developers and companies will grow more. However, there will be time when everything will be available on the app. Most e-commerce business they use mobile apps because 70% of orders are placed from mobile apps.

The benefit of companies from mobile apps is that they collect user information and can sell that information to other companies in millions. Now talking about, E-tail companies give more discounts on ordering from mobile apps. In India, E-tail companies offer vouchers for other businesses too. Amazon was the first company in India to launch app sale, although Flipkart did planning first. However, there is an increase in growth of mobile apps and a majority of this growth is coming from outside of metro cities.

If internet reach is more in rural India then increase in number of users for mobile apps will also increase. However, new government “Digital India” initiative can make this possible. This will not only add value to reach people but will also contribute to Indian Economy. More companies will emerge out and people from Rural India can bring their businesses online.