Why Start-Ups Should Invest Heavily in Mobile Apps? By James Tredwell on November 19, 2019 The world is revolving around the online and digital platforms. Today most mobile app users have android phones, and they prefer to have information about every small and big thing on their mobile set. No doubt, the traditional methods of running a business successfully are still in existence, but the priority is heading over getting online as early as possible. The reason being, the online platform has become a fast, easiest, time-effective, cost-effective, business-friendly as well as customer-friendly approach. Should Start-Ups Invest in Mobile Applications? In this fast-moving era, Mobile applications have taken over the system. One of the most common questions that popups in businesses are should a start-up invest in developing mobile apps, or should they avoid this option? It’s imperative for a start-up to crucially choose its marketing ways so that the business has a long life. If you have an excellent business idea, your products are beautiful, but you are not aware of how to market those products as per the current trends, your business is highly at risk of failure. The use and development of mobile applications are tremendously at a higher speed, and there is no chance of its decreasing over the coming years; instead, the increase will grow more and more. As per the reports, mobile functioning and its use represent approx. 70 % of digital media time. It is expected to generate 189 billion U.S. dollars in revenues through mobile applications while using in-app purchases and app stores by the year 2020. However, having a mobile app is not sufficient; online activity continues to witness a rapid shift in the mobile industry. Developing mobile apps require the right amount of expertise. Being an entrepreneur, racing, and working your idea into a million-dollar success requires you to invest in developing and using mobile applications for the better growth of your idea. Following Are the Pointers That Will Clear All Your Ambiguities As To Why You Should Have Mobile Apps Enhance a Global Reach The online system has attained a global reach since the time of its inception. Once you have your mobile applications, your business will breathe overseas without your presence there. The drawback of not having a mobile app that your business will suffer this global reach and the scope will be confined to the local markets only. Stand Out from the Cut-Throat Competition Many start-ups out in the market are still not aware of losses they are suffering by not building their mobile apps; hence, these apps get hidden for them. So this is your chance to take a big leap over such businesses. And why not to invest in these mobile apps when these apps only help you grow your business and witness a long-lasting success? Accessibility Investing in Mobile application Development lets you virtually put your business in the minds of people. These apps allow customers to access all the information they need regarding anything about your product or services in one go from anywhere and anytime. Brand Recognition These mobile apps have the power that can do wonders for your brand promotion. Through this, your business will get landed in the iOS and Android app stores. This will further lead to the potential customers who are searching for the products and services you are offering. A user-friendly mobile app will help in leaving a long-lasting impression on customers; consequently building the reputation of your brand. Increased Customer Engagement & Retention The attributes discussed above help in enhancing the participation of the customer with your business at a high level, and it gives them all in one experience. With the help of mobile apps you are putting your business right in the palm of the hands of your customers, then why wouldn’t they prefer your products and services every time they have to buy something? Increased Sales & Market Research With the advancement in Fintech services like Paytm, Paypal, Amazon, online business is in trend. As per the reports, after using mobile apps based, 49 % of sales got increased by approx. 500 companies. So it is imperative for your business that you should invest in mobile apps. Increased Return on Investment (ROI) The biggest problem that keeps away the start-ups to invest in a mobile app is the initial and substantial cost. However, it is essential to understand that the cost of not investing in such apps is far more expensive than the cost incurred in investing in them. The price is nothing compared to the prospective brand value and opportunity that will generate additional sales with the help of mobile apps. Real-Time Feedback and Improvisation on the Same Just by relying on the web version of your business will never provide you what your users or potential customers think about your products and services. Start-ups can’t communicate directly to the customers or carry out an extensive survey. However, a mobile app is there to do it all for you. You get to know the real-time feedback for the users and can improve the services and products you display. Provide Value to the Customers The competition in the market is more fierce than ever. To grab a maximum number of customers in your scope, you need to offer the loyalty points or rewards into consideration. And with the help of mobile apps, it is an effortless task to carry out and make your customers feel special. Overall Development Mobile apps are a fresh new channel for engagement, which yields a lot of data for companies to act on. With this data, the start-ups can offer customized recommendations and tailored content that boosts their overall brand development. Due to the greater flexibility and control that these apps offer, they continue to be an integral pillar of any business growth strategy. Conclusion We hope all your confusion has come to an end after reading all these pointers. So yes, you must have mobile applications for better growth, development, and survival of your business. Author Bio :- Harikrishna Kundariya, a marketer, developer, IoT, ChatBot & Blockchain savvy, designer, co-founder, Director of eSparkBiz Technologies, a Mobile App Development Company in USA. His 8+ experience enables him to provide digital solutions to new start-ups based on IoT and ChatBot.
How to Prepare Your Mobile App Development During the Holiday Season? By James Tredwell on November 19, 2019 The holiday season is here again. Are you ready? You know what that means. It is time for warm celebrations and of course shopping. Moreover, Christmas and New Year holidays are the best time to do all preparations easily for the festivities. This is probably one of the most hectic times for the retail industry as lots of people will rush to their online site for shopping gifts via their mobile apps. That implies eCommerce stores have to prepare their mobile app development for this time period. Undeniably, mobile apps have become an indispensable part of people’s lives owing to their increased dependency to buy things online. And, businesses have a wonderful opportunity to reap maximum profit from mobile commerce. So, do you own a mobile app? If not, then you should quickly approach mobile app development experts to get it developed for your eCommerce business as soon as possible. In this post, we have shared tips and strategies on what all you can do to make your mobile apps prepared for the holiday season. Let’s check them out in detail: # 1. Design your app as per holiday season Let’s keep it easy. When the holiday season is near, everyone is in the festive spirit. So, you can add elements to the UI/UX design of a mobile app related to the holiday. For this, you can use snowflakes, gift boxes, Santa cap in your app’s logo. Also, you can opt for festive colors like red, maroon, burgundy to give warmth to your app’s design. All these things are great for capturing the attention of the customers. # 2. Analyze your customer’s demand thoroughly It is imperative for the app development companies to stay abreast of the latest mobile app development strategies. For the sake of the customer’s convenience, you can add products and service pages where the shoppers can do Christmas and New Year shopping. This helps them in finding the product list relevant to the festival that is approaching. # 3. Add features that give festive vibes You all will be well-versed with the fact that the features of your apps are responsible for attracting users towards an online store. Hence, when you are in the process of doing a makeover of your app particularly for this season, just make sure that it should have features that compel the users to click. # 4. Offer discounts and coupons There is no denying in the fact that mobile apps have become the prime source for coupon shopping. Everyone is looking for a good deal while shopping during the holiday season and if you are offering this facility in your mobile app, then it will convince them to make a purchase from your store. # 5. Send Push Notifications to acquire more customers There are great chances of customers clicking on the Android and iOS apps when they get a notification from the store. These are push notifications that have raised the bar for sales and promotions. With the help of these notifications, it has become convenient for retailers to remind users about various deals and discounts throughout the holiday season. Overall, it is a great tactic to push people to buy things from your store. # 6. Get social Social media plays a vital role when it is about eCommerce business and its revenue and conversion rate. With the holiday season, you have to work on the app’s visibility, build advertisements that will aid you in increasing your followers, send weekly emails by using information from the customer’s database. You can even invite customers to follow your business page on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. # 7. Run contests Since it is a time for fun, you can ignite the excitement level of the customers by running exciting contests and competitions. For instance, you can run a photography contest where you can ask the customers to post their best snaps clicked while holidaying. Similarly, you can ask every individual what they liked most about their holidays. The best answer will win the prize. You must focus on the contest’s theme as well as the interest of your target audience. The contest should be easy to use. # 8. Create a holiday giveaway campaign Ideally, giveaways are the best option to win the attention of the customers towards your app. A giveaway campaign is the most effective tool for providing discounted coupons, free goodies, cross-channel vouchers, etc to your loyal customers. This will prove beneficial for your business in the long run as you can garner an impressive customer base with the help of this strategy. # 9. Make your checkout process simple The customers dislike the long and complex checkout process while purchasing products. They abandon the cart if they find it lengthy. So, if your mobile app sails in that category, then it would be great to make it short so the customers don’t leave the buying process in midway. # 10. Exceptional customer support You should offer a robust support system for your mobile customers. During the holiday season, you don’t want to ruin the mobile shopping experience of the users with any bug. To offer superb customer support at the time of the holiday season, you should deploy a range of tools that can leverage in making your mobile support and communication smooth and flawless. So, these are some proven tips for preparing your mobile app development during the holiday season. Summing Up By implementing all the above mobile app development strategies in your business app, you can make the most out of this holiday season. Whether you are want to acquire new customers or higher revenue generation, you can achieve them all if you adhere to them properly. Get in touch with a trusted app development agency from where you can hire the proficient mobile app developers to get a fully-functional app developed for your business.
3 Tips to Create an Engaging App Interface and Maintain Privacy By James Tredwell on November 15, 2019 Apps can help people in all sorts of ways. No matter what it is you’re looking for–dating, recipes, or finding a parking spot–to quote one of Apple’s trademarked slogans –“there’s an app for that.” Nowadays, there is usually more than one app with the same function. The crowded app industry turns the app marketplace into an extremely competitive environment. People want an app for a specific purpose, but now that there are more options for them to choose from, developers need to figure out new methods of standing out. One answer to this question is to ensure your app has a superb user experience. The International Organization of Standardization defines user experience as “a person’s perceptions and responses resulting from the use and/or anticipated use of a product, system or service.” In other words, the experience encompasses every step that the user interacts with any aspect of your company. It’s important to note that it doesn’t stop just because the person is finished using your app. On your quest to provide users with the best possible experience, make sure their data is secure. Use these three tips to have a great user experience without compromising security. Personalize Your App Customization has always been a unique way to attract customers. Now, people expect the same from their apps. Relevant communication can also help your app. A survey by HubSpot found that personalized calls-to-action improved the customer conversion rate by 202%. Providing these kinds of custom experiences on a large scale means that your company will have to collect data on your users. It’s a straight trade. If people think that the benefits of letting you collect information outweigh its drawbacks, they’ll allow it. Collected data will open many doors towards newer and exciting marketing opportunities and let you send personalized notifications, messages, and offers. Sunshine is a weather app that collects data based on responses to how daily weather makes its users feel, remembering situations that make them feel too hot or cold. The app then sends users customized forecasts each morning. While data collection can help mobile app development companies create personalized app experiences, your app needs to show users that it will be worth it. Always Ask Permission Data privacy has been a controversial topic in recent years. Companies insist on collecting data, but sometimes they end up selling the information or not being secure enough to keep out hackers. The Facebook leak caused many headaches for both the company and its user base. Users need to have a reason to trust your app with their data so it improves their overall experience. Almost half of people (42%) agree to share location data because it is more convenient. Personalization can’t occur without data collection. Strive for a balance between both user experience and privacy. Information collected from your users should be used to improve their experience within your app. Collecting data for the purpose of selling it to other companies doesn’t help your consumers and could cause trouble. If customers find out you are selling their data without their permission, their experience may be entirely ruined, no matter how positive it had been leading up to that point. Make sure to always ask for permission before collecting user data. Keep users notified that you have their information and how you’re using it. An open line of communication helps people feel more in control. Treating your users as people by asking their permission indicates that you value their relationship. Update Features and Security As your users’ needs evolve, your app should follow suit. Keep your app relevant by offering your users new features that will improve their experiences. Many apps require users to download the newest update to improve security. Because data security is part of the user experience, keeping the app up to date is important to protect their information. Unfortunately, some users won’t see security as enough motivation to update their app. They might think because the app has been safe up to this point, there is no need to update security measures. Adding newer, more attractive features in addition to the security update can motivate users to choose to update rather than ignore it. When Apple releases a new iPhone update, they send users notifications constantly. If the messages are ignored for too long, users will find that some features don’t work as well anymore because the phone is no longer compatible with certain apps. Users download the update to fix the features and then also have the benefit of added security. Consistent updates are a necessary measure to keep your data secure. Make sure to offer users incentives to download updates and keep users safe. Conclusion An engaging app will continue to try and improve its user experience by collecting data. Data collection will allow you to provide a more personal and customized experience for your users, but you must ask their permission to gather it. Security is an essential part of the user experience and it cannot be overlooked. Bundling new features with security updates will give users a reason to keep your app updated and help you keep their information more secure. If you are trying to find the best balance between personalization and security on your app, try contacting one of these top mobile app development companies.
Top 10 Internet of Things (IoT)trends that will rule in 2020 By James Tredwell on November 15, 2019 You must have come across various smart products in the market like Smart coffee machines, smart microwaves, etc. All these are very basic applications of the Internet of Things. Internet of Things(IoT) has emerged as the youngest child of the digital age. The Internet of Things can be understood as a technological application connecting anything and anywhere over the internet. IoT is an advanced tool that helps convert physical resources into smart entities through the existing network infrastructure. Its primary aim is to provide the user with smart and seamless services without any glitches. Kevin Ashton, the British technology pioneer, was the first to coin the term ‘Internet of Things’ in 1999. He defined the term based on the premise that the first version of the internet was about data people create, while the future version is about data things create. The limitation of 20th-century computers was that they were brains without intelligence, they knew only what people fed them. However, with the Internet of Things coming into the scene today’s computers can sense things themselves. The Internet of Things has the potential to revolutionize the way we live today. It can drastically improve the way we move around in our cities, the way we shop and the way manufacturers maintain their inventory stock. Internet of Things is a huge network of connected devices (with on/off switch) and people, which gathers and shares the data on the way they operate and the way they interact with their environment. This network leads to what is called “ambient intelligence”. The industrial world is slowly but steadily realizing the huge potential of IoT. According to General Electric, industrial investments in IoT will be around $60 trillion in another 15 years. Big companies are launching their versions of smart products in order to gain early bird advantage. Now let us analyze which are the top 10 Internet of Things trends with the capability to rule the market by 2020. 1. From Consumer IoT to Industrial IoT Due to the recent failure of consumer-based IoT manufacturers like Lily robotics, Jawbone and Hello, the market will see growth in Industrial IoT. Reduced capital expenditure in the deployment of the technology has opened a huge window of opportunity in diverse fields including telecommunication, insurance, banking, etc. 2. New wireless mobile Technology IoT-With the beginning of the fourth industrial revolution, huge data is expected to be created and managed. Managing such huge data flows, preventing leakages and at the same time drawing necessary business insights require integration of 5G Network with IoT systems. 3. AI and Big data With a huge network of devices and people connected over the internet, IoT will result in the creation of a large quantity of data. To process this large data and extract meaningful information leveraging big data analytics and machine learning techniques is required. This will lead to the generation of newer applications based on the integration of big data, artificial intelligence, and IoT tools. 4. IoT Security Focus on the security of IoT will be renewed as the security challenges posed by its distributed and diverse nature crop up. Currently, over 26 billion internet-connected devices are vulnerable to attack. IoT developers who make security measures put in place as their selling point will have an edge over others. 5. Edge Computing Over Cloud Computing IoT devices and their developers have depended on the cloud platforms to store the data coming from these devices. However recently they have come to realize the utility of storing limited data in the cloud. This means that instead of sending all data generated by IoT devices to the cloud, data is first stored at the edge of the network closer to the IoT devices. This data is then sorted, filtered and calculated to send it all or only a part to the cloud. This reduces the traffic on the network. This approach is known as edge computing. It helps in reducing the dependency of IoT devices on the cloud, enhances security and enables them to perform faster. 6. IoT in healthcare As per Frost and Sullivan, the IoT medical device industry is expected to grow at CAGR of 26.2% reaching 72,000 million by 2021. Mobile health applications, intelligent wearable devices, implants communicating patient’s health parameters, etc will revolutionize the healthcare industry through IoT. 7. Smart Cities It is assumed that smart city technology spending will amount to around $135 billion by 2021. Increased IoT adoption will lead to the emergence of smart cities. Cities with vision for the future will increasingly invest in ground-breaking data exchange technologies. This will enable the accumulation and processing of information between public and private enterprises and citizens. Thus future cities will witness IoT governance. 8. Personalized Retail Experience Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags can make supply chain management in retail stores a lot easier. Data generated by IoT devices can help in knowing customers’ product interaction and thus improvements in the inventory can follow. 9. IoT and customer support Organizations delivering IoT based smart products can provide smart customer support services. IoT network of connected devices will enable predictive and personalized customer support. IoT devices can detect and report the problems to the customer desks without the customer noticing the same. This allows companies to increase customer engagement and further improve their retention. 10. Sensor innovation The data generated by IoT devices and their sensors can be used to improve manufacturing productivity greatly. When Artificial Intelligence(AI) is combined with sensors, AI can take decisions independently and thus optimized production can be achieved. This can make our factories much smarter in days to come. Thus to conclude we can say that the Internet of Things development has arrived and is evolving with each passing day. To utilize this technology to its fullest potential, businesses need to keep pace with the emerging IoT trends. These trends have the capability to disrupt the market. We hope this comprehensive list enumerating the IoT trends that will rule in 2020 will be of help to many.
How IoT is Reshaping Enterprise Mobility in 2020? By James Tredwell on November 12, 2019 Emerging technologies are taking over almost every industry and walks of life. Technologies like AI (Artificial Intelligence), ML (Machine Learning), IoT (Internet of Things), AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality), MR (Mixed Reality), and more are becoming a part of our daily lives. Among all these technologies, IoT is one of the most known technologies that had made a significant impact on big enterprises. The combination of IoT and Enterprise Mobility has helped companies to increase their employee productivity and profits. Today, enterprises are leveraging connected devices and big data analytics to optimize various processes and enable employees to make better marketing and strategic decisions. IoT not only helps to develop advance applications but also helps to offer simpler solutions like the Internet, Intranet, mobile apps, and corporate portals. The applications of IoT are widespread. However, most Fortune 500 firms are using IoT so that they could meet up some stringent policy and security matters. The more enterprises think of getting connected with IoT, the simpler it will be for employees to deal with data. With easy access to data, employees will be able to make business decisions more rapidly and precisely. It also provides an insight into the data because of Big Data analytics to figure out and manage specific facets in your business’s everyday operations. Benefits of IoT in Enterprise Mobility Many big corporations have this question that if they decide to leverage IoT to build Enterprise Mobility Solutions, then what will be their way-to-go strategy? And, what will be the possible benefits that they’ll receive, if they integrate IoT into Enterprise Mobility Solutions. Let’s have a look at the potential benefits that firms will receive or positive changes that they will if they integrate IoT into Enterprise Mobility Solutions. 1) Elevated Productivity IoT-enabled enterprise mobility solutions help your employees to monitor, supervise, and control various processes on and off the ground. It allows them to increase operational productivity and work efficiency. 2) Tighter Security Enterprises are producing tons of data every day. They got to protect that data from getting breached. IoT helps enterprises to get prepared for such incidents. It helps them to get statistics and identify potential suspects. IoT also helps you to evaluate mobile safeguards and assist you in identifying the most viable solutions for the problems and threats. 3) Strong Predictions When IoT and enterprise mobility emerge, they create an ecosystem that is ideal for examining patterns of various interactions with the customers. Enterprise mobility helps to analyze consumer behavior based on the data collected by IoT networks. This analysis will help you to serve your customers in a better way. 4) Prompt Response A combination of IoT and enterprise mobility can help employees to learn new things in a better and more efficient way. They can learn to respond “quickly” to the emerging market trends. It will help them to become more responsive to customer demands and the market, which will help them to create more effective business and go-to-market strategies. Ultimately, it will help your business to become more agile but also more responsive to the constantly changing market trends. Combining IoT and Enterprise Mobility with Other Emerging Technologies Enterprises have been combining various other emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain to enhance the capabilities of IoT. Artificial Intelligence Artificial Intelligence is going to be the most obvious choice for enterprises to integrate with their existing systems. Integrating AI will help companies to increase cost savings. Companies can leverage AI to increase workplace efficiencies while reducing expenses using IoT sensor networks to identify the cost drivers. Moreover, technology can also help you to enhance the security and safety of the workplace. AI and IoT can predict potential security threats and automatically respond to them. Blockchain Blockchain can help make centralized IoT systems decentralize, and will help IoT nodes to transmit data peer to peer, which will reduce the overall operational cost. Blockchain also helps to increase the security of nodes by applying the additional security layers and makes sure the communication between devices is secure and strong. Final Thoughts In the near future, IoT is going to expand in different industries, including homes and automobiles. A combination of IoT and enterprise mobility will help you bring digital transformation in the organization. Similar to indoor IoT applications, Industrial IoT, popularly known as Industry 4.0, is driving an unconventional change in enterprises that helps to improve operational efficiency. It is high time for IT leaders to upgrade their mobile strategy based on organizational needs and requirements and leverage the unbelievable capabilities of IoT and software. IoT can help enterprises to track endpoint devices, manage the overwhelming volume of data, and analyze the data for documenting critical information. Apart from this, companies can expect a lot more things to befall in the future with the help of IoT-enabled enterprise mobility solutions to propel the business. So, Keep Learning! Author Bio: Sagar holds the position of CTO at Credencys Solutions Inc., a Mobile App Development Services provider. He is responsible for all the technical operations, as well as leading the company’s revolutionary offerings.