Designing Mobile Apps for Local Businesses
It is no more a secret that the craze for mobile apps will dominate in 2020. They are already ruling the online market, in the past few years to be very specific. With new technologies and requirements at the customers’ end, the industry can only see a surge in the demand for mobile app development.
Apart from owning apps from the giants of e-commerce, the users show deep interest in the local businesses that render services in hours than days. Local businesses are showing up for custom-built mobile apps that would fetch them more leads and streamline their business processes.
Some of the popular local businesses that can benefit from these apps are:
- Booking rides(Cab/Bike)
- Customized service providers(Tailoring/Artwork)
- Home delivery(Food items/Grocery/Vegetables)
- Locking Appointment(Doctors/Advisory)
- Booking a reservation (Restaurant/Theatre)
The list doesn’t end here as more businesses (both B2B and B2C) have started considering the native mobile app as their lead magnet. They are ready to explore the ease of management it can deliver to them and their consumers.
Mobile app can expand local businesses
A native application is more than just a mobile version of a website as it backs credible details. The easiest example is Google map integration where the user can keep a track of their service provider in real-time. But that’s not all. It has much more to deliver:
Convenient Payment options
Worldpay recently released a global report on popular payment methods which quite speaks of the way users have been paying for the years:
The graph for Mobile payment methods/E-wallet sees a sharp curve upwards while the cash payment graph faces a drop. The report further predicts similar data for the coming years.
The report includes data for POS systems indulging users for first-hand payment options like Apple Pay. The mobile app payment method is way more streamlined be it an online or in-store purchase.
Furthermore, mobile apps integrate with third-party payment gateways like Paypal to channelize a streamlined purchase.
Enhanced strategy for repeat sales
Mobile apps can encourage their users for repeat purchases by tracking their past orders and enabling one step options. App developers can add custom buttons to enable one-click re-order. They can even add suggestions based on their recent order history
Yourparkingspace, a UK based online parking marketplace claims that the app users make three times more bookings compared to desktop users for the convenience of using the app and one-click re-booking feature.
Personalization at its best
Mobile apps mandate customer profile creation. The profiles not only helps the users to save their personal choices but also allow the sellers to track their user behaviors. The merchants can eventually utilize these stats to render more personalized suggestions for assuring repurchases and retain the users for a longer period. Users can receive personalized suggestions and listings based on their preferences and past orders.
A 24×7 access
The best part about mobile apps is 24×7 access to your customers. As a service provider, the app development agencies render you with a separate dashboard that lets you track your users in real-time. You don’t have to look out for your desktop or turning your laptop as you can readily check them with the admin’s mobile app.
In the meanwhile, your customers can have a seamless communication to your products allowing them to have the freedom to purchase at any part of the day.
The ease of use and seamless connectivity with all your users and their behaviors are a few reasons the local businesses shall at least give mobile apps a try.
But, that doesn’t solve all our queries. We have a few obstacles that pop in.
The other side of the coin…
Getting a mobile app designed is a heavy task and demands your resources in bulk- we are talking about time and money. In most cases, you would like to get this done with the help of third-party mobile app development agencies who precisely understand your app requirements and can easily come up with custom solutions when needed, but at a considerable price.
First things first, is getting a mobile app designed really worth the price? To be very frank, I would say, “that varies from a business to another, from a locality to another”. We analyze that on various fronts:
Clear goals:
It is important to analyze if the mobile app sets clear goals in terms of increasing sales. You must plan every user engagement strategy and retention programs, prior to the decision of getting an app designed. You can try out subscription models, loyalty programs, redeemable coins, seasonal discounts etc. to fetch better sales. Closely monitor the strategies and their responses. Make the list of the channels that have worked and the ones that have failed.
Understand your audience
Keep a close eye on the demographics- the age, the gender, the locality, and analyze the stats accordingly. Analyze there daily mobile usage and peak times. Understand the gaps that your audience faces while using your competitor’s apps. If it’s a B2B app, take notice of all the sellers that users are more interested in and the ones that are receiving best reviews. Take a note of the sellers who are attracting more users.
The stats will help you grow as a B2B service provider and roughly understand the requirements of your users in the long run.
A small step before the leap…
We have to agree with this. Getting a native Mobile app developed needs a considerable amount of cost, though it’s a one-time investment that can reap benefits. However, taken that you are new to the platform, it is quite discouraging to risk a large investment.
At this point, you can ask the mobile development agency to rather release a minimum viable version of the mobile app than a full-fledged native app. It is a cheaper model to start with that renders you the desired response and a rough idea that your app actually meets the end-users’ needs. Plus, you can have an estimation if the app really gets the right attention in your locality.
For Veloce, we use Crello design tool which helps us with creating animations and graphics for social and web.
To sum it up
All in all, an app for local services can instantly gain interest from your desired customer base. Your application fills the gap between the online services of global brands and offline stores in a go. Your native app can offer the ease of purchase along with the need for immediate delivery, leaving the consumers with unique user experience.
If all the boxes are ticked right, introducing a mobile app can only boost your local business.
Article was written by the guest writer Kunal Khullar.
