Does Your Business Need a Mobile App?

The world of business is always changing. The wants and needs of customers are not static as changing tastes and improvements in technology. Business owners need to be flexible and adapt to these trends so that they can survive. 

In the 1990s and early 2000s, this meant introducing computer systems to digitize records, track inventory, and do accounting. It also required most businesses to get online so that they could serve their customers in a more convenient manner and even reach new ones from much further afield. 

In more recent years, many businesses, including many here in Florida, have invested heavily in developing mobile apps to help keep up to date with the needs of their customers. It can often seem like everyone has an app from the chain of supermarkets you buy your groceries from to the mom-and-pop restaurant that serves your favorite dish. 

But just because other people have jumped onto the app bandwagon, doesn’t necessarily mean you need to. Instead, you may be able to develop a mobile-friendly website instead, saving you a lot of money upfront and in the long run. Here are some things to consider before you splash out on a fancy mobile application. 

Do you need to use fullscreen mode?

When a user accesses your website through their smartphone, most of the display is taken up by your page. However, a small portion of it is reserved for the system icons, the address bar, and navigation buttons. 

This setup is enough for many purposes, including running an ecommerce store, providing text and video guides, and collecting information through forms. However, if you need to remove any distractions and go completely fullscreen, then an app may work better. 

This is often the case for games since it allows the player to concentrate on what they’re doing and prevents any accidental presses on the home or back buttons. For example, all of the best poker apps use fullscreen modes to create a better experience and allow players to focus on their cards while they use it. 

Access native features

Mobile web browsers don’t always allow a website to access functionality like the smartphone’s camera and its sensors. For businesses that could use augmented reality to offer a better service to their customers, an app may be a better option. 

For example, a furniture store could include the ability to use the phone’s camera to measure the space in a customer’s room and mock-up what different products would look like when placed in it. 

Personalization and notifications

If you run a business where you deal with your customers a couple of times a year, then an app probably isn’t right for you. After the customer installs it, they might use it once and then end up installing it to free up space for something else. 

However, if you have regular interactions with your customers, an app may be a good option as it would allow you to send notifications with reminders and alerts to promotions. It would also enable greater personalization and the ability to remain logged in. Apps also have the ability to save content or items for users to come back to later.

For example, a restaurant that offers take-out could store a record of the customer’s most-ordered menu items and display them on the front page as soon as they log in, giving them easier access to their favorite options and removing the barriers in the way of them spending more money.