According to statistics, around 90% of Americans spend on average 3 hours and 40 minutes on their mobile phones. They use various apps including entertainment, shopping, etc.
In the last two decades, the demand for both mobile phones and apps has increased significantly. This has changed the way retailers interact with customers.
Since customers are spending most of their free time on mobile phones, it has become increasingly important for retailers to introduce retail apps to draw their attention. To know more about the same, give this article a read.
How increasing use of mobile apps influencing the retail business?
As mentioned before, the increasing use of mobile apps has changed the way retailers interact or reach their customers. With the rise of mobile apps, retailers no longer have to rely on printed materials, or billboards to advertise special offers and discounts. They can easily do it through an app.
The growth of mobile phones has changed people’s buying habits. Nowadays, they search different places to buy, compare prices, and read reviews before making any purchase. Retailers too have to change their ways to match the changing buying habits of customers.
Since 2015, mobile apps for retail businesses have shown significant growth by 81%. Today, mobile devices account for about 57% of all online shopping traffic. Not just that, but around 54% of buyers find it convenient to use a mobile app for shopping.
In short, mobile apps are becoming more popular in the retail business. To keep your business running and get more customers, you need to get a custom retail mobile app.
But some industry stakeholders are still hesitant about adopting this new change. They are not sure whether to invest in retail mobile app development.
Use Of Mobile Apps For Retail Businesses
The APP Solutions team has come with an entire list of beneficial tools and technologies that can be used in apps to boost your business. There are two ways to implement different in-app features. You can either invest in custom development or take advantage of 3rd party solutions. That being said, now let’s check out the advantages and disadvantages of each approach in a particular case.
* Geo-location Technologies
Geo-location is considered to be an effective technique that helps to navigate your existing and potential customers. This is particularly useful if you are in the brick-and-mortar business.
Leading retail companies like Tesco, Walmart, and Target relies on geo-location to help customers find the nearest store in their area.
Both iOS and Android platforms have a variety of APIs for implementing different functions. To integrate geo-location in mobile apps, there are two important points to keep in mind:
1. Determining the object’s position
2. Displaying the identified object on a map
We make use of Map services to provide specific data on the maps by Google.
* Beacon Technology
This is yet another great geolocation-based technology that helps increase customers’ offline spending.
This particular system is used to determine the location of customers to propose new offers and products. When paired with geo-location, it allows mobile applications to receive signals from Bluetooth-based systems in the physical world. It then sends push notifications to the customers’ mobile devices whenever they are within range.
This technology is used by companies like Tesco, McDonald’s, and other retail giants. This enables retailers to reach customers efficiently.
* Customer Loyalty Programs
Discount cards are often misplaced or forgotten at home. Instead of giving out discount cards, you should encourage customers to download your retail app, so that they can access exclusive discounts, offers, and much more.
This also helps you to collect the client’s purchase history. So that you can offer them discounts accordingly. To implement this option, we create a special screen, where customers are shown personalized discount information based on their purchasing history.
* Push-Based Apps and Push Notifications
Push-based apps are very useful in today’s times. It provides relevant information to customers based on their likes and interests. Let’s say, you are interested in a certain product. The app will automatically send you updates about availability, price, and discounts on the product.
You can also make use of push notifications to remind customers about your new arrivals, upcoming events, sales beginning, and much more.
* Mobile Payments
Mobile payments are highly convenient for customers. They can pay for anything they buy through the app.
It also allows them to purchase immediately in the app. This is possible with the inbuilt mobile payment technology.
* Analytics
Understanding customer’s non-obvious needs and providing them a great personalized experience requires data analysis.
It helps you to make business decisions based on concrete data, instead of bare hypotheses. This allows you to deliver an enhanced buying experience to customers.
We highly recommend you use analytics tools in your app. Our development team can get it done for you.
* Sales Support
By providing sales support directly in your app, you can enjoy a lot of benefits. No matter what retail business you are in, you should provide 24/7 sales support to customers.
Remember your customers need a way to reach you to solve their problems. By responding quickly, you can help your business rise.
Pros & Cons of Mobile Apps For Retail Business
* Mobile apps help your brand to acquiring a prominent place in the market.
* It boosts customer loyalty and retention.
* It allows you to connect with your customers.
* It helps you to improve the customer experience.
* Apps are more convenient to use than mobile sites.
* Customers can use the app in offline mode.
* It allows you to keep in touch with your clients.
What to consider:
* To acquire a substantial market presence, you need to develop an app for both Android and iOS platforms.
* You need to provide regular updates for your app.
* You can need to continuously monitor and track users’ feedback.
A retail mobile app can work wonders for any retail business. It offers plenty of benefits to brand owners. But most importantly, it allows you to reach your potential customers and deliver them a personalized shopping experience. But developing a retail app is not easy and requires an efficient mobile app development company.
We at The App Solutions offer a wide range of mobile app development services. We have a highly qualified team of expert professionals to help you out.
