Self-Service apps, why do customers like them?
Today, February 2019, there are over 2.2 million apps that exist on both iOS and Android platforms. Each month, up to 40,000 apps are submitted to Google and Apple for approval. You may think that these are games, but according to Statista*, games account for only 25% of apps. This leaves the other 75% as apps that allow the user to do things, also known as productivity apps. We spend around 2.5 hours a day on apps, and on average, users have between 60 -90 apps on their devices with 30 being used weekly and 9 used daily.
And it’s growing…
According to Business of Apps^, in 2017, there was 197 billion downloads, and it is expected to grow to 352 billion (79% increase) by 2021. These are big numbers.
So why the success?
In recent times, the customer has become extremely demanding. They want answers now, not tomorrow, they expect service immediately without waiting and if the wait time is long, customers are more likely to leave. Below are the top 4 reasons why apps are a massive success:
- SPEED: It is not surprising that the number 1 reason why self-service is preferred is speed. 75% ** of customers cited ‘Fast response times’ as the most important attribute to Customer Experience. By doing it yourself and not relying on others, it doesn’t get any faster. Sometimes, speed is the only reason and you can never be too fast. Look at Amazon, since introducing ‘One Click’ purchase on its apps, they have become one of the largest retailers in the world and are now considered technically on par with Google, Apple and Microsoft – pretty good for a company set up to sell books over the internet.
- SECURITY: Your phone nowadays is biometrically secure, something desktop computers and laptops lacks. This means, no need for passwords or cumbersome security check-in systems, instead, your face or your fingerprint is used. This speeds up the process even more, removing yet more steps to doing what you need to do. HTML websites cannot do this.
- FUNCTIONALITY: Apps allow you to create the customer journey as you like. Without the boundary of a web browser, an app can pretty much do anything you ask of it, even accessing the device’s camera, GPS location and storage. This allows for incredibly high functioning apps can now help customers to book a flight and hotel, apply for a credit card, or even to buy a house.
- THEY LOOK GORGEOUS: You design how the app looks and works, constrained only by your imagination and screen size. The look and feel (UX – User Experience) can carry your brand promises and send a strong message to the customer: ‘We take pride in what we do’.
Why isn’t everyone creating an app?
It boils down to skills. Most companies lack the expertise or experience to create mobile applications. Some even lack the vision or desire, citing their customers don’t need such apps, and that what we have done in the past is still good today. They have the perception that it’s high cost and that all your profits go to Apple and Google. This is of course totally wrong.
Today, mobile apps can be created quickly on a relatively modest budget. At BlueCrunch, we specialize in creating engaging mobile applications designed with your business processes in mind all wrapped up with beautiful and elegant design.
Contact us today and see what we can do for you.
* https://www.statista.com/statistics/268251/number-of-apps-in-the-itunes-app-store-since-2008/
