As both consumers and marketers, we recognize the importance of meeting our target audience where they are — whether at home, in the office, or on the go. It’s no surprise that mobile shopping has increased exponentially over the past few years. In fact, 79% of smartphone users have made a purchase online using their mobile devices in the last six months.

The mobile shopping trend continues to climb and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. That being said, many businesses are weighing their options when it comes to creating a mobile application. Mobile app usage takes up 90% of all mobile uptime, making it an attractive prospect for marketers. While mobile apps aren’t the right fit for every business, we find them to be an invaluable tool for anyone dealing directly with their customer base.

Here are a few reasons why…

 

Direct and Personal Communication

One of the biggest reasons companies adopt mobile apps is to engage in a more direct and personal conversation with their customers. Having a mobile app allows you to provide a variety of information to your audience, including product updates, promotional offers, and general news. Any B2C business that requires regular customer interaction can benefit from communicating through customizable app tools like live chat, push notifications, and more. These capabilities keep your audience engaged and reduce the risk of your messaging going unnoticed, as it might when you send a promotional newsletter to their email. More than 70% of users prefer personalized advertising compared to generic ads.

 

More Sophisticated Targeting

Another benefit of having a mobile app for your business is the ability to utilize more sophisticated marketing tools like Geofencing and Push Notifications. Geofencing can serve as an extremely effective way to get your message in front of a specific audience by allowing you to set location-based parameters. This technology will trigger a specific action once a mobile device enters the location you’ve chosen. Many modern businesses are finding creative ways to use these virtual boundaries to their advantage, including coupons, notifications, engagement features, security alerts, and more. In fact, mobile ads with Geofencing have double the click-through rate than those without.

 

In-Depth Behavior Insights

Understanding your audience is probably the number one key to a successful marketing campaign. One of the best ways to get to know your customers is by finding out how they interact with you. While you can access some of your customer data via your desktop and Google Analytics, there are many advantages to utilizing a mobile app dashboard.

Mobile apps allow you access to real-time shopping data and customer behavior. Mobile app analytics also offer recordings of users engaging with the app, which gives you a unique insight into what options the user chose and why. These visual understandings can help you understand the different steps of your user’s engagement, as well as when a user disconnected or why their interest diminished. Having this insight will help you accommodate your customers’ needs and improve their overall experience.

 

Competitive Edge

Businesses today are being forced to turn into software companies to survive against their competition, and mobile apps are a huge component of this. More than 80% of people use mobile apps to do their shopping, and most consumers use these apps as frequently as 2-5 times a week. When you think about a captive audience of that magnitude, having a mobile app seems like a no-brainer. Research into the role of mobile apps in enterprises proves that businesses with mobile apps have a competitive edge.

 

Optimized Customer Experience

Perhaps the most important benefit of a mobile application is an optimized customer experience. Mobile apps allow for quick troubleshooting capabilities whenever a customer is experiencing a technical error or bug. Apps can also retain user data, enabling one-click checkouts and minimizing their load times. Additionally, mobile app dashboards create a much cleaner and more seamless user experience than a busy mobile website.

 

Improve Brand Loyalty

An impressive 40.4% of all users buy more of a brand’s goods after downloading its e-commerce app, while mobile websites barely retain 40% of all visitors past the first few seconds on their site. In addition to boosting sales, having a mobile app increases your brand loyalty. App icons act as visible reminders every time a user opens their phone, keeping your brand awareness high and building your reputation as a modern consumer business. The more branding elements (logos, colors, etc.) you enter into your app, the more likely you’ll see a positive impact on your brand marketing.

 

Create an App for Your Business Today 

With the rise of virtual commerce, business app development is increasingly important. If you plan on running a successful eCommerce website, or any website for that matter, it’s imperative to cater to mobile users and factor mobile shopping into your business strategy.

No matter what industry you operate in, having a mobile app for your business is one of the best choices you can make. They can help you in almost every aspect of your business, from customer service to marketing. The touchpoints we’ve mentioned above—direct and personal communication with customers, sophisticated targeting tools, audience behavior insights, a leg up on your competition, optimized customer experience, and improved brand loyalty—are just a few of the many benefits your business will experience when you choose to join the modern mobile app world.

Mobile apps allow you to better connect with your audience and optimize your business processes. Think of your investment in a mobile app as a way to show your customer base that you are always available to them, on-demand, and at their convenience. There’s a reason that apps have become so popular. Take your brand to the next level with a mobile app, and you’ll soon discover that the rewards far outweigh the cost and effort. Your customers will thank you for meeting their needs more efficiently and personally, cementing your status as a modern, intuitive, user-focused business. Trust us, the results will speak for themselves.