#followanalytics

Here are just a few reasons why every retailer should have a mobile app:

They allow customers to interact with the brand, even when on the go: People value convenience — that’s one of the major reasons that the e-Commerce movement has been successful. And what’s more convenient than a mobile app that allows you to browse products, check prices and purchase goods no matter where you are? More sophisticated apps might also send out push notifications if someone nears a retail store, and offer discounts or promotions to entice them in. Nevertheless, no matter how advanced they are, mobile apps offer convenience to the modern shopper. 

Mobile apps keep the brand top-of-mind: Having your app downloaded to someone’s home screen essentially ensures that your brand will remain visible to that person on a near-daily basis. Just think of the number of times a person looks at their home screen, whether it’s to check their emails or share a picture on social media. As Adam Blacker, the VP of Insights and Global Alliances for Apptopia, points out, “When a company’s app is installed, it now owns a piece of real estate on a consumer’s most personal belonging.” Even if that person isn’t thinking about shopping at that moment, they’ll still see your icon and think of your brand.

People spend more time using apps than on the mobile web: According to eMarketer, American spend 86% of their time on mobile phones using apps. So for retailers looking to beef up their mobile presence, it’s better to spend your resources on developing a mobile app that will keep users engaged, instead of creating a souped-up mobile version of your web site. This is not to say that retailers should ignore mobile web completely, but rather to note that a mobile app offers greater opportunities to cultivate brand loyalty and increase revenue. In fact, eMarketer’s report shows that Millennials and Gen Xers — both valuable demographics for retailers — prefer to use mobile apps to shop when on their phones. Given that, in 2020, nearly half (49%) of all e-Commerce revenue is expected to come from mobile sales, brands that choose not to develop an app are at a severe disadvantage when reaching target audiences. 

More people are downloading — and using — retail apps than ever before: According to a 2018 study conducted by Synchrony, people are using twice as many retail apps as they have in the past. Not only that, but the study also reports that there has been a corresponding increase in the purchase activity conducted using these apps, as well as the overall satisfaction level with their user experiences. While not an exact correlation, one could make the argument that having a better user experience plays a large role in determining whether a person makes an in-app purchase, and how often. It also encourages people to keep the app on their phone, as opposed to deleting it in a fit of pique.

Apps allow brands to create deeper connections with customers: Mobile apps do not merely give companies the opportunity to find new ways of getting people to shop. They also make it easier to provide customized advertising and purchasing experiences, which keeps people coming back. For instance, brands could use data from past purchases to infer what products a customer might be interested in buying, and offer discounts to encourage the sale. Or they could include augmented reality tools that allow people to “try on” a product before they purchase. By making the process as engaging as possible, brands can encourage people to spend more time on the app, which could then lead to increased sales.

It should be noted that while it’s become increasingly common for brands to offer some type of mobile experience (AR, personalized recommendations, etc.) to users, these types of customizations can be expensive to develop and difficult to build — which is why it is important for them to find tools that will allow them to include these services without incurring exorbitant costs or disrupting the user experience.

As you can see, there are a great many advantages to be had for retailers that choose to develop a mobile app. But at the same time, brands should beware of creating a shoddy product, as it can have the effect of turning away people who might otherwise have become regular customers. Nor should brands feel they have to pay millions of dollars in order to catch up to everyone else. As long as you have a product that’s capable of giving people a positive experience and the option to buy the things they want, you’re in a prime position for the future.

In 2018, Forrester released a report estimating that smartphones would be responsible in some way, whether as a research tool, way to compare pricing, or method of purchase, for over one third of all retail sales in the U.S. During the 2018 holiday season, the biggest shopping period of the year, mobile platforms were responsible for 51% of the traffic to retailers’ web sites, as well as nearly $42 billion of spending.

But at the same time, mobile users can be fickle. Research from Google indicates that those who have a negative experience while browsing a mobile site are 62% less likely to make a purchase from that brand in the future compared to those who have positive experiences. In other words, it doesn’t matter how good your marketing is or how beautiful your site looks on desktop; if you don’t offer your users a good mobile experience, you won’t be getting their business.

Now, you might be asking, what is the benefit of having a mobile app versus a web site optimized for mobile? Why spend twice the amount of money and effort to build two separate things that essentially fulfill the same function? The answer is that both are equally important. People will most likely end up navigating to your mobile web site first, but a mobile app can help encourage brand loyalty while increasing the amount of time that a person spends engaging with your product. On top of that, having a mobile app will help retailers make their offline experiences more relevant and engaging to users, as they will have the opportunity to tap into data on their customers’ preferences and habits.

Let’s take Starbucks as an example. They arguably already have a good deal of brand equity, along with loyal coffee drinkers who don’t need any additional encouragement to visit a shop. But those who have the app are treated to a whole range of exclusive deals and games designed to encourage them to visit the shops more often. On top of that, the Starbucks app also allows users to order their drinks ahead of time and pick them up from the nearest location. It’s possible that Starbucks also could provide such an experience on their mobile web site, but it’s so much simpler to design an app that can support such functionality without being limited to the constraints of a smartphone browser.

In fact, Starbucks’ app, which also doubles as a payment system, is responsible for more than 40% of in-store mobile payments, more than Google, Apple, and Samsung Pay; eMarketer estimates that more than 23 million people paid using the app in 2018 alone. While not every app needs to have that kind of functionality — and indeed, most of them shouldn’t — Starbucks’ success shows the benefits of having a native app.

Another advantage to having an app available for download is that there’s a better chance of the brand remaining top-of-mind. Whenever someone scrolls through their phone, they’ll see the icon and immediately think of the brand, whether or not they’re looking to make a purchase at the time.

An ideal app helps bridge the divide between online and offline channels. They also help retailers gather a more complete idea of their customers’ needs and habits, from the products they’re more interested in buying to the circumstances that will cause them to go into the store. In the case of Starbucks, users ultimately have no choice but to go into the physical location to pick up the product they’ve ordered. But for other retailers, many of whom are struggling with maintaining foot traffic to their stores, being able to convince people that there is an advantage to shopping in-store, whether it’s a financial or experiential one, is vital.