Applications for mobile devices have benefits for both consumers and company owners. A well-designed app may help businesses enhance engagement, broaden their product offers, and create value for customers.
The majority of mobile applications are just an expansion of a company website. Although there are countless possibilities for development, they must all have one essential quality: user-friendly.
A well-made app will “smarten” up your phone. In fact, there are several significant trends in mobile app development that will have a greater influence in the future as a result of the growth of IoT, augmented reality, virtual reality, and AI technologies. These cutting-edge technologies have been combined to provide users with an engaging experience.
The data reveals that people in the digital space spend 90% of their time on apps and just 10% on utilizing the rest of the internet, despite the fact that you could be tempted to believe that having a website or even a mobile website is more than adequate for your business.
Users spend around 200 minutes each month buying on the app compared to just 11 minutes per month on the website, which is a crucial insight for e-commerce companies. Compared to desktop websites, mobile applications got 1.5 times higher conversions.
The True Cost Of Developing An E-Commerce Mobile App
To find the gaps your app can address with its feature set, you must conduct user research, market research, and competitive research. Make sure the features are effective and won’t compromise security or performance.
Only by engaging consumers and persuading them to frequently utilize the app with their valuable time can a mobile application gain a following. Making a mobile app that makes it simple for customers to do their tasks will keep them coming back to the app and your company for more.
Here are the essential app features that, regardless of the industry, will give your app a competitive edge.
Registration
Every application has a section that is often required as the initial step: signups. Users must submit their contact information, including phone number, email address, and physical address. Modern applications give consumers the option to browse the app for a while before being forced to join up right away.
This action aids in reducing the initial barrier that prevents people from surfing and utilizing its features. Social signups and phone number signups speed up the lengthy registration procedure, which bothers consumers otherwise.
Multifactor Authentication
Realizing that a balance between data accessibility and data protection is required today more than ever. Multifactor authentication should be used as a standard for user access and validation in every business software that offers access to information. If security isn’t at the core of your app development, it seems reckless and myopic to try to build on sandy ground.
A Search Option
Many business applications still do not have a search tool, which is an essential feature. No matter how basic your mobile app is, having a search feature is crucial since everyone has varying computer skills. To keep users interested in your app, make it as simple as possible for them to find what they are looking for.
Dashboard
Users dislike having to navigate back and forth in the digital realm to access their purchases, loyalty points, and other information. The users are satisfied since a single dashboard makes it easy for them to quickly find the most recent orders, the cost of those products, the loyalty points gained, and the offers and coupons in their cart.
Payment Gateway Integration
In order to prevent customers from leaving their carts empty just because they can’t find their chosen payment method, the mobile application must support several payment methods. The majority of mobile payment methods, including cash on delivery, credit/debit cards, Android Pay, Apple Pay, and third-party payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, and others, are available through commercial mobile applications.
As consumers prefer to contribute financial information rather than repeatedly entering the data, ensuring security is crucial. Sensitive financial information is protected by two-factor authentication, which entails sending a one-time password (OTP) to mobile devices followed by verification.
Reviews and Feedback
It’s crucial that your app include an option for users to provide you feedback. A study found that 93% of respondents said they were at least somewhat likely to provide feedback if the company specifically requested it. An even more intriguing finding was that 97% of respondents said they were more likely to remain, loyal customers, if they knew that their feedback had been taken into account.
The conversion rate increases by a staggering 770% if your software goes from a 1-star rating to a 5-star on the app store.
An Intuitive User Experience
Every application should ideally have a simple user interface and optional, clear privacy notifications. Your brand’s identity will be more positively viewed by customers thanks to the easy UX.
Speech Recognition Feature
Mobile phone navigation requires a hand to hold the phone and perform taps and swipes. Voice-accessible software is becoming more crucial for those who are unable to freely use their hands owing to a handicap, an injury, or because they are otherwise occupied. Developers may install text-to-speech or automatic voice recognition at a low cost using a speech SDK, making it easy for consumers to engage with the app.
Responsive Design
The mobile app design needs to be reliable and fit the device’s screen size and resolution. This problem is solved by the mobile app’s responsive design feature, which also aids in the application’s ability to adapt from a small smartphone to a large tablet.
Additionally, it is crucial for committed developers to include the responsive design functionality as soon as the app is developed. No matter what size screen a customer’s device has, it will improve their entire app experience and present the app in the greatest possible light.
Social integration
Whether it’s a coupon deal, an interesting article, or a high-quality product, users love to share their favorites on social media. A social media sharing feature integration will unquestionably have a long-lasting effect. To gain important access to your customers’ contacts, you may even request that they sign in using their Facebook or Google accounts.
Additionally, it will enable you to communicate directly with members of social networking sites.
Data Caching
Make sure your application caches as much information as it can on the device. Make sure your app is as usable as possible without an internet connection. Of course, this may vary from app to app. For example, having the ability to explore and add goods to your basket while riding the subway is beneficial when using an e-commerce app. All you have to do is hit the purchase button once you’re outdoors and online.
AI Chatbot
To maximize revenue, client services must be perfected and made available 24/7. They also must be resolved more quickly. That’s where integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots allows the human customer service team to concentrate on useful tasks while the chatbots handle repeated inquiries.
A major step from human minds, chatbots are intelligent enough to connect the connections and generate personalized ideas more quickly. This boosts user engagement and retention rates. The enhanced user interactions make it easier to gather input for the app’s improvement. When designed and deployed properly, chatbots have endless possibilities for businesses.
Bottom Line
User engagement must be a top concern if you want to compete in the accelerating economy, and mobile applications are among the most important engagement tools. The time and money invested in development are not only squandered if a bad user experience turns away customers, but it may also have unfavorable effects.
You must use the same amount of care that you have used to build your company up to this point while creating a mobile app for it. Your app may serve as the online persona for your company and aid in brand development. Because the quality of your app will be used by consumers or app users to assess your business, attention, and effort.
