the simplest approaches to identifying needs and prospects
Understanding if your business needs a mobile app right nowdoes not always require a thorough market analysis. Often, to get an answer, it is enough to conduct a fairly simple study. In this article, we will consider the easily detectable signs that clearly indicate the advisability of starting to develop an application.
In recent years, the mobile application market has seen rapid growth. The Apple and Google app stores have incredibly large catalogs, and the competition in this market is only getting more intense.
In a number of business categories Mobile apps are becoming the main source of salesThis is especially true for businesses such as:
Food delivery
Ecommerce in fashion
Online services
Educational platforms
Taxi services
However, many companies still do not see the need to develop their own mobile app, assuming that it is unpromising for their field.
In this article, we will try to determine when companies should consider creating an app and when it really doesn't make much sense.
So, when should a company consider developing a mobile app?
1. Do your direct competitors have apps?
Let's not consider the obvious cases where having a mobile app is standard in your industry or where a significant portion of your competitors already have apps. Obviously, such a situation clearly indicates the need to create your own application.
Let's discuss a more complex scenario, when, for example, only one of your competitors launched their own app. Finding such competitors is easy: just do a mini-research by checking their websites (links to applications are almost always posted in footers and, a little less often, in website headers).
Once you have discovered a competitor's app, you need to thoroughly review it. explore and understand what features it offers. Pay special attention by the number of installations: if it is significant (for your field), this is a clear sign that it's time to develop your own application.
However, such verification is often not suitable for areas where a large number of installations is not possible due to the specific nature of the industry (narrow market). In such cases, you should pay attention to other signsindicating the prospects of the application.
For example, such a sign is regular app updatesYou can track the update dates in the app stores, and if they are frequent enough, it is a clear indication that the company is paying significant attention to their app. This, in turn, means that the business is likely to receive significant benefits from the application or expects to receive benefits in the future.. Accordingly, this is also a good indicator that it's time to create your own app.
Example
Let's assume that our company operates in a narrow niche segment of children's goods rental in one of the English-speaking markets.. By checking the app store for the query “baby gear rental”, we will see a number of direct competitors.
In our case we find two competitors:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.babyquip.app
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.babonbo.app
After looking at their app store pages, we can see that both competitors have impressive number of installations (for such a niche market). This is a clear sign that developing your own app makes sense.
2. Do companies in your industry have applications operating in other markets?
This is also a pretty good indicator that developing an app for your company could be beneficial.
This is necessary certain analytical workbut it is justified, since the benefits from such work are often very significant.
Analyze the list of companiesworking in your field, but in other markets. These could also be companies from neighboring countries and companies from distant countries. For example, while in Austria, you can research companies from Germany, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, but you can also research companies from the USA, Australia and Japan.
As in the previous example, one of the easiest ways is make a list of “competitor” websites from other markets and study them for the presence of links to app stores.
If you find actively used applications from companies of your profile from other countries, carefully study their functionality and evaluate: Will this functionality be useful in your market?
You might be the first to successfully implement a mobile app. from your industry in your countrywhich, accordingly, can give a significant boost to your business growth.
3. Do companies in related industries have applications?
This is another good sign that it might be time for your business to create its own app.
Let's assume that mobile apps are not used by competitors in your field.but you found that companies from industries indirectly related to yoursalready have applications. This is a great time to consider developing your own app.: There is a chance that apps are about to become widespread in your area too.
For example, you are a pellet manufacturer and are considering whether to create your own pellet ordering and delivery app. When you type the appropriate query into the app store search, you find that there are still no direct competitors to the apps. However, there is already an application from aggregator of pellet manufacturing companies.
It is obvious that the company found (Wood pellets) is very similar to yours, except that you are the manufacturer and this company is the aggregator. In this particular case, it clearly makes sense to consider creating your own app.
4. Is it possible to create an entertainment-themed application in your industry?
Let's say you are traditional design studio creating interiors for its clients, in your area direct competitors do not have applications (for example, no studio manages interactions with clients through a specialized application, and you also do not see any prospects for such a solution).
Now imagine that you decided to create entertainment applicationwhich is a media channel that increases awareness your studio. This could be an app with collection of trendy interior styles or an application that allows users to conveniently collect and store your ideas for interior design.
So, if you have managed to create a strong idea for such an entertaining appthis can significantly increase your brand awareness and, therefore, will allow you to gradually grow your customer base.
A real-life example, also from the interior design industry, is Houzz.coma software developer in the design and construction industry. An important and effective source of leads for this company was their extremely popular app with modern interior ideas (as well as other functionality):
Example of a company Houzz.com demonstrates how a media app can be an important tool for attracting customers and increasing brand awareness. A powerful community is created around such an application, consisting not only of enthusiasts, but also of professionals who can later become active users of the company's software. Thus, such an application is an effective source of customers that is likely to easily justify the cost of maintaining it.
5. Is it possible to create a thematic application with a useful function for the audience?
This approach is similar to the previous point, but if there, first of all, the talk was about media and more entertainment contentthen here we are talking about creating an application with really useful (from a practical point of view) function. This feature, although rarely directly profitable for your business, can be so useful that your potential customers will actively and frequently use it.
The benefits of this are obvious.: If you brand this tool correctly, your company will quickly will become famous among the users of the applicationand further may be the first choicewhen they have a real need to order your products and services.
A good example is the app from LU-VE Groupa company operating in the refrigeration industry. Created by the company Thermal calculation calculator for cooled spaces very useful for specialists in this field:
This approach helps the company LU-VE Group Not only increase loyalty of current customersbut also attract new userswho will appreciate the usefulness of the tool and can then initiate an order for the brand's products. Also works an indirect effect, where a company's visibility in the professional community strengthens trust in the brandwhich, in turn, gradually begins to generate sales even from those who have never used your application.
6. Overall, can you convince users to install the company's app?
If you can logically justify to users why they should install the app you've created, it's definitely worth doing. Encouraging the installation of an app is less relevant for industries characterized by rare, one-off orders.but it is extremely relevant for business categories where customers regularly return and buy again.
The logic here is very simple: having your app icon on the client's smartphone serves as a constant reminder of you, a kind of free media advertising. So when the user needs products or services from your category again, your business will one of the firstwho will he think of?.
This is an extremely effective method of retaining customers; you just need to come up with reasonable causeto convince the user to install your application.
There are many options on how to do this.. For example, if you manufacture custom products, the app can help the user track the production stages of the ordered product, as well as the delivery process.
The most important – don't give the impression that you are forcing the user to install the application without sufficient justification; This will obviously irritate the user..
So, if you can “appear” on a user’s phone as an app, it’s a great opportunity to get them back in the future. With a smart approach, you can also start using push notifications, which will help speed up the process of repeat orders..
Conclusion
Mobile apps continue to be a growing market and gradually cover new categories of business (which had not previously even been considered in conjunction with mobile applications).
If you can calculate the right moment to launch the application and successfully select its functionalitythis could become a huge boost to your businessmaking you stand out from your competitors. And if your business needs professional app analytics of your applications (integration and configuration of analytical systems), you can always contact us 🙂
