Should Every Business Have an App?

As the general populace keeps moving towards a more mobile-oriented lifestyle in the future, companies are trying to prepare themselves as much as possible. In most cases, you’d see companies having apps just because that app is their main product. This could be things like “Trip Advisor” or various weight loss and gym apps you can find on the App Store or Play Store.

But does it mean that everybody has to have an app to support their business in the future? Not necessarily.

Only have apps if you have constant visitors

Let’s ignore companies that rely on their apps to operate. The key focus here is companies who rely on selling their physical products or services. Who rely heavily on their marketing and websites. Now that we have that squared away, let’s dive in. Let’s look at large news websites like Bloomberg, or CNBC.

Both of them have apps due to mobile version website issues. Users get a more refined version on the websites, which is just 1 click away. Now these companies, are able to afford to have an app like this as it is in demand. But it is not the case for smaller media companies, as they don’t rely on constant visitors, but a constant supply of impressions. An app, in this case, would be redundant as most viewers would have to visit the website first. Therefore, most of the resources need to be directed there.

One of the best examples of big vs small companies can be seen with banks and other financial providers. Most large banks such as JPMorgan, Societe Generale and etc. While small ones tend to avoid it, relying on online banking through a website rather than an app. Another branch of these financial companies is Forex brokers. In most cases, we’d see huge brokerages with millions of visitors such as Investors, IG or Interactive field apps for their constant customers. But smaller ones are also more likely to have apps as it gives more credibility. Apps are usually methods for customers to distinguish honest brokerages from frauds. For example, KontoFX which relies heavily on new customers as it filters through them, would not even bother with an app, knowing that it would not have constant visitors, therefore the investment would be unprofitable. Another reason is that it is important for them to avoid Google and Apple as the store owners are very strict if they find out a featured app is a scam.

Will your app be accepted?

According to a report from Techcrunch, US Citizens (the heaviest users of apps) use around 9 apps per day or 30 monthly. Usually, these apps revolve around social media, online banking, messengers and video streaming services. Try to imagine how well would an App, completely unrelated to these industries fare in the market? Since companies create apps for the convenience of their users, it is expected that people will log in daily right? Well, given the fact that there are dozens of apps people are guaranteed to access daily, most apps fall short on that and rely on monthly visits at least. But the numbers are not helpful. Out of those 30 apps, it is highly likely that half of them are the apps I mentioned above and the other 13 or 14 are games. Having that 1 position, in the end, is extremely hard with all the competitors out there. And an App will not help you distinguish yourself. It’s way better and financially achievable to optimize your website and make it responsive. Once that is done, it will be the equivalent of an App. The only disadvantage is the added steps for the customer such as opening a browser and typing your domain. But overall, just a website is able to do the job, in case the industry your business specializes in is compatible.

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