At least 3,000 new apps appear on Google Play every day. Applications cover various business goals: optimization of processes; strengthening contact with customers, increasing sales, improving the image of the business; user entertainment. In this article, we have collected 10 tips for developing a mobile app to grow your business.
1. Generate an idea with an eye on future technologies
To make your mobile application modern and trendy, pay attention to the technology of augmented reality - AR (augmented reality). For example, IKEA used AR for its online store application. People, without leaving their apartment, can evaluate how this or that piece of furniture looks in the interior. And applications for people with visual and hearing impairments help them learn the world - they recognize and name out loud the objects on which the device’s camera is pointed. How much it costs to develop an application using modern technologies depends on many factors. We will deal with them in one of the points below.
2. Use artificial intelligence
Today, AI increases the productivity of companies, the level of security and sales, improves communication between the team and with customers. Artificial intelligence has many tools: recognition of faces and emotions, voice, text, automated reasoning, machine learning, biometrics.
How to use it in mobile applications to increase sales? The cosmetic company Sephora perfectly applied new technologies: users virtually apply makeup, ask questions about products, and receive personalized answers. This makes the shopping process more interactive, convenient and accessible for users, promotes customer satisfaction and loyalty.
3. Make the application multifunctional
The trend of recent years in the field of mobile application development is Super App with many functions in one interface. Their main advantage is that it is easier to attract and retain users. And they also reduce costs for analytics, personalize offers for customers and increase the speed of interaction with them.
One of the popular areas where it is used is taxi services. They add delivery of ready-made food and products from supermarkets, car sharing, and courier services to the main services. People satisfy all their needs in one application.
4. Apply game elements to increase sales
Gamification in a mobile application is the use of game mechanics to effectively engage users. People use their smartphone for games and communication more than for shopping – so make the shopping process like a game.
The Golden Team will help you implement gamification in your application design. We will show examples and tell you which tools are best to use in your business. Options we can offer:
- loyalty points, rewards, achievement badges, passing levels, hunting for items increase the retention rate encourage people to regularly return to the application, buy, invite friends;
- product quizzes introduce the company’s range, help make recommendations and collect customer data to personalize their experience;
- gamification of browsing and checkout using rewards and offers, progress bars and/or time limits, countdown games adds an element of urgency and reduces incomplete purchases.
5. Make the application cross-platform to save time and money, increase the audience
The two most important platforms for mobile applications are iOS from Apple Inc. and Android from Google. More than 3 billion smartphones worldwide run on the Android operating system and over 1 billion on iOS. Develop an application for both platforms at once and get benefits: saved time and money, increased users.
Using this advice, we created a mobile application for an online intermediary between logistics companies and businesses (the name of the application is under NDA, so we will only briefly talk about the result of cooperation). The customer planned to develop it only on Android. But we advised to add cross-platform functionality based on React Native. The time and money spent is the same as for developing a single-platform app, but the number of potential users increases due to the availability of the app on both Google Play and the App Store.
Today, the service is used by thousands of people in different countries of the world. With the help of the service, they can:
- choose the most optimal option from a large number of carriers;
- process cargo for shipment online;
- track and manage cargo transportation in one place.
And the most important thing is that the client spent less money, time on development and got more users.
6. When choosing developers, look at experience, portfolio, team composition
Hire experienced professionals who have successfully completed similar projects and can prove it with their portfolio and customer reviews. Choose a team with specialists in all areas to ensure a complete development cycle. For effective collaboration, ask the team to help you with drafting the technical terms of reference for the development.
For more than 10 years of fruitful work, the Golden Team has created for its customers from Europe, America, Asia a large number of useful mobile products for the spheres of social, economic, medical, cultural development, as well as various entertainment applications. We use the most effective modern technologies, our own ideas and developments, comply with the requirements and wishes of our customers. If you have an idea for a mobile project for your business and want to understand how we can help to implement it, contact us.
7. Before creating a full-fledged application, make an MVP - and save the budget
The average cost of an app today is $5,000 for Android, $6,000 for iOS, and $10,000 for complex solutions. Cross-platform apps are longer and more complex to develop, so even a simple cross-platform app can cost $10,000 or more.
However, we do not advise focusing on these numbers. After a detailed calculation by the team, they may change, because the final cost of developing a mobile application is affected by:
- functionality;
- complexity;
- type of application, platform;
- technologies;
- scope of application;
- type of contractor:
- design;
- the detail of your ideas about the final product.
If you decide to make a program, but do not want to invest the full cost of development - create a minimum viable product (MVP). To find out all the details of this job, write to us. We will calculate the approximate cost of your idea, develop a prototype in 2-5 weeks and write a complete action plan for creating an MVP.
8. Conduct 5 types of testing
After completing the development of the application, start testing to make sure that the developed solution is stable, safe and does not contain bugs. To do this, perform five types of application testing:
- Make sure all features and capabilities are working as intended.
- It’s about the application’s response speed and how it copes with an increase in the number of simultaneous users.
- Make sure there are no loopholes in your app’s security system.
- Platform and device. Make sure your product is compatible with new mobile devices and operating systems that are updated every month.
- Extended review. Test the application with the maximum number of real users and collect feedback.
9. Entrust application support to the developer
Post-release support for mobile applications is a must-have service for businesses that want to stay relevant and keep users in the app while continuously improving the interaction experience.
It’s best to work with the team that developed the app. They have the necessary set of specialists, know all the secret parts of the code and the project – this allows easy and quick scaling, adding new functions.
We are sure that the tips from this article will help you create a convenient, modern, technical and functional mobile application that will definitely find its audience and take your business to a new level. And the Golden Team will help you do it. Thanks to our extensive experience and state-of-the-art technology, you will receive a functional and authentic product that will help you achieve your business goals. Write to us and order a free consultation from our specialists.