What top mobile app features drive profitable customer behavior? No matter what you answer, all features should make connecting with the consumer easier and drive loyal use of your app. Mobile apps for businesses can save time, cut costs, increase sales and create higher engagement with customers. Here are a few top mobile app features you won’t want to leave out of your mobile strategy.
Provide enough information to drive a purchasing decision
This seems like an obvious one. The key is to make sure the mobile app presents valuable information and is comprehensive enough to impact a purchasing decision. Smartphones influence 5 percent of in-store sales (The Dawn of Mobile Influence, Deloitte Digital). The key is to make sure your app is fully loaded with everything customers need to make the most informed purchasing decision whether their standing inside or outside of your store such as your offerings, reviews, and ability to compare products or prices.
Make purchasing with a phone easy
Whether you’re an online store or brick and mortar retailer, allowing customers to make a purchase without having to carry and swipe a card is trending towards increasing sales. Look at the success of Starbucks mobile app — more than 7 million users take advantage of its convenient payment feature. Leaving cash and credit cards at home is great value, but care should be taken to build trust on top of identity theft concerns. Find ways to alleviate these concerns by offering safe and fast solutions for payment. It will translate to customer loyalty and help with internal issues like employee theft.
Reward loyal customers
Loyalty points and reward coupons can get very confusing for customers. Letting the app do the work helps customers keep their points organized and allows them to actually redeem what is rightfully theirs. It’s difficult keeping track of punch cards and a hassle to carry rewards cards. Moving away from the physical card and allowing the app to do the tracking electronically and effortlessly will drive loyal app use and purchase behavior.
Connect with customers directly
Helping customers connect with your company in every way possible using their smartphone keeps your offering top of mind. Rating your products, leaving a review, or connecting with customer service allows customers to speak directly to your company through your app, which can eliminate the possibility of them taking their concerns to third-party sites like Yelp. Also, make it easy for customers to share the good word about your products with social media sharing features. Word-of-mouth and costumer service on the go are becoming the ultimate marketing tool.
Give them reason to return
No matter what industry you’re in, making the experience delightful will bring people back often. Even more serious brands can find ways to integrate unique features and functions into their mobile app strategy. You can reward use, surprise users with fun messages, or creatively use push notifications. Most importantly, deliver loads of value through your regular content and frequent feature updates.
Ease of use
If you take a look at top complaints in the Apple App Store you’ll see that many repeat these themes over and over:
No company sets out to create an app that doesn’t work properly, but creating a high-quality experience should be your number one priority. Customers read reviews and will be hesitant to download anything that doesn’t have a four or five star rating. Don’t give them reason to doubt your brand. Secondly, if you offer certain customer experiences and features on your website, you need to also offer them in the mobile channel. Users are migrating in droves from desktop websites to mobile apps.
Have an idea for an app for your business? Chances are it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Developing a clear mobile app strategy can address the opportunity to grow revenue and brand presence in the mobile channel. We hope the six tips we’ve provided are a starting point as you begin your journey to creating a top-rated mobile app.
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