The mobile app development industry has witnessed enormous growth in the past decade. There are hundreds of apps being developed every day, each one to serve a different purpose. Current trends indicate that apps are becoming essential tools for businesses all across the globe and are being used for many activities on a day-to-day basis.

With more and more people switching to smartphones and tablets as the primary medium to use the internet, the popularity of apps is growing tremendously. In fact, these days, the smallest of businesses like spas and saloons have developed their presence on mobile applications. Here are a few ways in which apps are helping businesses at all levels:

Promote Customer Loyalty

With the increase in competition in almost all sectors of trade, enhancing customer loyalty has become one of the most critical elements for the functioning of any organization. Mobile applications facilitate better engagement with customers. Organizations all over the world are using apps to communicate with their customers and keep them informed on the latest offers, events, launches and other updates about the organization. These regular updates are great ways to generate awareness about new ventures and services and also develop a better relationship between the customer and the organization. These updates also prompt users to open the app and hence increase familiarity. This familiarity motivates users to select a particular organization over its competitors. In other words, app notifications help generate brand recognition, which helps customers to relate to the brand and in-turn develop a preference towards it.

Enhance Customer Engagement

If a customer relates to the brand, he/she is more likely to develop a preference towards it and customer engagement is the best way to be relatable to your prospective client. Mobile applications are known to improve customer engagement and communication. Through regular updates and notifications, apps bring customers closer to the brand and help organizations make their way into the memory of their customers. Mobile apps are also one of the best ways to study customer behaviour patterns by providing clear insights into the preference of the customers. These insights can help organizations develop better sales and marketing strategies.

Increase Brand Visibility

Marketing is essential for businesses across trades. Apps have made their way to being one of the best marketing tools for organizations. Where at one point, websites were considered the best ways to generate an online presence, with more and more people shifting to mobile phones for surfing the internet, apps have become much more relevant. People are now using their phones merely for entertainment and apps have gained great potential to become tools to generate brand awareness.

Improve Sales

At the end of the day, organizations function with the objective to derive sales. Most apps are incredibly user-friendly and invite people to engage with them. This helps in lead generation and also push these leads to maturity. App notifications about offers and deals lure people into availing the service or buying the products. Retargeting customers by reminding them to complete pending orders or showing them the products or services, which are bound to attract them, by understanding their buying patterns is another excellent way to derive sales. Most businesses across the globe have seen a massive rise in sales after shifting to apps.

These are just a few of the benefits of having apps for your business. Most businesses across the globe are moving towards having a cohesive mobile application for their internal or external operations. The world is experiencing a massive demand for professionals skilled in the technicalities of app development, and it is coming up as a lucrative career option. Institutes like UPES are offering specialized courses in this domain in the form of B.Tech Computer Science & Engineering (Hons.) with Specialisation in Mobile Application Development in academic collaboration with IBM. This course covers all major facets of the industry through its curriculum and focuses on providing the students with detailed insights into the functioning of the industry. The curriculum of the course also requires students to take up a summer internship which helps them understand the industry in a better way by providing them with direct industry exposure and an opportunity to build contacts.