Back-to-school shopping is also witnessing a steep inclination towards mobility. According to Rubicon Project, 60% of consumers plan to use smartphones to research and shop their back-to-school stuff, which was 33% half a decade ago. Clearly, the inclination of parents of millennials and others is towards mobile for discovering the back-to-school spending.

Another interesting stat that hints at prospering mobile usage during back-to-school shopping season is that there is a 70% jump in the viewing videos about back-to-school ideas on YouTube.

With tremendous opportunities during the shopping season, app marketers and brands gear themselves to claim a big of the pie. But above everything else what can be done to attract back-to-school shoppers? Let’s discover.

Offer stress-free apps

Back-to-school shopping has always been stressful. Mobile apps addressing the issue add a certain amount of ease in the lives of consumers by offering solutions at a screen tap. Usually, the main focus of best mobile app developers is on millennials and their parents who have explored the mobile inside out. They know how to look out for their desired product range and when to opt out. It has been studied that around 60% of users leave mCommerce apps or sites due to lazy-loading issues, inconsistent UI and poor navigation. You have to offer the best experience in order to win their hearts and increase sales.

Make social media your preferred marketing medium

Millennials are active on social platforms like Snapchat and Instagram; hence, it is important to pay extra attention to these platforms in order to market and reach out to your prime consumers. Creating value-added content with a personal touch will do the trick for you. Produce content that is relatable and connects to the audience from the word go.

Connect with right people for promotions

Discover platforms where your target audience is. This can be a routine manager app, a parenting app or a social networking app that connects parents on diverse topics. Try partnering with such companies and make connections that matter to your business. By doing this, you can reach out to millions of users offering them deals and discounts ontheir favorite devices.

Embed convenient and reliable payment options

The mobile app users are smart. They examine payment gateways ahead of sharing their account or debit/credit card details. It won’t take more than a minute for them to abandon your app if they sense risk in sharing their personal details. As a result, you’ll lose your customers and suffer a decline in revenues. Apple Pay or Android Pay would be good choices to opt for this functionality.

Final words

With figures stated above and surveys conducted, it is evident that shoppers who visited brick-and-mortar stores for back-to-school shopping are switching to mobile. It is up to the brands, the app marketers and app development companies to acquire them in those months when the demand for school stuff is at its peak. You got to have creative minds on board for devising effective strategies that convert visitors into shoppers. It’s all about targeting the right audience at the right time and through right mediums.

The post Evolution of Back-to-School Shopping – Courtesy Mobile App Technology appeared first on Top ITFirms - Result of In-depth Research & Analysis.

The world of mobile apps has treated each one of us differently. Whether you are a business owner or a consumer or for that matter, a silent contributor to the growth of mobile app market, your requirements are being respected. Today, the world has reached that stage where running a business is not enough. Instead, running it in accordance with modern techniques and incorporating modern ways matching the fluctuating market trends is what’s desired.

One such trend that’s now mainstream is having a mobile app for your business. With everyone following the mobile application trend, it’s vital for you to join the race and keep up with the market’s pace. It’s likely for your competition to take the mobile route and if you don’t do the same then I’m afraid that instead of progressing, you’d rather recede.

With the sense of ease that mobile apps add to the end users’ lives, it has now become a necessity for every business to have its own mobile app. Typically, users too keenly look forward to using a business app for better interaction with the brand and completing their tasks in a flash.

Here are quick pointers complementing the above statements and making you aware of how mobile apps can be beneficial for your business in the times to come.

1. Knowing your market better

The first and foremost thing you, as a business owner, need to do is to research your market well. Know what your competitors are up to and what can you do in order to outperform them. A well-researched and a focused app development process can lead you to success. It is advisable to get in touch with the top app development companies for expert guidance on various aspects like features to be included, pre-and post-marketing strategies, in-depth market analysis, upcoming trends in the mobile domain and more. Make sure you do it professionally and gain an edge over your competition even before your app goes live.

2. The first impression is the last impression

You must have heard this phrase a million times but it’s time to know its real value. Here, we are referring to the design of your app. The design is the first thing that stimulates users to enter inside an app, and it all starts with the logo, icons, color theme, typography and layout.

Get in touch with an experienced bunch of iOS and Android app designers to get this task done. Get your users enthralled from the outset and make a strong appeal in your sphere that you are here for business.

3. Performance is the key to success

Once users have downloaded your app and started using it, it’s time to captivate them with the app’s performance and functionality. The easier your app is to use, the more are the chances of users coming back to it. However, loading your app with more than necessary features can irritate your users and there exists a very strong possibility that they abandon the app. So, dismissing the rumored perception of owning a fully-loaded app is a sensible move for you to propel in this fast-paced environment.

Make sure the efforts, time and energy put in by your iOS and Android developers don’t go in vain and you get the desirable outcomes. In addition to the features, ensure your app is intuitive and responds to the touch in the sublime fashion because that’s what users desire from your product. Get the top Android and iOS developers on board for creating an app that’s loved by all.

4. Test till it lasts

Nobody likes an app with glitches. And you, being the owner of the app, won’t like to lose your audience just because your development team couldn’t create an error-free product. Your app requires regular testing starting from the conceptualization phase until the time it is deployed on the app stores. It requires continuous amendment and maintenance about performance, functionality, third-party tools and database attached for providing a sleek experience to the end users.

Quality analysts play a vital role in assuring the same and making your app ready for the market vulnerabilities and challenges. They need to be smart enough and proactive in their approach to detect the future shortcomings so that strategies can be devised at the right time.

Closure

Businesses need to understand this fact that users are delighted when they can accomplishtheir daily jobs while relaxing in their couches or while they are on-the-go. And this is what they expect form your app service. A solution to their everyday problem.

Desktops and laptops are being replaced by smart devices like smartphones and tablets, which are at par to do the needful.  The answer to the most difficult question that- who will download your app– is not only someone who wants to avail your services but people who never thought about using a service like yours, but once they get to know about your app, their unknown requirements turn into their need. The app should have the potential to make users know about their hidden desires. Your clientele will be same as in your offline or web stores; it’s just that the medium of interaction has changed from offline to online, from desktops to mobile.

The post 4 Ways Your Business Can Grow with Mobile Apps appeared first on Top ITFirms - Result of In-depth Research & Analysis.

The absolute reason behind developing a mobile app today is to create a brand identity among millennials, among the major audience worldwide. All other reasons are secondary yet important ones; well customer convenience and customer satisfaction are significant for higher conversions.

You may have created an outstanding app with the help of an expert mobile app development company. The app is working well with clean code, rich interfaces and seamless UX, but have you reached that expected mark of app downloads?

If yes, that’s awesome. If not, then why not? Ever inquired?

The simple and straight answer is because you have never thought of optimizing your app. I doubt if you’ve ever heard about app optimization. If not, it’s cool. Because most of us have really not brainstormed a phenomenon like App Store Optimization (ASO).

To your knowledge, this is in the mainstream among top app owners and they’ve already started to work on optimizing their mobile apps on the app stores- be it Google Play or Apple’s App Store.

To learn the ropes to stay in the race, we’re here with the best tips you need for app store optimization.

What is App Store Optimization?

So, what’s it we have been discussing all this time. Literally, app store optimization is ‘the process of improving visibility of a mobile app in an app store.’

Familiar? Any similarity with SEO? Yes, it’s just like search engine optimization but limited to mobile apps and app stores.

Like seriously, with over 2.8 million apps on Google Play and 2.2 million apps on Apple app store, experts need to have a way where they could rank these apps based on their quality, most downloaded, trending, most liked and many more factors. Clearly, the higher your app ranks, the more visible it is to potential customers. Consequently, increased visibility lead to more traffic, more downloads.

Sadly, like SEO, ASO has been overlooked my many app owners who know the term. But we all know how powerful the search engine is for all the businesses running online or offline. No sector is saved from the incursion of search engine optimization. Similarly, we have ASO.

Now that ASO makes sense to you, let’s learn the steps you should take further to take your app to the top ranking on the app stores.

Work on the Keywords

You will come across a reference to SEO multiple times in this article because ASO shares the common traits. Now exactly like everything in SEO, keywords are the foundation for app optimization. Starting from the title to the description, you should keep a balance between word relevancy and competition. Use longer-tail keywords to rank higher. But don’t forget to keep the text relevant.

Apple app store has recently updated its guidelines and cut short the character count from 255 to 50 characters for the app’s URL. So, you have to limit the keywords and choose your titles wisely. Be well-versed with the app store guidelines before the final launch else you will be abandoned.

Both Google and Apple suggest giving a specific title to the app, specific to what is the core functionality with a mix of keywords.

First few screenshots should be most compelling

You can think of it like an opening paragraph of any article. You continue to the next only if the first engages you. The opening words have to immediately catch reader’s attention and so is the screenshots that you display to the audience on the app store.

They are the first impressions and pitch your story, so they should be clear (use high-resolution), sensible and deliver a value proposition while explaining what the app is all about and how it is going to convert a societal need.

In-app reviews and ratings

People today don’t even buy a kitchen utility without taking review from their friends or checking reviews on Amazon, eBay. For everything and anything, they need to know what’s the feedback. Same goes with the app in the app stores. Simply put, apps with high rating and positive reviews rank higher.

Though it is not much in app owner’s control, still if you deliver a delightful experience and gratify the other user-centric demands and app store guidelines, you can inspire users to submit their reviews.

Encourage as many users to provide in-app reviews and rating. Even if you get a negative comment, in-app review feature allows you to work on it without showing the comments online.

Local versions of app

Launch your app in various local languages, catering to the users of a specific region. If your app uses the GPS feature, localize the screenshots and the language to that business area. This helps in building connectivity with users and provide them personalized customer experience. Apps that translate to local content perform better.

Did you know “53% of Android users and 47% of iOS users found their last app through app store searching (Google Play and App Store, respectively), and apps with appealing screenshots increased downloads by 30% over ones with just words.”

So, providing a high-quality digital experience with a check on keywords, rating and reviews and impressive screenshots is essential to the success of your app in the app stores.

The post App Store Optimization – 4 Tips to Get Your App Rank Higher appeared first on Top ITFirms - Result of In-depth Research & Analysis.

Mobile-friendly websites are preferred by search engines and results are ranked on a search engine page as per their friendliness. Hence, it’s somewhat a necessary factor to have a responsive website at least if not an app.

Companies have lately invested in mobile friendly websites as well as in developing mobile apps from the best app development firms around the globe. But, do you know what’s the need of the hour? Is it the mobile app or a responsive website? The question is certainly a tricky one to answer not only for you but for the whole fraternity.

Operating in today’s mobile era, you must have come across the notions stating that if you don’t own a mobile app then your business would soon come to an end and your competitors having an app would crush you. But does this the case? Probably not. Sometimes as a business owner all you need is a device independent or simply put a responsive website to rule the market.

Don’t create an app for the sake of owning one rather gain knowledge what suits your business the best, a mobile app or a responsive website.

Here’s when mobile app fits the bill

• On-the-go tasks

Smartphones have penetrated in our daily lives. People like to do things while they are on the go. Apps come in handy here offering end users an amazing platform to do the needful. Consider the example of a cab service provider, Uber where people are required to act as swiftly as possible irrespective of place and time. Users are likely to need the service often than other businesses. This is where an app is more feasible than a responsive website.

• Offline access to services

Apps are a perfect fit where services can be availed without an Internet connection. If you offer services like e-book reader or notes or wallet, which don’t require a wireless connection every time for users to get engaged, then apps solve the purpose nicely.

• Utility service provider

If you offer services that satisfy the urge of a large audience at once like bill payment, reminders, calendar synchronization, schedules and more then you require an app. Apps give you an easy, fast and convenient way to serve large groups of people. People are already surrounded with a variety of problems. They no longer want basic utilities to create more of it.

Apps grant people an easy medium to pay bills, book tickets eradicating those long queues, which saves a lot of time and effort. Try and build flawless applications that can serve the purpose.

• Interaction with wearables

If you have built something that requires a connection with an external hardware or device, then an app is a requisite and mobile website won’t be a feasible option. Whether it’s a beacon or IoT, an app is required. There are multiple products available in the market including fitness bands, health wearables and more which require an app to sync the recorded data, which later can easily be accessed by the user.

• Usage on a regular basis

If services offered by you require users to visit you on a regular basis, then app suits your business instead of a responsive website. People like to do things on the go and when they have a reliable, secure and stable option in form of an app, they’ll have it loaded on their smartphone. Coupon app is something, which has regular visitors both, new and old. In such a case, an app is the most preferred option as a flawless, trouble-free experience is desired by users.

• Data gathering and analysis

Another important aspect which keeps a mobile app above responsive website is the nature of your business. If your business demands, you to collect important user’s information based on which you can plan your marketing campaign then you’d like to have an app rather than a responsive website.

Data gathering is way too easier and smarter in case of application than from a mobile website. You, as a business owner, get a complete picture of what your customer wants or seeks over the Internet. You can extract useful data related to his/her behavior, interests, favorite portals and history, which can prove gold while you plan and strategize your future mobile marketing campaigns.

• E-commerce store

Applications have drastically changed the way shoppers buy products online. The whole process has become seamlessly easy, free of complexities and quick. If the user knows what to buy, then it just demands three steps before a purchase can be completed.

Apps have made checkout process simpler, which is still a task for a responsive website. Users can shop from their favorite brands in a hassle-free manner. They can even store their card details that make the checkout process even easier and quicker. Safety and security of user’s bank details are kept intact so without any worries, he/she can load in details.

Although the responsive website can handle the process with ease too but having a dedicated shopping mobile app allows you to take advantage of smartphone features like push notifications, better customer interaction and more. Hence, in this customer-centric business era, it is advised to own a shopping app rather than relying on a responsive website for the same.

Alert – After discussing the factors that keep an app above device-friendly website, I would like to bring to your notice one of the most crucial aspects that is the cost of developing a mobile app.

Don’t consider developing an app if you don’t have a healthy budget. App development isn’t easy and definitely not cheap. You require a handsome amount to build an app from renowned and well-established mobile app development company, which should be your preferred choice. You don’t want an immature team to work on your project. Or do you?

So, the answer is clear whether you should go for a mobile app or a responsive website. Hope you make right decisions helping your business to prosper in the years to come.

Guest Post By – Konstant Infosolutions

The post What Suits Your Business : Responsive Website or Mobile App? appeared first on Top ITFirms - Result of In-depth Research & Analysis.