People of all ages are more and more used to doing everything on their phones, especially the younger generation. The availability and quality of a bespoke mobile app may well form part of their decision to relate and engage with a business. With more than 6.5 billion smartphone subscriptions worldwide and people spending more than 4 hours a day on mobile apps, businesses cannot really afford to ignore the option of a mobile app to reach their customers. However, before jumping in, consider whether an off-the-shelf application or a bespoke mobile app will serve your business better.
Since consumers carry out more of their day-to-day business through their mobile phones than ever before, applications need to provide businesses with additional ways to target, engage, support, and retain customers. Custom mobile application will provide a competitive advantage over any businesses that don’t have one. Custom mobile applications are designed for mobile first. Custom mobile apps are quicker to load than a website on a mobile browser.
Custom build mobile apps enable users to book meetings and appointments, order products, buy tickets, contact a business and more. And the evidence suggests that users prefer interacting with businesses in this way. Bespoke mobile apps contain a variety of marketing materials, and use push notifications to bring them to users’ attention.
Off-the-shelf applications are usually ‘one-size fits all’. This means that the company will either need to contort their business to fit with what the product offers, or adapt the application, which will cost time and money. Bespoke application development allows an organisation to specify the features they need in the application and integrate them from the start. Organisations use a large number of systems and applications that need to work together.
However not all off-the-shelf applications will work with all systems. If the applications don’t integrate with existing systems, they will be of limited value, and could even harm workflows and customer service.
Brand and brand image are important to businesses. Off-the-shelf applications may not have the flexibility to change language, colours, designs and more to fit the company’s brand. On the other hand, a bespoke mobile app will be developed from start to finish to fit the organisation’s brand identity.
Off-the-shelf applications usually have a set up-front cost and an on-going licence cost. In addition, any customisations and integrations will cost more. A bespoke mobile app that is developed for an organisation may cost more up-front, but the organisation will own the application, and be able to manage and distribute it as required.
