ABSTRACT
There is rapid increase in the number of mobile apps on
the online store. Many of these apps are very similar to each other in terms of
features and services. This suggests there is a massive competition between the
mobile app providers who constantly endeavor to retain customers from the very
first time. In this whitepaper, we will identify what are the factors that need
to be improved for customer retention and stand out in the online market
place.
INTRODUCTION
The new generation mobiles (Smartphones) enabling
customers to access the Internet from anywhere and anytime to download
different types of mobiles apps to use their services as one of the
conveniences. However, many of the customers still face difficulties in using
the mobile apps seamlessly and effectively. With ever-growing increase in the
demand for high quality mobiles apps from the customers, Mobile app development
companies are pressurized to identify customer needs and serve them
accordingly. If the customer is unable to quickly use and access the service of
a mobile app not wasting any time customers might switch to other mobile app
that is working perfectly. The customer also might delete or uninstall the app
that is not working properly sooner or later and never download the app again
even after the bugs are fixed because the customer had a poor experience with
the app.
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IS
THE KEY
Mobile app development companies experience little
success when customers download their mobile app. But the real success only can
be achieved when these apps work well on the mobile of the customer. Companies
need to identify issues in the mobile apps like poor functionality, poor
performance, incompatibility with the device and platform before a customer
does and to keep engaged with their app once they have downloaded them. App
usage rates have been constantly rising in the past few years along with the
room for a lot of improvement. Companies need to identify who are their
targeted customers, for e.g., when it comes to shopping using mobile apps;
customers have high expectations and shorter time.
generation mobiles (Smartphones) enabling
customers to access the Internet from anywhere and anytime to download
different types of mobiles apps to use their services as one of the
conveniences. However, many of the customers still face difficulties in using
the mobile apps seamlessly and effectively. With ever-growing increase in the
demand for high quality mobiles apps from the customers, Mobile app development
companies are pressurized to identify customer needs and serve them
accordingly. If the customer is unable to quickly use and access the service of
a mobile app not wasting any time customers might switch to other mobile app
that is working perfectly. The customer also might delete or uninstall the app
that is not working properly sooner or later and never download the app again
even after the bugs are fixed because the customer had a poor experience with
the app.
For mobile apps, customers experience is everything.
Installing apps is so easy anybody can do it while doing any other work, But if
customers experience is bad, customers will simply move on to competitor
apps—especially when there are tens of hundreds of similar apps to choose.
Customers have urgent needs and they are also creative. They stress an app in
ways that companies never imagined. Companies need to check how confident they
are that their app will never crash. Customers want apps that are reliable
which demands performance testing.
Many of the customers are impatient. It's never going to
be a surprise for a company of its most loyal customers complains if app takes
more than three seconds to respond. Less loyal customers will abandon app if it
can't complete an action more than three seconds. And prospective customers
won't even try the app if it loads very slowly. They will just close it and
look elsewhere. Customers always like to use a fast and a simple mobile app.
Simple User Interface (UI) is also very important, for e.g. A customer is standing at somewhere, and
wants to find out the location of his friend who gave him a visiting card which
has address.
The customer opens a locator app, and it asks a
customer's address, why does it need a customer address, why it cannot use
customer device location? Customers will not click extra buttons if an app of a
competitor can finish the same task in a few clicks. It also happens if an app
ask the customer to fill in a long form with many fields. So, the bottom line
here is to keep it easy UI. Integration
with other apps is the key to keeping customers engaged. If they can't easily
share their content with their friends on other apps, or land into app from a
browser link, they will think like an app takes time and effort.
An app should not drain battery life, for e.g. a music
streaming app works great, but one of the customer noticed that the app draining
his/her battery too quickly. Would he/she recommend this app to his/her
friends? Customers are very cautious to their battery life. Companies need to
make sure their battery consumption is kept to a decent level. So the key here
is no app is useful on a dead mobile. Prioritizing battery life over developing
fancy features is important.
An app with great
features and a poor user experience will be less successful than an app with
good capabilities and a great user experience.
Whenever companies are developing, make sure that they consider the
user's perspective like How, when, where, and why will they use app? The
difference between a successful app and a failure is customer retention. It is
the foundation of business growth, more importantly positive talk in the online
market. High quality mobile apps always turn new customers into loyal fans and
advocates.
A company’s mobile app is a representation of its
business in general. That means having a quality mobile app is crucial than
ever before. A company’s customers are on the move and using their mobiles to
some task on an app. Mobile app customers who are on the move, so these apps
need to be easy to use in spite of the limitations that can come with mobile
devices, especially limitations due to their size.
One possible way to improve the mobile customer
experience is to focus on the people who will actually be using an app: current
and potential customer. While designing an app, it is important to identify who
are target customers are and what their needs are. When determining what these
needs are, companies should consider things such as customer preferences,
goals, and their knowledge level. Identifying the context in which an app is
used will enable companies to design an app that meet the needs of the people.
For example, the features of an app for medical professionals may differ than
an app for an e-retailer.
When designing an app, companies should ensure that its
visual presentation is fits well in different mobile devices. Font, color need
to be customized and as per the standards to make sure the most pleasant
customer experience. Companies should
not miss releasing user-friendly app versions for all upcoming device platforms
and versions, since customers might upgrade their mobile device platform
version, and if an app doesn’t work customer will look for another app. To
ensure customers have an exceptional experience while using app, companies need
to perform comprehensive, reliable mobile application testing.
Clearly, customers like their mobiles and the mobile apps
they can use on them – but they can’t like all the apps that cannot be used.
With tens of thousands different apps on the online market, the competition is
fierce. So unless a company has a ubiquitous presence on mobiles everywhere, companies
have to identify how to make its app stand out. Many of the mobile app
developers have realized importance of focusing on improving or redesigning
existing ideas to make a better app. When a customer downloads an app, it shows
interest in a brand. App holders are the most valuable customers.
One important aspect is that a company can choose
customer group carefully, and ask each member to provide their feedback
individually. This will help to collect diverse opinions and gives a wider
perspective of how the app is working on different devices and customer
experience to improve customer retention.
CONCLUSION
Thorough testing of an app for functionality,
performance, compatibility with different devices and platforms, collecting and
analyzing feedback data of the successful and failure similar apps, identifying
customer usage patter and experience, and developing accordingly are some of
the excellent ways for the mobile app providers to launch their quality mobile
app and retain their customers from the very first time.
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