Digital commerce is on the increase throughout the world – growing at the rate 0f 50% in the past couple of years, with more than 90% of the growth share directly credited to mobile apps. Mobile is now one of the leading platforms, so much so that 70% of the time spent on a smart phone by an average user, is dedicated to mobile apps1.

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Mobile Apps for your customers
report from 2016 and trends to
keep an eye on in 2017
Industry Insights
Digital commerce is on the increase throughout the world – growing at the rate 0f 50% in the
past couple of years, with more than 90% of the growth share directly credited to mobile apps.
Mobile is now one of the leading platforms, so much so that 70% of the time spent on a smart
phone by an average user, is dedicated to mobile apps​1​
. Given below is an approximate report
on how mobile apps have contributed to business growth in 2016, and what the predicted
plan of use of apps is in 2017.
Market Insights Reviewed
● Implications of smart phone apps’ increase in digital media usage time: Customer
engagement is on the rise with introduction of mobile apps. It is predicted to rise by
60% in 2017 allowing businesses to flourish.
● Consumers’ habits on mobile gadgets: Because of ever growing usage time, marketers
are able to differentiate their brand names, find opportunities to measure mobile ROI,
and increase their investments in application development.

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● Demographic and behavioral characterizing of app users: This helps marketers to
channel their products and reach out to the consumers according to their specific
needs and demands, which in turn has shown a rapid growth in sales charts.
● User interaction: Consumer interaction has increased and has helped brands to work
on consumer feedback to serve the best quality buying experience and drive brand
loyalty. Customer service has also been one of the most developed areas of concern in
2016 due to the implementation of mobile apps.
● Relationship between mobile app and mobile web: Mobile web is all inclusive and
gives the audience a wider reach in terms of research, but mobile apps has helped in
raising user engagement, impeccable customer experience, brand and product
awareness, ROI and number of sales, and so on.
2017 Goals
● Increasing customer attraction and retention by 73%​2​
.
● Creating a lasting brand loyalty.
● Creating awareness for brand name, products, and new launches.
Areas that still need work
Most of the modern mobile apps require access to real-time events for providing a great
customer experience. Alert for flight information, or an end of season sale, customers are
more likely to react faster than other traditional marketing methods​3​
. Secondly, app
responsiveness is very important for customer retention and engagement. Also, building an
infrastructure that can support large scale data distribution is also an area that is always
neglected by many businesses while starting out. Developing a hybrid or native app which can
be used across different platforms and devices is also crucial.

3. 3
Summary
Brand differentiation will be more prominent in 2017 as most businesses are willing to go that
extra mile by serving their customers in their mobile devices​4​
.
Mobile web and mobile apps are going to mingle together to form the most powerful tool of
marketing ever in history.
Brand innovation strategy will be reinvented by using artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and
Internet of Things.
Keeping a track on social media marketing, analytics measurement, and so on will become
easily accessible for small B2B companies​5​
.
Lastly, customer adoption of mobile devices for home and wearable devices will bring new
opportunities for B2C marketers.
References
1. “The 2016 U.S. Mobile App Report.” ​ComScore, Inc. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2017.
2. “7 Statistics That Prove Mobile Apps Are Crucial For Customer Loyalty.” ​Small
Business Trends. N.p., 29 Sept. 2016. Web. 03 Jan. 2017.
3. “15 Tips for Developing and Improving Mobile Applications.” ​Information Age. N.p., 24
Sept. 2014. Web. 03 Jan. 2017.
4. “Thomas Husson’s Blog.” ​How Mobile Will Transform Business in 2016 | Forrester
Blogs. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2017.
5. “12 Best B2B Mobile Apps for Managing Your Business on the Go.” ​ROI Factor Blog.
N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2017.