Creating Mobile App in 2020: Is It Too Late?

“Is it too late for my business to have its own mobile app?”
“Is there even any market share for my business to tap in once we create the mobile app?”
No, it’s not too late. Yes, you can still disrupt the existing market even you just created your own app in 2020.
Mobile Phone is being used more and more every day
The usage of smartphones hasn’t even decreased for a single year yet. It keeps increasing each year. During the previous Black Friday, purchases through smartphones made up 39% of all eCommerce sales, which is a 21% increase over last year, according to Mashable. What makes this number even more special, is that it’s based on the number of actual purchases during the busiest days in the US, which is known for its low daily usage of mobile phones worldwide. According to We Are Social Global Digital Report 2019, there are at least 25 countries with higher mobile phone usage, with the highest has more than 2x average time spent on mobile internet daily.
In 2019, where life is becoming more mobile than ever, the increase in mobile phone usage is just as expected. People spent more time on the internet. While the number of hours spent on PC/laptop to access the internet decreased year-on-year, the utilization of mobile devices for a daily basis has increased a lot.

Internet usage through mobile devices have never slowed down! In fact, it keeps increasing every year. Following the trend, the time spent using the internet through mobile devices might reach 50% by 2020.
This change of behavior forced the business owners to rethink their strategy; how can they utilize their assets and strategy to meet their target market behaviors. A lot of businesses adapting by making mobile app as one of their main channels. Even for existing large brands that have been running their business for decades, having a mobile app should be one of their considerations to stay competitive in this very decade.
In this article, we’ll show you 2 brands, representing a newly established business/startup company and an existing worldwide brand with

Several Examples of Mobile App

Here I’ll show you several examples of mobile app from a newly founded business and an existing worldwide brand.
Fore Coffee, a tech-enabled on-demand coffee startup, has tremendous growth within less than a year. Launched in Q3 2018, by utilizing mobile apps as their first and main sales channel, supported by aggressive marketing strategy, their business records increased incrementally; over 300,000 cups sold monthly, 200 employees, and over a half of million app downloads.
One of Fore Coffee’s storefront in Indonesia
When the locals think the coffee shop is already saturated with Starbucks as the high-end shop, Kopi Kenangan as the low-middle end shop, Fore Coffee successfully disrupts the coffee specialty scene in Indonesia utilizing aggressive digital marketing and their mobile app promotions. Later that year, as a response to the heated competition, Kopi Kenangan raised funding to begin the development of their mobile app.
 
Another example, Nike, a worldwide brand that exists for more than 50 years.
New Nike+ Mobile App
In 2016, they released a whole-new revamped Nike+ mobile app, on top of their several existing apps (Nike Run Club, Nike Training Club, SNRKS, NikeConnect, and Nike Adapt) It’s a feature-rich app that can be used even for non-transactional activities, like:

• Customized feed tab
• Personalized online store
• Book 1:1 reservation in selected Nike stores
• Member-exclusive events
• Social media
• Training & running tips from coaches (a REAL coach! Not an AI)
• and a lot more.

Combined with the other Nike apps, they added a new channel to get connected with their target market. With the Nike apps ecosystem, they’re able to deliver personalized contents and messages to each of their users. This will increase their users’ engagement which will drive customer loyalty. This is their answer to stay competitive in the current year, competing with other big brands like Under Armour and Adidas who delivered a better app experience before them.

Conclusion

You can create and use a mobile app in any scenario. It’s like constructing an extra arm for your robot; it can do anything based on what are you planning with it. It can be your main product that you can sell to the market, a new sales/marketing channel for your business, building a stronger brand personality, inventory management, or even as productivity app to support your business operational.
Ready to build your first mobile app? Contact one of our experts! Get a free consultation before you take your first step into the mobile app world.