‘Mobile Apps Will Enhance Businesses Opportunities’

Emma Okonji New research from Oracle reveals that nearly 55 per cent of people say a poor mobile app experience would make them less likely to use a company’s products or services. According to the global report, Millennials and mobility: how businesses can tap into the app generation, 39 per cent of people would also be less likely to recommend a company’s products or services to others following a poor app experience, and 27 per cent admit it would even give them a negative view of that organization’s products or services altogether.

These findings make it clear that if companies cannot provide current and prospective customers with engaging mobile app experience that also accurately reflects the values of their brand, they risk alienating the millennial generation and seeing their competition pull ahead with a more convincing mobile offering.

Vice President, Mobile Strategy and Product Management at Oracle, Suhas Uliyar, said: “An engaging and personalized user experience has become the new weapon in the battle to attract and retain millennial customers. Businesses that cannot add value for customers with a more convenient, functional, and relevant mobile experience have little chance of coming out on top.”

The report also shows that people are turned off by unsolicited communications in the form of push-notifications that aren’t relevant to their individual needs, but are happy to receive support in the form of value-added communications from businesses.

From the research report, 73 per cent like the ability to purchase a company’s product or service using a mobile app. Likewise, 71 per cent like the ability to manage billing for services, and 65 per cent like being able to flag issues or complaints to a business via a mobile app. That said, more than half 56 per cent would prefer not to receive push-notifications. The same percentage rarely act on the push-notifications they do receive, even though nearly 50 per cent admit these are personalized to them.

To this point, Uliyar added: “The ability to manage bills or flag service issues to a company via a mobile app implies an agreed-upon relationship between a customer and brand or service provider. The story is completely different in the case of push-notifications. Organizations will need to provide app-based services that deftly tread the line between helpfulness and overbearingness if they want to tap into young peoples’ affinity for using mobile and tablet apps without alienating them.”

A region-specific breakdown of the survey reveals that young people in are miles ahead in their app use across the board, most notably so when it comes to apps for work and more serious functions. On a global scale, the research points to a discrepancy between smartphone and tablet app use among people. While young people use tablets on a considerable scale, smartphones remain their device of choice for accessing mobile apps. For example, 61 per cent of people surveyed have uploaded media content using a smartphone app, while 35 per cent have done so with a tablet.

When it comes to transferring money to a friend, 48 per cent have used a smartphone app to do so, compared to 22 per cent that resorted to tablet apps.

“There clearly remains much room for innovation when it comes to tablet apps, as well as apps for larger form phablets, and companies that answer the call will be well-placed to capitalize on a still maturing market.

However, apps for smartphones and tablets should not be developed independently from each other.