Fashion
In the past few years, we’ve increasingly seen businesses use apps to drive revenue either through ad space, paid access to premium features, or even a small download cost.
The latest information from Statista reveals the scale of the market, with data showing that Android users are currently able to download 2.1 million apps, closely followed by Apple users who can download 1.8 million apps from the App Store.
Data released by Apple and Mashable has revealed that YouTube was the most downloaded app of 2018, closely followed by Instagram and Snapchat. Meanwhile, in the gaming chart, Fortnite edged out Helix Jump and Rise Up. However, although many people first think of gaming and social media, there are many other successful apps that have revitalised dated concepts in order to gain success. Here, we review three of these.
Online bingo apps have helped to revive what many people considered to be a ‘care home hobby’ to a mainstream form of entertainment. Lessening reliance on bingo halls, apps and websites have allowed people to play from the comfort of their own home (or anywhere in the world) at a time that suits them.
As well as expanding the target market for bingo users, online bingo has allowed providers to specifically target new users and customers. As part of this, we’ve seen companies such as Buzz Bingo provide a new level of accessibility to draw people into a new experience using their app, which gives players access to over a dozen game variants.
The travel industry has been revitalised by apps and technology. Whereas customers used to be reliant on queuing in taxi ranks or calling operators to try and find an available taxi, apps like Uber have allowed customers to receive all this information in the palm of their hand. From the app, which is now used by 95 million people monthly, customers can find their nearest taxi and assess the cost of their ride before booking directly via the app. Plus, much like with bingo apps, providers such as Uber also offer incentives such as ‘£10 off your first ride’ to help entice customers to the platform.
To compete with Uber, we’ve also seen public transport catch up with the trend, with numerous rail and bus providers now offering their own apps for direct booking, which has lessened the need for customers to carry cash for journeys.
Remember the days when your wallet or purse was packed with loyalty cards? Well, thanks to apps, these slips of paper are largely a thing of the past, offering benefits for customers and businesses alike.
As well as helping customers to keep track of their benefits, these apps allow businesses to generate sales data and audience profiles, helping them know how regularly customers visit, what their favourite orders are and where they usually buy from. This means that they can offer targeted advertisements and promotions aimed at increasing customer loyalty.
The Starbucks app, for example, allows customers to pay for their purchases, find stores, redeem rewards and even order and pay in advance, allowing app holders to skip the queue.
Looking to the future, it appears likely that we will become increasingly reliant on apps such as these, and it may only be a matter of time until all aspects of our lives are governed via smartphones. We could, for example, even see electronic voting, which has already been trialled in Australia and Belgium. With additional security measures required, many people see this as the final frontier due to cyber-security concerns, but it appears as though the sky is the limit for what we can do with apps.
