Before diving into the topic of mobile app development, let us see first about the present on-demand market and go through some stats for clear understanding. See, more than 200 billion apps were downloaded globally in 2018. These apps are used for gaming, advertising, productivity, service providing, information sharing, and many more. Now apps have moved one step further and nowadays they fulfill customer’s need by providing them goods and services in real-time. The problem of impatience and inconvenience of the customers are solved creatively using apps. The services provided by using these apps are on-demand businesses. Are you hungry? Take your smartphone and order food with an app and it will be delivered at your doorsteps in minutes. Want a taxi immediately? With a tap, you can book a cab anywhere and anytime. What I am saying now is just the tip of the iceberg. The market revenue of on-demand services is a whopping $500bn in 2018. It is estimated to increase by 11% in 2019. More than 50% of the users are between 20 and 35. Such is the magnitude of this industry.
This exciting business has attracted many passionate entrepreneurs in this field. As to the question why many choose an on-demand business? Here are some points.
- Cost efficient
- High Return on Investment(ROI)
- Security
- Never before seen customer satisfaction
- Increased smartphone and network reach so, easy reaching the customers
Some of the popular on-demand services are cab booking, healthcare, doorstep delivery, medicine delivery, car sharing, room booking, just to name a few. Whenever an existing traditional industry is subjected to innovation, it comes under the on-demand roof. So, what is the reason for its reach? And what is the most important factor that can determine its success? The answer is the apps used for these services. Developing a top-notch app for the on-demand business can surely have an edge over the competitors.
Following are some of the steps to follow to develop an appropriate app for your on-demand app-based business.
Identify target users to create an app with UI/UX targeting them:
The service operator and the developing team should first find the target users of the service to develop the app according to them. Find smartphone users based on age groups and assess their usage patterns. Finally, note down the design like by the majority of these users. In most cases, UI/UX design is the game changer.
Outsource various app related work to focus on core business:
App for on-demand business is not confined to customer app. There are customer support, delivery partner, service provider, etc. Try to outsource these to another competent development team.
Strategy:
After following the above two steps, apply strategies in app development or ensure the app development firms apply these in their solution. Following things, you should deliver in the solution.
- Decision Convenience for the user
- Access Convenience for the user
- Transaction Convenience for the user
- Benefit Convenience for the user
- Post-Benefit Convenience for the user
Real-time tracking with GPS:
The customer and service provider should be able to track the order from anywhere with utmost precision. So, use cool and interactive design animation to make the tracking hassle-free.
Third-party collaboration:
To provide an apt mobile app I always recommend you to join with the top payment gateway system, GPS, social media, and maps. Apart from these, collaborate with mass SMS sending firms to provide an instant update to any no. of users.
Have a beta version of the app:
Before deploying the original app version allow the users to experience the feel of your service by providing a beta version. A functional MVP helps you do that in a matter of weeks. Analyzing the feedback from the users will help you understand how your product should be changed or improved.
Highly scalable development of the app:
The app needs to be updated regularly and it should be equipped to handle unlimited traffic for a robust app. A non-scalable platform may play spoilsport in the business.
Favorites:
By analyzing the past search data of the user, you can determine their ordering and usage pattern. By finding this, you can showcase the product of their taste/favorite items when they browse the app. Data analytics tools can be used to pursue this task.
Wrapping up:
The on-demand industry is evolving constantly and you should develop the app suitable for that otherwise, your business will become irrelevant in the long run. Choosing the right app development firm for creating the app for your business that follows all the above steps is really important. There are many ready-made app solution providers who have app clone scripts. These clone scripts are affordable and complete customization to suit any business is possible.
Once the app development is over and deployment is done, everything is not over. Post-deployment technical assistance and maintenance are indispensable for the smooth functioning of the app. The on-demand market is a competitive field and being different at every stage surely gives an edge over others.
