There have been a few articles released recently that have implied that smartphone users no longer have any interest in mobile apps, but in fact, this couldn’t be further from the truth. As an entrepreneur in the mobile app sector, Roman Taranov believes that, despite the reports that applications are on a downward slide, they are actually just as popular as ever and still represent a great investment opportunity.
The Abandonment Of Apps
The reason behind the recent reports of applications falling from favour centres around findings that app developers have a very narrow window of opportunity. 45% of users who choose to download and install a new app are likely to abandon its use within 7 days. Yet, while this sounds like terrible news, Roman points out the more positive data that if a user carries on using that app for a second week, the rate of retention increases to 82%. Therefore, the onus lies on the app developers – to create an app that’s so user-friendly, fun and engaging to use that users can’t let it go.
Bypassing Appstore And Google Play Payment Methods
Mobile payments have seen a huge rise in recent years, with the likes of Apple Pay and Google Pay being more accepted in smaller stores as well as larger ones with a national reach, as well as inside apps themselves for add-ons and special features. However, both of these methods cost the merchant large sums to utilise, in the region of 30%, so it is more than likely we will see a rise in alternative payment methods aiming to compete with lower fees.
Within the AppStore and Google Play, those apps purely offering entertainment are not able to cope with such a demand on their pricing models by the suppliers, so the rise of direct transactions made by PayPal or by credit card is also witnessing a rise. Examples of this are Netflix and Disney, both of which redirect users to their own designated website to complete the transactions. It is highly likely many of the smaller apps will also follow suit.
AppStore and Google Play also provides an extremely easy means to unsubscribe and don’t require any commitments from user, while constantly reminding about subscription in the most obvious way.
Fantastic Market Conditions
Another positive thing that Roman points out is the market conditions right now are looking very good for app developers. The market is by no means fully saturated, and in the last 4 years, the amount of app downloads has increased from 83.8 billion to 114.9 billion each year. Add to that the fact that the number of people using smartphones is continuing to increase all over the world, and this means that more users are out there to try new apps.
Not only that, but users are currently spending 25% more time using mobile apps than they were a year ago, with in-app spending having increased to more than $28 billion. While most of this spending is, of course, linked to mobile gaming, even non-gaming apps have seen a significant share of the market. In the third quarter of 2020, the number of apps downloaded from the Google Play Store rose by 10%, while the Apple App Store saw an increase in the number of downloads by an impressive 20%.
What Kind of Apps Are Doing Well?
The global COVID-19 pandemic has been a major bonus for the app development market, since entertainment and communication have become dominant industries as everyone was stuck at home in lockdown. Before coronavirus hit, apps were already popular, but once the disease took hold, the rates of growth were phenomenal. Business app downloads skyrocketed by an enormous 180%, with health and fitness app downloads increasing by more than 140% and educational apps by more than 100%. These numbers are all 20% - 40% higher than they were before the global pandemic, and all of this adds up to excellent news for anyone who is considering investing in app development.
Yet, while the mobile application market is arguably at its highest point of all time, Roman believes that it’s possible that it could go up even further. Yet, he also emphasises that not all app downloads are created equal. He points out that those who are interested in investing in app development should consider specific app categories if they want to maximise their investment.
Addressing the Needs Of The User
Of course, Roman knows first-hand as the mastermind behind Ruby Labs, a leading mobile app developer and publisher, it isn’t enough to simply launch an app – the product on offer must address the needs of the target audience. For this reason, he says, doing plenty of research into what your target market are looking for is imperative before getting to work on developing any app.
Making the right first impression is, as Roman states, absolutely essential if users are to be retained in the long-term. A beautiful design is important, but users also demand an excellent onboarding experience and a UI/UX that drives user engagement, otherwise the app will miss the mark. If users are to fall in love with the app in just one week, it must provide sufficient value to keep them returning time and time again. It’s only by achieving this can long-term success be achieved.
Roman’s Own Experiencein The Wellness Sector
As an example, to others who are keen to invest in app development, Roman points out his own experience in the industry. He set up Ruby Labs drawing on his own expertise in the marketing, strategy, management and development sectors after spotting the growing niche within which his company could operate. He openly admits to perfectly positioning Ruby Labs so that it would find the most lucrative market gabs on which it could capitalise.
Ruby Labs’ first application, Hint, focused on the self-care market, but taking a different direction to most other apps within the niche, it focused on the astrology sector which is an especially lucrative market but is still underrepresented in the digital sphere. It was no wonder, then, that the company scaled aggressively and achieved substantial margins within just 12 months, with 50 million people downloading it and rating it highly.
After Hint’s amazing success, Ruby Labs’ second app is poised to take the health and wellness sector by storm. The fitness niche has a worth of $100 billion, while the wellness niche is worth $4.2 trillion, which makes “Able” a great investment. Designed to help people get healthy and live for longer, this app will enable its users to make sensible lifestyle choices to improve their over quality of life.
With this in mind, Roman shows that the mobile apps market is far from dead and is, in fact, thriving in a way that it never has before. As long as investors make the right choices about what kinds of apps to invest in, he says, the future is an extremely bright one.