The Register ran an interesting article recently. The piece highlighted that many well known brands are missing out on sales, unnecessarily. Many of these brands have a conventional website, a mobile ‘optimised’ site and a mobile app, so you would think they were well poised to reap the commercial rewards.
But, the article claims that many of these brands are losing potential sales because the different apps are simply not ‘joined up’. They do not provide a consistent experience across the various platforms, and they are not synchronised with the businesses’ core processes.
It seems that as companies have rushed to cater for users on different platforms (e.g. desktop/laptop, tablet/mobile phone); a fluid user experience has been lost.
The National Lottery iPhone app
Shaun found a good example – the National Lottery iPhone app. He was disappointed that you can’t buy tickets through the app (and he’s not alone if you read the reviews). In this case there is good reason. The app has to pass Apple’s approval process and they simply won’t allow lottery ticket sales. But that doesn’t stop users from being disappointed. For some, why bother with the app at all?
A mobile-optimised web app would have been a better approach. The National Lottery could have offered the same services as their website, with a smooth, consistent experience between desktop and mobile platforms. And avoided Apple’s approval process at the same time.
The benefits
In the same article it’s good to see that many companies have got this right and are reaping the commercial rewards. Developing apps that both reflect the demands of consumers and that meet business goals, is an essential element to providing a profitable online service.
So what does this mean to our clients?
Don’t get too carried away with the latest gadget or platform. Consider how you need to interact with your audience (and vice-versa) and then plan a consistent service across all the platforms you aim to deliver it on. As the article suggests, the rewards are there if you get it right.
At Boson, we develop synchronised web-based apps that give our clients a competitive edge. Regardless of how, where or when users access their services, they can do so on a platform of their choice quickly, easily and consistently. If you’d like to chat about the possibilities, get in touch. We’d love to help.
