App Development Melbourne
Why app development?
Your customers are spending more time on their mobiles
Mobile usage has now surpassed desktop and laptop usage. Time spent on their smartphone has increased by 12% from the previous year.
The graph below shows that Australians spend over twice as much time on their smartphone.
This graph from Google Consumer Barometer also shows that 87% of people in Australia use a smartphone.
If you have an existing business, there is no doubt that you need an effective mobile strategy. You need to target your promotions (e.g. advertisements) to the mobile platform.
You then need to create an engaging experience with a mobile app that engages your customers. This will lead to a higher lifetime value for each customer and more profits for your business.
Whatever stage of business you’re in, a mobile strategy that leverages an app is very effective.
Significant revenue is being generated from Apps
With smartphone usage increasing, the corresponding revenue is also increasing.
This graph shows app revenue increased from US $ 70 billion in 2015 to US$ 88 billion in 2016. The forecast for 2020 is $ 189 billion.
App Stores generate revenue from three different sources:
- App installations (e.g. you pay an amount to install the app).
- In-app purchases (e.g. You pay for extra features within an app).
- Advertising (e.g. advertisers pay to display advertisements in their apps).
The statistics show there is significant revenue growth within the app economy.
However, there is tremendous value in apps that do not generate revenue from the app store.
Apps create significant value through digital engagement
Most apps are free. In 2018, over 94% of apps in the Google Pay and 88 percent of apps in Apple App store were free.
Yet, apps can generate tremendous value with digital engagement. A great example is the Starbucks App. It has created a fantastic digital engagement.
Forty eight percent (48%) of smartphone owners that use restaurant loyalty apps use the Starbucks app.
The Starbucks rewards programme represents 40% of US company operated sales. Also, digitally engaged customers buy two to three times more products.
We can help you to create amazing digital engagement with an app.
iPhone App Development Melbourne
Why target the iOS platform?
iOS has higher market share in Australia
Although Samsung market share is increasing in Australia, Apple is the clear leader. Apple has 58.69% market share in Australia.
It is essential that your app targets the iOS platform to gain exposure to this market.
Apple App Store generates more revenue than Google Play Store
A more interesting statistic is the total revenue from the Apple App Store. The graph shows that the Apple App store generates 66% of the revenue.
Although revenue from both stores is increasing, Apple has the lions share.
From a monetization perspective, you need to target the iOS platform.
Should you target the Android Platform?
Depending upon the scope of your project, you should consider deploying your app on the Android platform.
The three key reasons you should consider the Android platform include:
1) Android dominates worldwide market share at 74.3%.
2) Even where Android is not the leader, it still has significant market share.
3) There are significantly more downloads on Google Play than the Apple App Store.
We have a comprehensive article on Android app development here. This article will provide a detailed analysis on Android app development.
Hybrid Apps: Deploy your app in both platforms
Given the data above, it is likely that you will want to develop your app for both iOS and Android.
If you were to develop native apps for both platforms, there will be very little code reuse between them. Both the iOS and Android platforms have different programming environments and languages.
However, for most apps you can develop ‘hybrid apps’ that can be deployed in both platforms.
Older hybrid development environments such as Ionic or Phonegap relied on wrapping a ‘web page’ in an app container. The user interface was ‘clunky’ and resulted in sub-optimal customer experience.
The next generation of hybrid apps yields performance comparable to ‘native apps’. This is a ‘step change’ in the hybrid development approach.
React Native is our choice in hybrid development platform
For most apps, we choose to use React Native which is an app development environment from Facebook.
One of the key advantages of React Native is that we can use Javascript to develop in both iOS and Android apps. This means that most of the code can be re-used reducing the cost of development.
The real benefit is that it leverages the native user interface components. This delivers a user experience that is comparable to a native app.
Apps written in React Native
Parts of the Facebook app are written in React Native.
Other apps from Facebook such as the Ads Manager have been written from the ground up using React Native.
Parts of the Instagram app are written in React Native. React Native.
The key benefits found by the Instagram engineering team was being able to ship features faster through code sharing and higher iteration speeds.
Code reuse ranged from 85% to 99% that is a significant saving in both time and cost.
The original restaurant dashboard for UberEATS was written as a web app that had significant usability issues.
After evaluating their options, the team rewrote the restaurant dashboard with React Native.
A significant benefit was the ability to continually deploy updates without having to submit the apps to the app stores for review.
React Native can dramatically reduce your costs and minimise the time to market. Speak to us to see how we can use it amplify your point of difference.
Our App development process
What makes us different is we take a ‘partnership approach’ to our engagements.
Our process outlined below illustrates the partnership approach we follow.
Market validation
This phase is more relevant to businesses that want to generate revenue from the App stores.
There is one fact that app salespeople don’t like to admit. The ability to generate revenue directly from the app store is extremely challenging.
We all hear about the tremendous amounts of money that apps create. Yet, research has shown that the success rate for a profitable app is 0.01 percent.
Research suggests that two-thirds of apps will fail to reach 1,000 downloads. Also, 21% of users will abandon an app after just one use.
This is not to say your app idea will fail. It highlights that significant due diligence is required. We can help you with this to get a positive return on your investment.
We have various methods that help to validate your app idea before we proceed to the next phase.
If your app is part of your broader digital engagement strategy for an existing business, it still needs market validation. We have different mechanisms to ensure you receive an adequate return on investment.
As mentioned previously, we take a partnership approach to our engagements. Our success is linked to the success of our partners.
Build a prototype
At this stage, we’ll build a ‘bare bones’ prototype that you can demonstrate to your target customers for feedback.
The goal of the prototype is to further validate that your app will meet the requirements of your target customers. It will also be used for demonstration purposes in capital raising scenarios.
The prototype is developed at an absolute minimum cost as it is only used to illustrate a concept.
The prototype is relevant for new ideas and concepts. If you already have an existing web application that has been validated, then this phase can be skipped.
Business case development
Developing a business case requires many different steps that is outlined below:
Estimate revenue generated
At this stage, you have demonstrated your prototype to the target market and captured feedback. Ideally, you have some sort of commitment from your target market to use the app.
The best form of commitment is in the form of a ‘pre-sale’. Nothing gives a better sign that your app will solve an important problem than a cash commitment.
It’s also important to note that there are many ways to generate revenue from an app. Most apps on the app stores are free to install. This article shows how free apps generate revenue.
A revenue driver could also be through increased digital engagement from the app.
Whichever strategy is used to generate revenue, it must be incorporated into the financial forecast.
Estimate marketing costs
The cost for customer acquisition forms a key component of the business plan. There must be some assumptions on the how the app will be marketed and the associated costs.
Create a detailed business case
The business case will include a detailed financial forecast. Revenue can be from app stores or incremental revenue from digital engagement.
Build and deploy the App
This is where we code the production version of the app.
The engagement model that we use for the project depends upon the client’s requirements.
There are two engagement models that we use:
Fixed price project
Fixed price projects can be suitable when there is a solid budget restriction. There may be situations where project scope is well defined and a fixed price is also suitable.
In these situations, fixed price projects may be the best option.
Time and materials projects
In situations where the scope is not well defined, a flexible engagement model may be appropriate. This is where the partner pays for the time used by our developers.
This is suitable for start-up companies or new divisions within established companies. In these situations, the requirements for the app is not well defined.
For time and materials projects, we use the SCRUM agile methodology. The app is built in small cycles known as ‘sprints’.
This allows the partner to incorporate feedback as the product is being built.
This approach is ideal for projects where end-user feedback is required to ‘shape’ the product. An agile approach helps to achieve ‘product-market fit’ that is essential for success.
Execute the marketing plan
The business case made some marketing assumptions.
At this stage, the high-level marketing plan needs to be detailed and then executed.
Having an effective marketing plan is critical in helping your app become successful.
Book a FREE strategy session!
Please use the form below or contact us directly to organise a FREE strategy session. We look forward to seeing how we can amplify the point of difference of your business.