Are Progressive Web Apps A Better Choice Than Native Mobile Apps?

Mobile Apps not only dominate electronic space on our mobiles but also play a dominant role in our lives. Many people around the world tend to start their day not with a morning cup of coffee but with a mobile app. Decisions as simple as which fitness routine to choose to critical financial decisions are often based on information obtained from mobile apps. More than ever before, people are downloading and using a large number of apps which are not only helping them find what they want instantly, but also assisting them in accessing information, buying products, availing services, and staying updated about new offerings.

With apps dominating the market, it is no longer relevant to ask if your business needs a mobile app development. The question is which mobile app is better for your business. If a native mobile app is what you have, should you be concerned that progressive web apps might topple native mobile apps? This blog will discuss these questions in detail. 

Are you looking forward to building an innovative mobile app to boost your revenue?

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Why Choose The Right App Development Strategy?

Mobile apps are like route maps to your business. A wrong app design could confuse your customers.  This either results in them losing interest in your product or worse yet, leads them right into the arms of your competitors. Therefore, choose your app development strategy carefully. Between a native app, a web app or a hybrid app, consider which of them would be appropriate for your business? The technology you select is what determines how your app will be developed and how users will interact with it. Choosing the wrong technology can be an expensive mistake resulting in inaccessibility or poor performance. Here are a few answers to questions that will help you choose the right technology.

https://www.fingent.com/insights/portfolio/choosing-the-right-mobile-app-development-approach-for-your-business/

What is a progressive web app?

Web Apps which blend the best features of Native and Web Apps are called Progressive Web Apps.  They are called progressive because as the name suggests, they are progressing constantly, it is an evolving technology.

How does PWA work?

PWA works in the background, making the user experience smooth. When the user interacts with the app, it loads all the necessary resources. Since PWA uses JavaScript, its code gives the app the ability to work offline and helps load the website faster than native apps. The latest improvements in scripting languages have made it easier to convert or build your website into a PWA. Also, it is gaining more attention from designers and developers. 

Related Reading: Check out these four top secret tips to consider while developing a mobile app.

How does PWA have an Upper hand over Native Apps?

In the wrestle between Native and PW apps, many aspects give PWA an upper hand. Here are some of them:

•  Adaptable

Because PWAs are built with progressive enhancement, they work for every user, regardless of the type of browser used.  It can automatically adjust to various types of devices such as a desktop, mobile, tablet and so on. In other words, PWAs are not limited to a specific platform. Therefore, you need not develop separate versions of the app for different platforms.

• Auto Update

Updates are a data consuming and often frustrating aspect of any app. Progressive apps auto-update in the background without disturbing your in-app experience and with minimal data consumption.

• Easy to Install

Without taking the user to an app store, PWAs allow users to install the website as an app on their home screen. The size of apps that we install from any store varies, but they are quite often in the MBs. With PWA, you don’t need to waste much-needed disk space and internet data because it takes up less than a megabyte of space and it takes less than a second to install. Also, they can be shared easily via a URL and do not necessitate complex installation.

• Budget-friendly

In terms of app development and maintenance, the biggest advantage for an app publisher is the cost saving.  Building a mobile app is not the most budget-friendly thing to do. It takes time and money to build a mobile app. And for it to be popular, it has to be present on all platforms, which further hikes up the price. The PWA alternative is not only, budget-friendly, but can be done in a relatively short time. As it is progressive, it will not need further customizations.

• Web Push Notifications

PWA is capable of supporting Push Notification API. Studies show that push notifications have a 50% higher opening rate and 7 times higher click rate than email messages.  

• Discoverability

Perhaps, we have spent hours on an app looking for something that we eventually never found. If you want search results from more than one app, you will have to go to each individual app to search.  PWA’s however, can be crawled by search engines. You can search for something on Google and get appropriate results from the content inside your progressive app.

• User-friendly

Progressive Web Apps are available instantly.  Since it is built on the app shell model it feels like a mobile app with app-style interactions. To ensure content is securely delivered it is served via HTTPS.

Related Reading: Read on to know whether React Native stands a better chance in mobile app development than Flutter.

Embrace Progress

In a progressive era, such as this, we cannot ignore the importance of mobile application development. The variety of applications we have, suits all kinds of users whether young or old. The PWA market has solutions for each user. Advancement in technologies has also played an important role in the success in PWA. Whether it is business, entertainment, health or education, today each sector is experiencing the benefits of PWAs. PWA technology is improving every day with new functions and features in the making. Advancement in PWA and its technologies may one day pin down native apps.

Read more on top technologies to be used for mobile app development.

Whether it topples native mobile apps or not, it is definitely a good tool in your business arsenal. If that’s what you want, give us a call at Fingent and allow us to help you implement it in your business.

Read More: Mobile App Development : 4 Tips To Consider

How Can You Successfully Build A Mobile App?

From the moment we wake up to the minute we fall asleep, mobile apps have become an indelible part of our lives. The number of mobile phone users is forecast to reach 4.68 billion this year! With a consumer-driven economy here to stay, businesses must adapt to what the consumer needs and where he needs it – at his fingertips and at his convenience. Understanding this need, businesses have got on to the bandwagon and are going full steam ahead on mobile app development. While this is the way to go, remember that not every mobile app is successful. There are a few vital points to keep in mind when developing a mobile app and this blog will discuss a few of them.

Related Reading: Find how mobile apps can unleash innovation and transform businesses. 

Top Points to Follow While Developing A Mobile App

Developing a mobile app isn’t a small investment. Research shows that it could take an investment of more than $270,000 to design, build and launch an app and could be much higher depending on the complexity of the app. Considering the investment involved, you would think that it would be an automatic success. Yet, experts say that two-thirds of apps will fail to reach 1,000 downloads in the first year. Even more alarming is the research which shows that 23% of those who download the application abandon the app after a single use!

Staggering numbers, aren’t they? Cost issues, bad tech, competition, failure to understand the actual need of the customer and other factors contribute to this failure. This is why it is vital to have all your ducks in a row before you get to mobile app development. Here are a few tips to ensure that your mobile app sees success and doesn’t join the numbers as a failure.

1. Understanding Need

Customers are not going to use your app if they do not see the value in it for themselves. That goes much beyond simply displaying your products or services and giving them a way to buy it through the app. The important question is: Why will the user download the app, make space for it on their phone and use it to engage with your business? This will only happen if they have a use for it and an emotional connection to it. That involves understanding customer behavior and how to cater to it.

The Fogg Behavior Model is often mentioned in this context. According to this model, “the behavior of a person is influenced by his motivation to perform a particular action, his ability to perform it and finally, the trigger.”

Understanding what the needs of your customers are, will help you determine the motivation factor. Recognizing the features that make your app more user-friendly,  will help you influence the ability of your app. Finally, using technology like machine learning to understand the right time and the right way to introduce the right product will lead to greater success. This will push them to engage with your app and consequently with your business.

Preparing a proof of concept is an important factor in understanding if there is a need for your app and the motivating factor for customers to use the app. What are the challenges faced by your customers? Are there solutions to these challenges and how will your application provide it? These are the first questions to be addressed before you start on development. The research will help you determine who your customer is, what they need and how you can provide it. This will help you plan the functionality and design of your app in a way that will encourage downloads and engagement.

2. Selecting the Right Platforms and Database

As important as it is to get the design and the code for the mobile app right, it is equally important to decide which mobile platform you will need to build your app on. This is the foundation on which your code will rest. Of the many mobile platforms that came and went, iOS and Android have made their mark among consumers and it looks like they are here to stay. Now taking these two as the base point, you will still need to determine which mobile platform your app will be used on.  You should also consider if your interests will be best served if you design for both or opt for a hybrid platform.

Since the language used by the developers will have to be natively supported by the platform you choose, this factor is vital. Your budget, the time and resources you employ, and the ultimate success or failure of the app will be influenced by this decision so tread carefully. Give careful consideration to your customer demographic. Are they predominantly Android users or iOS? What are the costs of designing the app on each platform? Will it be better to consider native app development or close-platform? Choosing the right database is also an important factor to consider as this will be crucial to the performance of your app.

3. Design Goals

This is where it all boils down to – Design and functionality. A mobile form design should be intuitive, clear and engaging.

Specification: The first consideration should be about what you want users to do once they have the app open. Decide what you want to include and what might be redundant to users. Listing functional and non-functional requirements clearly is the start line of the development.

Visual Design: Information presented in a clean and focused manner is vital to draw the attention of users in the direction you want to lead them. Using single fields of input and optimizing the information, appears like a conversation you are having with your client is important.

4. Security Considerations

With mobile applications, collecting sensitive information and gaining access to other information on their mobile device, consumers want to know that their information is safe. They want to know that adequate measures have been taken to comply with data protection laws. Integration of payment gateways in the application adds another level of concern when it comes to security.

Related Reading: You might also like to read about the top security issues in mobile app development.

This is why the onus lies on you to ensure security. For this, you will have to secure the app’s code from the ground up. Encryption of the code, files, and databases, securing network connections on the back-end, enabling authentication and identification technologies, and other robust security measures are vital in mobile app development.

The success of a mobile application highly depends on the strategies and approaches implemented. Check out our Whitepaper to know how to select the best approach for Mobile App Development.

https://www.fingent.com/insights/portfolio/choosing-the-right-mobile-app-development-approach-for-your-business/

Ensuring the Success of Your Mobile Application

If mobile application development is on your mind, we understand if you might feel bitten off more than you can chew. Mobile app development needs careful consideration, but with the right guidance, it can be the best thing that has happened to your company. Connect with our IT consultants today and let us simplify it for you.

Best Retail Mobile App Features To Enhance Your Customer Experience

Speed, convenience, innovation, and customer experience – these are the elements that drive the retail industry today. With consumers becoming increasingly connected and demanding personalized services, retail brands can no longer sit back and expect a good product to do the trick for them. Newer, smaller and yet better tech-enabled retail players are pushing into the market and giving big brands a run for their money. Technology is thus the biggest competitive advantage in today’s digital age, and retailers are recognizing the importance of mobile app technology to communicate their tech-driven goals. In this blog, we will discuss exactly how retail mobile apps are helping retailers boost their business. We will also discuss 3 must-have features in retail apps.

Related Reading: Although mobile apps are a source for greater business success, it’s vulnerable to hacker attacks. Check out the top 8 security issues incurred in mobile app development. 

How A Retail Mobile App Can Help Boost Business

The number of mobile apps available today is a testimony to the popularity of mobile apps across the globe. A report by Statista shows that as of the first quarter of 2019, Android users were able to choose between 2.1 million apps and Apple’s App Store had nearly 1.8 million available apps. The demand for apps keeps increasing every day, which proves that they are the preferred choice of interaction among consumers today.

Convenience is the factor that is tipping the scales in favor of mobile apps. E-commerce and online shopping brought shopping into the homes of customers, but mobile apps go one step further and bring it to their fingertips. Here are a few more reasons how retail mobile apps are helping businesses boost sales.

• Increases Reach

The most important aspect of sales and marketing is to reach customers where they are. That’s where mobile app technology brings the biggest advantage. Here are some statistics to show that mobile devices are the best way to reach customers.

• Up to 70% of web traffic happens on a mobile device.
• U.S. consumers’ time spent on mobile crosses 5 hours a day.
• Customers have 2X more interactions with brands on mobile than anywhere else.
• Mobile app usage for shopping grew by 54% in 2017 and continues to increase.

As these statistics show, mobile apps are where the customer is and that is where retailers must focus.

• Builds Loyalty

Mobile apps allow the customer to interact directly with the company quickly and on their schedule. Push notifications and recommendations on their mobiles keep them connected to your brand at all times. Many mobile apps incorporate loyalty programs and gamification features into their mobile apps. This helps in increasing engagement with customers in the way they prefer it.

It also discourages customers from having to look elsewhere – the more they shop, the more they win and the more loyal they become. Rewarding customers for social sharing and referrals build loyalty to the brand as they feel included in the success of the business.

• Improves Efficiency

Mobile apps do much more than bring your products to consumers. They help in building efficiency along with providing ease of access. When it comes to helping customers, features like integrated shopping carts and payment gateways make the purchasing process much smoother and hassle-free.

From the operations perspective, this helps efficiently record, track and implement invoicing and inventory management. Mobile apps also offer features like employee scheduling, CRM, real-time inventory check-up and other functionalities that help employees better serve the needs of customers.

Contrary to driving business away from brick and mortar stores, mobile apps can impact and support in-store operations as well. With features that can help locate products in the store, Wishlist building, barcode scanners, and faster payment options, mobile apps can provide excellent support in-store as well.

Top Technologies Used to Develop Mobile App

3 Must-Have Features in A Retail Mobile App

Now that we’ve established how important mobile apps are in the retail business, let’s see what will get your app ahead of the competition. For a mobile app to be successful, it must be packed with features that are focused on making the customer’s journey hassle-free and enjoyable. As a start, here are some features that you absolutely must include in your mobile app.

1. Easy to Use Interface

This is one of the most important aspects to concentrate on when building a mobile app. This is the face of your company and the first point of interaction for a mobile app user. Logic dictates that this is where the customer will decide whether he wants to continue his journey with your brand or not. A few key principles to remember here are Simplicity, Ease and Brand Recognition. Do not overload your UX with too much information. Keep it simple. Ensure that the user can navigate through your site easily with simple drop-down menus and clear icons. Ensure that your brand colors, logo and other aspects of your brand image are clearly communicated in your UX.

2. Hassle-Free Purchase Options

Impulse buys are the most important advantage for retailers even when it comes to mobile apps. The best way to capitalize on this is to ensure that the customer is led through the purchase process quickly and without any hiccups. The moment customers face a glitch in the purchase process, the frustration caused could overrule their impulse to buy. The result is abandoned carts and loss of customer loyalty.

To combat this, it is important to offer multiple purchase options. In addition to cash and card on delivery, other options like debit and credit cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and PayPal must be included. This will allow the customer to make the purchase the way they prefer. Easy returns options are another way to ensure that the customer doesn’t hesitate to make the purchase. Ensuring that the inventory is up to date is also an important aspect of eliminating buyer frustration and improving customer retention.

3. Personalized Experience

Machine Learning has brought the online shopping experience a long way from what it used to be. Shoppers don’t have to deal with irrelevant spam emails or browsing through thousands of products to find what they want. Apps equipped with machine learning now know exactly what the customer wants when they want it and the best way to give it to them.

Apps are continuously learning customers’ buying preferences and finding ways to personalize the experience for them. Push notifications featuring the items they like and specialized offers for those products will give buyer’s added incentive to purchase from you.

Are you looking forward to building an innovative mobile app to boost your revenue? Get your FREE mobile app specification template here!

Go Custom with Retail Mobile Apps

While we have presented just three must feature to be included in your mobile app, there are many more that may be relevant to your particular brand and customer base. Fingent top custom software development company, we specialize in custom-built mobile app to cater to our client’s unique needs. Give us a call and let’s talk.

Read More: Mobile App Development : 4 Tips To Consider

Which Is The Right Technology Choice While Developing A Client Mobile App?

In this digital era where mobile applications are omnipresent for every single requirement, and with the wide adoption of smartphones, more than 5.6 million mobile-specific software applications are available for download via the marketplaces, Google’s Play store, Apple’s App store and Microsoft’s store. Knowledge of niche technology is crucial for an enhanced mobile app development capability. Businesses require robust and efficient mobile applications. For this, they prefer cross-platform mobile app development to leverage all essential features.

Industry’s Perception Of Cross-Platform Development

In 2012, Facebook had an issue with their cross-platform mobile application due to its unique complexity, scalability constraints and also not being able to meet user expectations. This made Facebook abandon their Hybrid-based cross-platform mobile application and take up Native cross-platform mobile application development, making the reputation of Hybrid mobile app development a debatable topic altogether.

When it comes to mobile app development frameworks, React Native and Flutter are those that compete with each other at the technological forefront, to prove their worth. React Native was introduced by Facebook and Flutter is Google’s new fledgling.  

Now, to gauge the current pros and cons of both, it is essential to deeply know the important features of the host of cross-platform mobile application development today – Flutter for hybrid application development and React Native for native. To know more about features based on critical factors, adoption, the popularity of these platforms, and other critical aspects, let’s get started!

Related Reading: Read along our Whitepaper to know how to choose the right mobile app development approach for your business. 

1. Programming Language Used

Flutter is a cross-platform framework used for mobile application development. It uses Dart language and is reactive, that is, it solves the problem of responding to incoming asynchronous data. It supports the ‘Hot Reload’ feature where your mobile application can be rerun that accelerates development. Visual Studio Code, Android Studio and IntelliJ Idea are current official supporters of Flutter.

React Native is no newbie in mobile application development and is considered as the king of cross-platform mobile application development. It is built on the React library and uses Javascript data flow is unidirectional and makes the components stateless by managing all incoming data at one single place. This javascript framework works on a single code base for iOS and Android applications. Airbnb, Instagram, and Facebook are key users.

Key Point: React Native adopts Javascript, which is easy to learn and adapt. On the other hand, since Dart has lesser adoption among the developer community, React Native is definitely the winner here.

2. Architecture

Flutter being a newbie makes everyone confused about implementing it for their mobile application development. With more than 1450 packages available on Flutter, it seems to pick up more momentum. The main architecture of Flutter is the Business Logic Component or BLoC. The Dart framework that is adopted by Flutter makes use of Skia C++ engine that includes all protocols, and contents.

React Native is no beginner and the main architecture patterns being Flux, by Facebook and Redux, the option most preferred by the user community.  

Key Point: React Native relies on Javascript bridge to connect with the native modules, whereas on the other hand, Flutter that uses the Dart framework, has most of its components in-built and so does not always require a bridge for communication with its native modules.

3. Development

Flutter has widgets as building blocks which are ready-to-use widgets, but since these are not adaptive in nature, the difficulty lies in the need to make its adaptation manual. These widgets propose a material design, prompting you with the need to make changes manually.

React Native, on the other hand, provides a library of web components for development. Development with React Native is pretty simple as it the create-react-native-package that needs to be installed has a provision for Expo Integration. This means that the code can be run on your device as simple as just having to scan a QR code that appears on the screen.

Key Point: React Native allows you to write code once and components will have to be loaded depending on the OS. So first the decision to be made is whether your requirement is for an app that has to look the same on both operating systems or take the advantage of individual features of each OS.

Related Reading: Check out the top technologies used for mobile app development.

4. Performance

Flutter, being fully compiled by the arm C/C++ library, Flutter has got a good performance though there are many factors involved.

React Native, on the other hand, is not compiled by C/C++. React Native performs much faster and better than other hybrid applications such as Cordova.

Key Point: The major difference is in how Flutter and React Native compile their code. Flutter can be considered less complex as it compiles Dart to C/C++ library, which tends to communicate faster by native code rather than having to bridge with Javascript. However, React Native is a more mature app development framework as it uses Javascript to handle Android, iOS and also web applications, making it a better choice especially for smaller mobile application development.  Though in React Native, developers face problems with hybrid app development, in case of native apps, seamless and reliable performance is offered.

5. Level Of Ease To Start Learning

The documentation of Flutter is pretty good and helpful, but it is difficult to start learning, which is pretty obvious if you are a beginner into development and Google tells you so when you ask it how to Learn Flutter.  

React Native, on the other hand, is much easier to pick up and is a piece of cake for developers, especially for those who have their hands on React or Javascript beforehand.

6. Clientele Support

Flutter clientele support is not as much as that is available for React Native. The team for Flutter is present at the rate of over 30k stars on Github, over 740 users of a Google Group, 4.5k users on subreddit and of course on Stack Overflow.

React Native, on the other hand, is backed by the huge community support of over 9000 users, 68k stars on Github, 14.5k users on subreddit and even has more third-party plug-ins and libraries than Flutter.

Related Reading: Can adding speaking and listening abilities to your mobile app pull in more customers?

Summary – Is React Native Superior To Flutter?

In a nutshell, React Native is more stable for mobile app development than Flutter as it showcases its page of apps that enjoy the support of a very large clientele and Flutter is still new in the technological forefront. Also, considering the aspect of a mobile application that interfaces with banks or large enterprises as such, Native stands in the front row.

Also, Security poses a critical factor as hybrid applications can access all features from the device’s hardware layer such as camera, GPS, microphone, etc.

Native applications are up-to-date in terms of platform changes, whereas hybrid apps have a sense of uncertainty. Also business would consider the resale value as a key factor as it is important that a potential buyer gets the feeling that the platform adopted for his mobile app is future-proof and will not require frequent re-coding.

As for all these reasons, React Native is considered a more viable option and is highly recommended for cross-platform mobile application development than Flutter. To know which mobile app development approach suits your business, get in touch with our tech experts today!

How To Use Mobile App Data For Optimized Business Processes

In this era of technology evolution, each company pays rapt attention to understand mobile data leverage, or in other words, how mobile app data can be used for business growth and to generate revenue from it. This data gives insights on mobile app user buying decisions and other behaviors. This data is vital for marketing, sales, and management services in organizations to understand and learn what to engage users or rather, their audience with.

With more than 6.5 million apps in the major app stores, and consumers spending 70 percent of media usage and other screen time on their mobile phones, more and more businesses are trying to make use of mobile app data to compete for customers.

This crucial mobile app data are used as a learning tool to deploy various estimation models which let us accurately estimate performance for apps in iTunes and Google Play.

Related Reading: Check out the top technologies used to develop Mobile App.

What Is First Party Or Mobile app data?

Mobile app data or in other words, the data you collect from your mobile app is termed as first-party data. This data is derived from mobile applications to analyze and identify unique users, record their behavior online and real-time, and then leverage this data into the existing workflow, CRM, dashboards, communication platforms and many more.

The first party data could be user-centric information wherein each data point can be user profiles, upgrades, installs, processes, location tracking data and even push notifications.

Related Reading: Basic steps of writing a mobile application requirements document.

How And Why Use Mobile App Data?

Mobile App Data track unique users to record their statistics real-time. The tracking strategy can vary from different websites, which could be using JavaScript technology or cookies and apps, which then, will need a software development kit (SDK) as the most critical requisite.

A lot of pressing concerns stem from the thought of how mobile app data are recorded. This takes place when the app triggers data at the action of a user while visiting a web page. This data is then recorded in the mobile analytics platform which is then used to derive insights and so on.

What Does The Mobile App Data Track?

• Page views
• Number of Visits and Time Of Every Visit
• Visitor Information
• Resource Of Data
• The course of activities in real-time
• The behavior of User Online
• Location
• Device Information
• Login/logout Activities and Time Schedules
• Custom Event/ Activity Information

Organizations will now leverage this data to figure out the user activity path in its entirety to understand and learn what users require or demand. This gives them insights to prepare to deliver an improved customer experience.

The following are some key insights derived from mobile application data:

• Reasons behind visits on a specific page or application.
• Issues related to customer interaction.
• Buying decision outcomes.
• Analysis of reasons for app data usage and retention of existing customers.

Related Reading: Find the top security issues in Mobile App development.

Leveraging Mobile Apps To Make Complete Use Of Data

The following are the major ways in which you can leverage from mobile app data:

1. Use Mobile App Data To Gain Insights

As market insights are valuable, these can be obtained from downloading applications, financial information and many more. This is important because it shows whether your client base is growing and where your users are coming from.

Also known as Acquisition Metrics, it gives an idea about the cost per acquisition thus help in identifying the ROI. It also helps in giving insights on the conversion rate of app traffic to download from the store. Thus, depending on this data, you can decide on whether to optimize the descriptions of your mobile app to push more conversions.  

2. Devise Strategies With Behavior Patterns From Mobile App Data

It is crucial to understand how users or rather visitors flow through your mobile app. Also known as Behavior Metrics, it is a major requisite to learn the steps that you expect your target audience to move through.

For instance, the ‘Trip Advisor’ mobile app recently witnessed an increase of 27% more conversions that had more than doubled their acquisition of new users. This was performed by allowing users to quickly log in using Facebook across multiple devices.

3. Boosting Ads Based On User Responses

Mobile advertising now accounts for nearly 70 percent of all digital advertising, according to eMarketer—some $135 billion.

Boost organic and paid mobile user Ads by streamlining your mobile app store optimization and maximizing advertising costs. For instance, an in-app referral program can provide an insight as to how many users will decide on buying and also refer a friend to the same.

The volume of ads/share of a particular network also matters, such as ad type, size, orientation, etc. The marketing teams can create positive feedbacks based on audience responses and can lead to more testing. A/B test, as it is commonly known, is used by teams to serve the user’s needs on mobile apps to yield more data.

4. As an Engagement Tool

According to Localytics research and study, 58% of users who download your app won’t use it after 30 days. The mobile app data can thus be used to enhance targeted audience engagement for improved customer retention by paying rapt attention to the targeted crowd by better understanding their behavior online, interests and their rapidly changing buying decisions, etc. Segment users by emails, push notifications, and other advertising strategies. 

To unlock greater revenue potential, the mobile app data will provide you with insights such as average session time, sessions by key demographics, and frequency of mobile app launches and intervals between each launch. It helps to identify the characteristics of engaging users who open a specific mobile app frequently and stay in the app for long intervals.

It helps to understand how to engage a user and drive higher levels of customer engagement.

5. Use Data To Derive Analytics

Use your data to test cost-effectiveness, retention, and other analytics. It is important to find out an average customer lifetime, differences in retention rates based on devices and variant segments and also optimize the onboarding process for new customers along with retaining the existing ones.

Also known as Retention metrics, the strategies can be categorized by device, channel configures or the installation dates. It is one of the key players in identifying and measuring the mobile app release updates.

6. Use Data For Mobile Monetization

The mobile app data can also be used to monetize by collecting, segmenting and processing user data. This includes device type, version, screen size, country, IP Address, mobile operator, RAM/ROM, and many more.

It is thus crucial to understand how to leverage mobile app data and streamline businesses. To know more about how to leverage mobile data for your business growth, contact our IT software development experts today!

Related Reading: How much will your Business App cost? Read along to know it all!

Read More: Mobile App Development : 4 Tips To Consider

Leveraging mobile app data opens up a multitude of possibilities for your business. From gaining insights into user behavior to improving personalization, the potential is vast. Maximize the value of mobile app data with our custom software development company. Contact us now to explore these impactful ways.

How to improve business efficiency with voice app?

Your company’s apps are losing attention. It’s not 2010 anymore. Simply telling your customers that you have a mobile app doesn’t impress anyone. It’s become a standard expectation. There are more than 2 million apps available for Android in the Google Play store and nearly the same number in the Apple App Store. As your app gets less and less use, your company is more likely to be ignored and your app uninstalled.

Three Traditional Mobile Best Practices That Dull Your Edge

Let’s review what used to work in building engaging mobile apps and why those tactics are no longer enough.

Releasing new features. An app that goes months without updates looks abandoned. So you should push updates for new features and bug fixes regularly. Unfortunately, every mobile app worth its salt is already updating frequently. Simply keeping up is not going to set you apart.

Responding to reviews. Monitoring the reviews end-users leave for your app is a good source of new ideas. Responding directly to end-user feedback by launching fixes is a good idea. It is also a common idea that most other companies have already implemented.

Staying current with security and privacy expectations. Consumer data privacy concerns have never been higher. GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in Europe and increasing regulation in the USA (e.g., the California Consumer Privacy Act 2018) means the minimum security standard is going higher. The good news: Apple and Google are doing some of the heavy lifting in mobile app security for you. Fall behind with security and you will lose customers. On the other hand, simply keeping up with security threats and updates will not make you stand out.

If keeping up with those outdated best practices is not enough, what can you do to keep users coming back for more?

Apps That Speak and Listen: Your App Opportunity

Instead of getting lost in the app shuffle, take advantage of the latest developments in voice interaction. Thanks to Apple, Amazon, and Google, we’ve all become used to interacting with technology by speaking. In fact, there are over 100 million smart speakers currently installed in American homes according to an NPR survey. The true number of voice-enabled devices is much larger than that when you factor in mobile devices. Voice interaction with a mobile app gives a new and more intimate customer experience. That’s why you should take advantage of this new capability.

Why does the growth of smart speakers matter for your company’s apps? The popularity of these devices means that you do not have to worry about hardware. You just need to deploy your app to one of those platforms. Voice interactive apps are still new but don’t worry – your company is not going to be the very first.

Before you speak with other executives about launching a voice interactive app, you should have some live examples in hand. Consider Capital One, the financial services company, which launched an Alexa skill (i.e., a voice interactive app made for Amazon’s platform) back in 2016. Other financial companies have since followed their lead. On the Google Home platform, AutoVoice lets you set up tasks and create personalized commands. You can use these apps to control your smart home, order pizza, check your bank balance and more.

How do you jump into the world of voice interaction?

There Are Two Paths To A Talking and Listening App: Which Will You Choose?

There are two ways to join the voice-enabled app revolution. (Hint: One is easier.)

You can either follow the path forged by technology giants like Amazon and Google. Invest heavily in building a top-flight team of developers and launch a testing program. This approach maximizes your control over the app and gives you the most options for integrating it into your systems.

Bear in mind that there are significant downsides to building your app development team internally. Structuring this kind of app development capacity internally takes months if not years and comes at a considerable expense. After all, developers are well paid — PayScale ballparks the median pay for Android developers at $82,000. Quadruple that amount and you will nearly have built your full team.

Working with a custom software development team to build a voice-capable app is a better choice in many cases. Your IT managers set the scope and retain oversight for the project. But there’s no need to use resources for recruiting or training since the team is already in place. By working with Fingent top custom software development company, you will benefit from our expertise in enterprise projects. We’ve collaborated with professional services firms like PwC and technology companies like NEC on development projects. So which path into the voice-enabled app revolution will you choose?

Over the years the real estate market has witnessed a tremendous change in the way it runs the business. Intense market competition has compelled the real estate firms to rethink traditional strategies and innovate. Therefore, modern realtors are considering various real estate innovations as opportunities to build up their valuation.

One such innovation prevailing in the real estate market today is the concept of an amenity-packed mobile app. Applications connecting tenants with a pool of amenities are the latest makeover tools adopted by realtors. These apps are now the trending treats offered by real estate companies to retain their existing tenants and attract new ones.

Amenity Apps – The Next Big Thing In Real Estate Market

Recent reports have revealed that the vacancy rate of offices in New Jersey and Westchester County, has increased to 20%. Even the overall vacancy rates of Manhattan is above 8.5%, approximately. With such high vacancy rates in the most competitive real estate markets, realtors have realized the need to adopt differentiated strategies to retain tenants. Hence, realtors are now stepping out of their specialty to foster services beyond the boundaries of property business. The most innovative approach through which builders are now keeping their buildings 100% leased is by introducing amenities.

Why Amenity Apps?

In today’s world where competition is at its peak, workers often fail to maintain a work-life balance. While striving to beat the nerve-racking competition of the modern world, employees are missing out on the necessary routines of life. Regular exercises, health checkups, haircuts, laundry or even picking up a meal becomes a hassle when work is tough.

Realizing these challenging situations of today’s workforce, some prominent realtors like Tishman Speyer and Sterling Bay, created amenity apps for their employees in New York. These apps are helping the workers to achieve a balance between personal and professional life. With these apps, property builders are extending their services to bring in amenities to the doorsteps of their customers.

Life hacks provided through prompt mediums like mobile and tablets are making buildings more attractive for tenants to stick on. Extending real estate services to provide better lives for tenants are not only upgrading the value of buildings but are also turning office markets to service businesses.

Related Reading: How Top Real Estate Companies Leverage Technology to Soar New Heights.

How To Woo Tenants With The Perfect Amenity App?

With amenity apps creating a hue in the real estate market, property builders are striving to introduce spellbinding services through innovation. Office landlords and building owners are integrating technology with small-scale businesses to woo their tenants. But to create an impact in the market, it is necessary to load these amenity apps with captivating features. To help realtors deduce the best amenities for their apps, here’s a short list of the popular ones that are boosting the customer retention rates for some leading real estate enterprises. While food services have already become the baseline of several amenity service apps, few other amenity types are also achieving an eminent position.

Health & Fitness

With healthcare activities gaining popularity among the current young workforce, several real estate firms are loading their amenity apps with wellness services. On-suite fitness programs like massages, meditation, yoga, and other healthcare programs are the prominent features of multiple amenity apps. hOm introduced by the Brookfield Property Partners is one such innovative example of technology-packed amenity provider that offers unique fitness events to create healthy communities.

Closer Communities

Leading real estate providers are trying their best to create active and lively communities. Lack of time and rush life often makes it difficult for residents to engage well with their neighborhood.  With a motive to diminish such hostility and create more engaging communities, property builders are now incorporating emerging technologies to implement amenities that bring people together. Services like group discussions, ride sharing, community meetings, travel management, human resource services, etc. are attractive features of amenity apps.

Access to Building Amenities

Gated communities often extend a wide range of amenities for their residents. Generally, these amenities are offered through common communication channels like emails and telephones, which makes it difficult for residents to reach them. Hence, property owners are now featuring portals to bring these building services closer to tenants. Recently Silverstein Properties introduced the Residential Community App which allows tenants to access rent payments, tenant referrals, community and neighborhood maps, shuttle services, discounts, offers and much more through their smartphones and tablets.

Eco-Friendly Environment

With the increased concern of protecting nature, property owners are now focusing on amenities that serve both tenants and nature. The SL Green Realty Corp., initiated a suite called SL Living Green that connects residents with group discussions, educational talks, recycling projects, eco-friendly waste disposal schemes, etc. to enhance their wellness and style of living. These amenity features allow tenants to feel responsible towards nature which attains them a unique experience.

Other Popular Amenities

Few other personal styling and emergency medical care amenities are popularizing among tenants. Medical aids like backup child care, health screening, drug delivery etc are some of the highly accepted medical features of amenity apps. Also, few real estate firms are designing their amenity apps to deliver styling amenities like blowouts and manicures, shoe shining, hair styling etc. to desired locations.

Related Reading: Self Showing App, an IoT application built by Fingent streamlines the complete inspection and leasing procedures of real estate firms. Find more in the case study here.

How Are Real Estate Amenity Apps Winning Hearts In New York?

Isolated lives of metropolitans have marred the quality of life. The struggles to socialize, stay fit and even to groom well, are becoming the increased concern of the modern generation. Hence, the leading real estate firms are empowering their amenity apps with services to sort these hassles of the modern world. One such enterprise is Tishman Speyer, who has integrated technology with small-scale services to create unique experiences for its tenants.

Tishman Speyer, a diversified real estate firm operating properties of worth $89 billion, including the iconic Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, rolled out an app called Zo. The Zo. app is winning hearts in New York, by exclusively connecting its employees to an unparalleled collection of services. They offer exclusive deals which include wellness programs, social and interest group gatherings, backup childcare, on-site health screening, and medical services, dry cleaning pick up and delivery, personal styling, individual meal delivery, catering, and much more. These services are enhancing the living standards of Tishman workers and tenants by creating a hassle-free work environment for them.

Another leading real estate developer in New York, entering the emerging war of landlord amenities is Sterling Bay. They have introduced their own app offering expanded eye-catching amenities for their workers.

Extreme competition in the real estate market is determining the growth of property businesses on the basis of the number of people in it and not by the square footage. More than magnificent buildings, residents are now attracted to communities that deliver unique and lively environment. Tenants prefer buildings that provide amenities through advanced technology channels that enhance the living experience. Incorporating smarter technologies and utilizing real estate software, is emerging to be an essential ingredient in real estate business today.

With emerging technologies transforming communities, the real estate market is witnessing a new era of property services beyond bricks and mortar.

Related Reading: A Property Management Software can be a boon for real estate managers if adopted the right one. Find the secrets of finding the right property management software here.

Read More: Mobile App Development : 4 Tips To Consider

iOS 12 is now live and represents the latest evolution of Apple over its decade long existence. Today, Apple’s App Store has over two million apps with over 170 billion downloads and over $130 billion in revenue. With iOS 12, developers are poised to offer a far superior experience for users compared to previous versions.

Here are the top iOS 12 application development features that enterprises can benefit.

Siri Shortcuts Take User Experience to a New Level

Adoption of Siri is increasing at an exponential pace, considering the popularity of using voice technology for commands and simplifying user actions. True to form, iOS 12 makes Apple’s personal assistant more proactive, by allowing shortcuts.

Siri Shortcuts minimize the number of steps users take to accomplish everyday tasks. Siri intelligently pairs users’ daily routines with app functionality and suggests convenient shortcuts whenever available. Such shortcuts allow users to access the offered functionality or complete the task on hand from the lock screen or from search, without having to open the app.

Siri learns and predicts shortcuts through “donations.” Developers and users may “donate” shortcuts to Siri. Developers may use the Shortcuts API to donate the shortcuts they wish to offer their users. The prerequisite towards “donations” that meet the objectives is developers having an accurate understanding of the specific in-app actions that drive the most engagement, to make the relevant Siri Shortcut donations for the most frequently used features.

The flip side to making donations for shortcuts is handling user expectations. Users may, for instance, expect the app to have shortcuts for features where shortcuts are not technically possible. For instance, when the app requires user authentication before completing an action, such a feature cannot run in the background, as a shortcut.

Improved Core ML 2 Brings Machine Learning to Apps Easily

Core ML is a relatively new toolkit, but very critical, considering it now powers Siri, Quick Type, and Camera functions in iOS. Core ML allow developers to integrate machine learning models including text, barcode, face, and landmark detection, object tracking, enhanced image recognition, and other intuitive functionality into apps, easily. Core ML 2 comes with over 30 layer types and supports expansive deep learning capabilities. Developers may run on-device machine learning models without the need to analyze data across multiple servers.

iOS 12 makes it easy, simple and fast to integrate Core ML 2 with user-facing apps. Developers can leverage this handy toolkit to embed machine learning frameworks and models directly into mobile apps, with just a few lines of code, and with no extensive technical expertise required.

A New CreateML Framework Allow Lay Users to Create Machine Learning Models

Create ML, a new framework, allow developers to build machine learning models, with little to no machine learning expertise. Its similarity with Swift makes the framework familiar and comfortable to use. Create ML is also integrated into Xcode 10 playgrounds, making it easy to view model workflows in real time.

Developers can leverage the embedded natural language capabilities of iOS 12 to create in-depth models for advanced purposes such as regression, image classification, word tagging, and sentence classification, with just a few lines of Swift code.

Highly Intuitive ArKIT2 Toolkit Takes AR Experiences to a New Level

The improved ArKit 2 toolkit allows developers to create powerful and hugely incredible Artificial Reality (AR) immersive experiences. The toolkit enables developers to create engaging multiplayer games, presentations and more, allowing multiple users to view or play the AR enhanced simulations simultaneously. The ingenuity of the toolkit enables developers to offer users the option to save the AR experience and resume it at a later time, co-opt real-world objects into the AR experiences, and much more.

Interactive Push Notifications

iOS 12 changes the way users receive push notifications. Users now gain considerable control over the type of push notifications they choose to receive and how they receive such notification. Users gain access to message settings directly from the push notification interface, allowing them to opt-out of messages from the device’s lock screen. The enhanced downtime settings enable users to ignore push notifications entirely.

Such new functionality, however, creates a new challenge for developers. It is no longer enough to somehow coax the user to download the app. The obvious requirement to remain in the user’s scheme of thing is to provide better and highly personalized, stand-out content in the push notification. Developers can also add buttons and switches to the push notifications, to encourage user action, infusing interactivity to push notifications. Developers can also customize the font, image, and other elements of the push notification.

End of Password Annoyance with iOS 12 Application Development

iOS 12 offer developers access to Password Autofill. Users may leverage this new feature to create and save passwords, and then log in to incumbent accounts, with just a few taps, regardless of the device. The password autofill functionality saves the user’s password on the device, and users can now share the data across devices using the iCloud keychain.

The new password autofill option significantly improves the user’s onboarding process, offering the path of least resistance. Empirical evidence suggests complicated registration fields harm user acquisition efforts and increase user abandonment. Also, contrary to the first impression, the autofill option actually increases app security. Autofill suggests strong, unique passwords at the onset.

While features and options are aplenty in the new iOS 12, the key to successful app development is picking and choosing the right features, relevant for the project. A tie-up with competent professionals with a history of having developed successful apps helps.

Related Reading:  How to Empower your Business with an iOS Application

iOS App Development: Grow Your Business With An iOS App

With smartphones and tablets emerging as the device of choice for most people, apps are in a boom phase. Businesses are joining the bandwagon in a big way, rolling out apps that offer a world of convenience to their customers and employees alike. However, while doing so, they need to be wary of losing focus.

Apps are not just another channel to execute the entire gamut of organizational functions. The most effective apps serve specific purposes, and in the process empower the business.

Businesses also need to take a serious look at iOS application development, considering iOS apps have proven to be very engaging. An average iPhone user spends about 75% of her time on apps, probably owing to iOS applications being able to leverage the advanced features and functionality of Apple devices.

Here are some ways in which you can empower your business, using iOS application.

Roll Out Customer-Facing Apps

Customer facing iOS app is a good idea, considering Apple devices, such as the iPhone, has more than a 15% share of the total smartphone market. Such apps not only promote sales but help in engaging with customer better. Marketers may send out push notifications on key milestones, keep track of customer behavior, issue special offers when a customer is in the vicinity of a store, and do more. Customers may be given several self-service options, from keeping track of loyalty points to access of neutral product reviews, and more.

Empower Internal Teams

Imagine the world of convenience when the salesperson, on meeting with a potential or existing customer, pulls out the iPhone, opens an app that draws on data from the CRM, and gather all details about the customer, right from his purchase history to open inquiries, his preferred channels of communication, and so on. The salesperson also gets highly customized tools and relevant insights, such as market surveys, reports, and more. iOS apps facilitate similar empowerment across all functional area, be it accounts, HR, logistics, and other teams.

Forge Deep Relationship with the Ecosystem

More and more businesses seek to develop apps that help the company forge deeper relationships with their ecosystem partners, such as suppliers, contractors, and others. An app that makes explicit real-time stock levels and issue alerts would prompt suppliers to make timely deliveries, and improve the efficiency of their business as well. Contractors could log into another intuitive iOS application to get a list of open projects, deadlines, billing, and more. Channel partners could also gain from first-hand access to a ton of resources, and all the information they require, without having to make follow-ups, or spend time seeking information.

Facilitate the “Internal” Customer

An iOS app could likewise benefit the “internal customer” of the enterprise. Employees could, for instance, use an internal employee app to make leave requests, access their payroll details, stay updated on everything from upcoming team meetings to office parties, and more. Such apps eliminate complicated and time-consuming paperwork, be it filing trip sheets, expense reports, or appraisal forms. With the bulk of information readily available at their fingertips, employees can focus wholeheartedly on their core tasks, improving their productivity manifold.

Streamline Internal Processes

Many enterprise apps streamline internal workings and deliver big productivity gains. Employees starting a task could hook up to an iOS application that guides them through the specific process flow, helping them complete the task without being bogged down by doing things the wrong way, or seeking instructions. The app could also facilitate electronic submissions of documents and bills associated with the task, and make sure the next in line gets a notification to process the same. The benefits are multifold and include reduced paperwork, better productivity, faster turnaround time, and cost-cutting. Still better, employees are empowered to do the task from anywhere, at any time.

Promote “Smart” Work

Apps can help employees work smarter instead of harder. A case in point: the average employee attends 62 meetings a month, wasting a whopping 31 hours in the process. A collaborative app that enables managers to set targets, notify team members of their targets and deadlines, allow team members to submit their results, and do more can eliminate a good chunk of such meetings, and save considerable time. Such app based internal communications is also a good way to overcome silos, a big stumbling block for the free flow of information.

Transform Organizational Processes

Rolling out iOS applications could even eliminate certain traditional functions altogether. For instance, a training app that delivers instructional videos, handbooks, and other resources to the employee’s iPhone could completely eliminate the need for training sessions. The cost saved in terms of arranging training resources and the trainer’s time alone would repay the investment in the app many times over. Employees could also leverage such apps to unlock training and development opportunities not available before. The impact on employee performance and commitment are worth its weight in gold.

All the possibilities come to pass only when the app development is done right. iOS developers would do well to customize enterprise apps by giving it a distinct look and feel that resonate the brand image, offer appropriate options such as choice of languages, flexibility to enable or disable certain features, location mapping and more. The ability to customize the app and the presence of value-added features make the employee feel more connected and enhance the worth of the app.

Development of iOS apps is a far more straightforward process, compared to developing Android apps, as Apple provides standardized SDKs, APIs, and IDE needed for the application development. However, Apple’s app store discards apps that do not meet its guidelines, and as such iOS app development requires a much more concentrated and focused effort. A partnership with a reputable company to develop the iOS application helps pass the iTunes test and ensure the effort invested in the app development process does not go waste.

Opting for the Best Property Management Software

Leasing out condos or premium apartments to buyers does not end with the handover. Instead, it goes a long way almost in a cyclical manner to oversee the operations and management via close monitoring. Dynamically managing multiple residential or commercial real estate establishments could, in fact, prove to refine it all together as well as endow a consistent experience to the tenants.

The landowner or a real estate company benefits from able to supervise every cent of property they own and leases. It equates to improved productivity enabling the owner to gain a competitive advantage by striving for customer satisfaction at every fronts. This could be a rather not brief definition of property management. And with technology like software integrated into it, we can christen it aptly as property management software.

Investing in an apt property management software elevates and rethinks how realtors or landlords manage their swathes of property. Whether small modular condos, high rises or dedicated commercial hubs, property management using software takes it to the next level. The need to switch becomes more prominent as conventional methods have often failed to demonstrate exemplary levels of property management.

Software alters it into a convenient dashboard, where the owner could simply manage, monitor and operate day to day activities linked to a piece of real estate. Ensuring timely rental payment, maintenance and upkeep, searching tenants for occupying could all be effectively carried out using a property management software. The key is to opt for the right one since the wrong choice would end up curtailing existing practices by cutting out efficiency.

Clinging to Conventional Practices Risks Lagging Behind

As it turned out, property management involves a lot of hurdles that leave the owner frustrated and stressful at times. The job profile when it comes to managing multiple portfolios of real estate assets dispersed across varied locations coupled with maintenance requests, tracking lease expires, routine inspections, ensuring regulatory compliance, responding to inquiries concerning vacant properties and lot others would be equally challenging.

Extensive documentation remain a core aspect when it comes to property management. Besides, the above-mentioned aspects when not managed appropriately could add up to the inefficiency of the job, which reflects in the productivity and performance. Property management software is new and adopting it will definitely warrant less clutter involved in the process. Still, adhering to conventional practices like paperwork or documentation proves time consuming and cumbersome.

The right property management software makes life easy for property managers, improving their productivity and contributing to improved customer satisfaction in a big way. In fact, the right software becomes a valuable source of competitive advantage, enabling the firm to gain a one-up on competition through efficiency improvements and by spawning innovative business practices.

However, the trick is to have the right property management software on hand. Here are some ways to identify and deploy such software.

Good Property Management Software Distinguishes with Ease of Use

The whole purpose of deploying software is to ease things. Software with poor UX, and or convoluted processes, which is a pain to operate, defeats the very purpose. The best software has a smooth interface and navigation, and simple, yet powerful dashboards.

Handy property management software automates routine processes related to rental collections, renewals, and other repetitive functions.

It offers basic functionality like search with multiple fields such as tenant name, property id, or any other relevant identifier, to access the required information easily, and throws up what is required in an easy-to-consume way.

The software is now delivered as mobile apps, making it very easy and convenient to get access to the latest and relevant information on the field and capture field-based inspections as well. Responsible design or a mobile-first design approach improves the ease-of-use of such mobility solutions.

Good Property Management Software Feature Robust Technical Stack

Enterprises vary with regards to their technical maturity. Some enterprises may be perfectly at ease experimenting with newer but unproven technology, which may offer huge benefits but also come with the risk of crashes. Other enterprises prefer stability over potential. Either way, the cloud is fast becoming indispensable.

Cloud-based software spares the cost and hassles of installing software or managing the databases on in-house servers. The data resides on the Internet, enabling anywhere, anytime access, from any device. Besides, it spares enterprises from cost-center activities such as taking backups, updating the code at regular intervals, and other administrative hassles.

Property management firms placing their key data such as rental information, financial reports, documents and everything else on the cloud can streamline operations, thus saving time and reducing costs.

Sync with Technical Capabilities Enhance the Dynamism of the Suite

Smart solutions, especially mobile-based solutions leverage the latest that technology has to offer to enhance the capabilities of the property management suite. A case in point is a messaging system to engage with landlords, tenants and service providers on a direct, real-time basis, to close and resolve issues or deals quickly, and with clarity.  

Such a system could either be custom developed or more easily achieved by seamless integration with Skype or some other messaging tools. Similarly, many property management suites integrate with QuickBooks for accounting.

Likewise, good property management suite improves internal processes, making the overall business more efficient. The easy tracking capabilities on offer make stakeholders, especially service providers, more accountable. An optimized navigation system renders role-clarity to employees and agents.

The Feature List is a Double-Edged Sword

A lengthy bucket list of features is no indication of having the right software. In fact, an application with too many features may become bloated and deliver poor user experience. The trick towards deploying the right software is ensuring it has all the relevant features required for seamless operations, nothing more, and nothing less. All things aside, a decision to opt for a reliable property management software starts with assessing the needs.

A realtor or property management company owner first need to consider, whether software indeed can prove to be an advantage and uplift their business process. They need to figure out up front what they want the software for, in terms of their biggest challenge, and prioritize the functionality list towards resolving such challenges.

One could ask themselves some noteworthy questions in the interest of choosing the right software such as:

• What are some key issues faced and how would software resolve each of them?
• Is mobility an option for the work – which require the software to come in a compact and handy mobile app version?
• Are self-service portals needed in the software to serve the needs of customers like residents or clients?
• Is the software having accounting features and capable of dealing with large volumes of maintenance requests?

For instance, if the biggest challenge is managing rentals, make sure to co-opt features that alleviate specific challenges to this end. Other features, such as compliance reporting or communication capabilities are handy add-ons, and should not be the core focus of the suite.

Mobile apps especially work well for specific purposes, with different apps for different objectives of stakeholders. For instance, a property manager could have apps helping them keep track of rental expiry, invoice and payment tracking, maintenance schedule and more. An app for a field service executive could have features such as open service tickets, directions to get to the property, and more.

Apps for tenants could integrate features to initiate maintenance requests, pay rent and fees online, auto-renew lease, and more. Above all, it should integrate stringent security measures such as two-factor authentication or high-end encryption to protect vital customer and company data from any intrusion attempts both internal or external. A comprehensive property management suite could integrate all functionality, leading to seamless integration and better coordination.

Work Orders are Core to an Intuitive Property Management Suite

Intuitive property management software facilitates creating and managing work orders, either through a ticketing system, or some other method. Successful deployments integrate the entire workflow connected with the process, right from raising the issue, assigning work to the relevant service provider, keeping track of work execution, and invoicing. This spares property managers from the hassles of manual monitoring and tracking.

Advanced systems come with the ability to incorporate images and videos, facilitating visual work orders, property viewing, and more. Such innovative functionality helps property managers get more work done without the time-consuming activity of making site visits.

Reporting Capabilities are Integral to Software for Property Management

Another crucial consideration for sound property management software, regardless of the functionality, is the reporting capabilities on offer. The ability to generate dynamic reports easily saves property managers time and enables them to stay on top of the game. The greater insights on offer contribute to improved customer satisfaction as well.

The best software for property management facilitates dynamic reports, in the format of choice, rather than straight-jacketing the reports to a few fixed forms. An intuitive software integrates report with analytic capabilities, allowing property managers to gain insights from raw data in easy-to-consume actionable format.

The property manager’s life will become considerably easier if the software integrates full double-entry accounting, with flexible reports.  A spin-off benefit of such functionality is the ability to meet various financial and regulatory compliance requirements.

The Best Property Management Software is Optimized for the Budget

Many enterprises get carried away by the potential on offer and ignore the crucial cost competently. There is no free lunch, and even supposedly free open source software comes at a price to develop and customize. The costs for server space and hosting, and ensuring security is another crucial consideration to decide up front. Successful property management firms engage smart developers who can optimize the features and functionalities within the constraints of the available budget, without sacrificing quality.

Professionally managed real estate investment market is worth $8.5 trillion globally as of last year, but it has traditionally lagged behind in technology. However, innovative companies are changing things and technology is all set to improve the owner-tenant experience significantly via a major technological disruption soon.

Selecting the right software is both a science and an art. Apart from the science of carefully evaluating the feature list and the technical specs, comes the challenging, yet often underestimated “art” of identifying vendors who “fit.” Any software, no matter how robust or comprehensive requires continuous support for upgrades and bug-fixes.

Moreover, implementation is often a challenging exercise, involving training end users and documentation. Choose a software vendor who is competent and has proven their worth in all these facets.