Mobile Apps: The Future of Business

     The history of trade dates back to the oldest civilization. People had to cross seas or travel far and wide to get their needs in exchange of anything valuable. The ancient ways of conducting business led to the development of new cultures and new societies, as merchants settled in foreign lands and discovered new places to expand their enterprises. However, in the now, businessmen neither need to travel far and wide, nor cross seas; with just a scroll and a click, a business transaction is signed, sealed, and delivered. Doing business at the comfort of one’s home, office, bedroom, or even on the favorite couch, is brought about by the advancement of mobile apps. So, how do mobile apps shape the way businesses perform?

     First on the list is the improved, more accurate, and faster means of communication. Before, businesses need to send mails or electronic mails to communicate agreements and to pass back and forth contracts. This means that communication takes time, and for the message to get crossed. Moreover, there are high risks of losing the message along the way. However, with mobile apps, it is easier and faster to communicate with your clients and business partners. Most business apps have got special features where sellers and buyers can chat or call each other. Some apps even allow business owners to meet with their office staff online and discuss or plan strategies to market and enhance operations. Hence, the comfort of working remotely.

     Entrepreneur, Jeanne Pope, works on estate liquidation and she is very grateful to modern technologies. With a mobile app that is especially programmed for her business, she can easily communicate with clients and remotely meet with staff. At any time, clients can leave her a message, and these messages are sent to her text messages and e-mails. With this, no message can be left unread; even if she is in an island somewhere in the Caribbean.

     Second benefit is the agile mobile technology. Mobile apps are easily to update, and programmers are working constantly to find ways that their mobile apps become as user-friendly as possible. Mobile apps are also consistently reviewed with their functionality, speed, and comfort. The consistent reviews allow programmers to continuously improve their apps.

     Pope’s clients never need to leave the venue and find an automated teller machine or bank if they ran out of cash; and, Pope’s staff do not need to carry the mobile card readers to process payments. With a mobile app, Pope’s staff just need to take a photo of the card or manually encode the card details, and a payment can be processed. If Pope’s clients are not comfortable paying extra 3% charges to credit card and debit card payments, Pope’s clients can use mobile apps like Venmo or Zelle to transfer payments direct to Pope’s bank account. Pope’s staff also do not need to undergo the tedious work of researching every material in the estate to find their actual market value. They just need to take a photo of the item, and similar items will pop out of the window with market values; this app allows them to tag every item an appropriate price.

     Third benefit is the mobile sales and mobile marketing. Mobile apps can include features like e-mails, calendars, campaign management solutions, and they are even linked to social media platforms. This allows the business owners to have a wider reach of customers as their businesses can be advertised online. These apps also allow businesses to reach out and maintain a pool of interested clients by taking advantage of online search engines.

     The success of Pope’s business lies on mobile apps. When she has an estate sale, she can link it to her company’s social media account, her personal social media account, and even to her staff’s social media accounts. She also links it to Facebook Market Place and google search engines. So, when people search the keywords ‘estate sale’, her schedule and venues of estate sales, even with the items and their prices, can be seen. This stirs the interest of many customers. Plus, with her business mobile technology, she can automatically send e-mails to her regular clients that are in her company’s mailing list. Another mobile app that Pope uses a lot is e-bay. She has been selling on e-bay the items that were not sold in her estate sales. This allows her to reach out to more customers, and making sure that the products get sold.

     Although, mobile apps can have a few glitches like weak internet connection or when mobile apps run slow. Yet, when you weigh the benefits over the possible troubles, mobile apps surely make doing business a pleasure.