Although I’m writing this over the Thanksgiving holiday and I am quite literally still stuffed, the lack of appetite I’m referring to here is of the mobile variety.
About a week or so after taking my cat to a new veterinarian earlier this month, I received an email with a rather imperative subject line: “Important Information About Ella’s Records.” Even if my cat had been to the vet for a well visit, I would not have ignored an email with this reference, so kudos to their team for getting my attention. However, I was annoyed when I opened the message and read, “Please confirm that you can access these records by creating an account and logging in with our mobile app or through the online portal.” Seriously?
While there’s no definitive answer as to whether or not a business should develop a mobile app, there are some clear guidelines. For example, according to a Forbes Young Entrepreneur Council Post, “If the functionality of benefit to the user can’t be implemented on the web, you have a good reason to create a mobile app…If the only benefit is to your company, then it’s a little rude to nag a user into installing an app on their phone.”
Not only can I not think of a single benefit to justify my personal need to download the vet’s mobile app, I’m hard pressed to think of the advantages the app delivers to the business.
Sure, they’ll be able to send me push notifications when it’s time to administer or refill my pet’s maintenance medications, but can’t email be just as effective and less costly? Perhaps, they’re interested in tracking some of my other behaviors by asking me to enable GPS and they intend to use this data to look for trends among customers. Even if they discover that a majority of their customers walk their pets at a certain time of day or even in the same area, how does this data translate into a business opportunity? An advertisement on a park billboard or in the window of a local shop? Will the return on investment justify the spend on the app? I’m not seeing it, feeling it, and honestly, I’m still annoyed at the deceptive lure of the email.
Even if I was inclined to download the app, chances are I’d delete within a few days, which would be typical according to 2018 study of 8 billion app installs worldwide, which found that on average, apps are deleted within a week of their last use. According to another 2018 survey, if you’re going to build an app, make sure your top priority is maintaining continuous user engagement since 39 percent of users uninstall apps because they no longer use them. See the chart for more reasons why users uninstall apps.
As for my vet’s app, not surprisingly, I haven’t downloaded it. I also continue to ignore the follow-up emails I’ve received – thankfully with less urgent subject lines. It’s not that I don’t love my pet, I just find the app, and even creating an account on their portal, completely unnecessary.
Sources:
- CGK, Team. “Do Millennials Prefer Mobile Apps or Websites?” The Center for Generational Kinetics, 12 June 2018, genhq.com/do-millennials-prefer-mobile-apps-or-websites/.
- Council, Young Entrepreneur. “Does Your Business Really Need A Mobile App?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 13 June 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2016/06/13/does-your-business-really-need-a-mobile-app/#5b64334a4345.
- “Most Apps Get Deleted Within a Week Of Last Use.” EMarketer, www.emarketer.com/content/most-apps-get-deleted-within-a-week.
- “Why Users Uninstall Apps: 28% of People Feel Spammed.” CleverTap, clevertap.com/blog/uninstall-apps/.
Image Source:
- “Why Users Uninstall Apps: 28% of People Feel Spammed.” CleverTap, clevertap.com/blog/uninstall-apps/.
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