The internet, smartphones and apps have long been part of our everyday lives. The internet has now even become the number one source of information for almost every aspect of life. Most organisations in the culture, tourism and leisure sectors have responded to this by setting up their own websites, so that they can be found quickly and easily. More and more organisations are now considering whether they should also offer their own app to ensure an even stronger presence on mobile devices.
Looking at smartphone usage, it is clear that only a small proportion – just under 10 per cent – is spent ‘browsing the internet’. The vast majority – over 90 per cent – is spent using apps on smartphones.
At first glance, this breakdown suggests having an app. The following three points cover further aspects that should be considered before launching an app project.
User behaviour, the current state of the app stores, and economic considerations should all be taken into account when thinking about developing your own app:
1) User behaviour: Smartphone users are becoming increasingly discerning and now think carefully about whether and which apps they install on their devices. A study by “Adobe Digital Insights” shows that in the US, the number of new app installations has fallen by almost 40 per cent since 2014.
Users do not want to have to install a separate app for every museum, every city, every castle or every tourist attraction. It is becoming increasingly difficult to get a dedicated app onto smartphones at all. Apps are installed because they are useful – in other words, they offer a very specific function.
So the question we must ask is: Does my app offer the user genuine added value, or is it just a gimmick, or does it simply display information that can also be found on the internet? Information about your own organisation and what it offers can be made available on smartphones more easily and cheaply – without the need for an app at all – simply by using a mobile website.
2) The app stores: At present, there are around 3.3 million apps available for Android devices and around 2.2 million for Apple devices. This makes it increasingly difficult to even get noticed in the stores and to find features that aren’t already covered by other apps. These factors mean that it is now many times harder for new apps to be installed than it was a few years ago
3) Economic considerations: Developing their own app costs cultural, tourism and leisure organisations a great deal of money. It is not just the design and initial development that are costly, but also maintenance, updates and promotion. The costs of software updates are often not taken into account during the planning stage. However, these are unavoidable, as smartphone operating systems are regularly upgraded and apps must be adapted accordingly.
Overall, you should only consider developing your own app if it offers your target audience a benefit that no other app currently provides, and if you have sufficient funds available for its development, software updates and promotion.
If you want to offer visitors certain features at a reasonable price, there are numerous platform apps that specialise in these features. Buying tickets, posting photos, chatting, multimedia guides, booking rooms, online shops, guided tours, directions, walking routes, … are all already available on platform apps. These are cheaper than a standalone app, more sophisticated, and the platform operator covers the costs of regular updates. Ideally, visitors will already have the app installed on their smartphone. Furthermore, network effects on platforms can help attract new visitors.
A dedicated app? Probably not.
Mobile websites or platform apps – probably both – are preferable.