Customers love the convenience that mobile apps offer, but your leadership team can be reluctant to invest in developing a customized app for your business. In order to persuade your c-suite level executives that the investment is worthwhile, you need to be able to explain the ROI of custom apps. Simplistically, your ROI calculates how much revenue you have generated using the app, divided by the cost of the investment. Of course, the use of the app, whether it helps you sell a new product or retain customers, or saves employees time, will all factor into how you calculate how much revenue has been generated by your custom app. Being clear with the objectives for your custom app will help you effectively explain the ROI of custom apps to your leadership team.
What Kind of ROI Do You Expect?
Custom apps can deliver a myriad of benefits, including improving productivity and increasing revenue. The kind of ROI you can expect will depend on the type of app you choose to develop. Generally, custom apps have one of two intended outcomes:
- Customer-focused app – Focus is on increasing revenue through selling a product, retaining customers, or helping with customer service
- Internal-workplace-focused app – Focus is on increasing revenue through increased efficiency, such as saving employees time or improving supply chain management.
What do custom apps do?
Custom apps allow businesses to solve complex problems using mobile solutions. Custom apps can help streamline business operations and increase efficiency.
Depending on your intended outcome, you’ll want a custom app that does different things. If you want an app that will help you sell more of your products or services, you might allow customers to order ahead on their app and then pick up their purchases at the store. Allowing customers to skip the line at the store might encourage them to purchase more or more often.
If you want an app that will save employees time, you might need to do some research and uncover what business processes you could automate that would free your team members to spend time on more important work. It’s essential that you know the business goals you want to achieve from your custom app.
Define Measurable KPIs
In order to calculate the ROI of your custom app, you need to define measurable Key Performance Indicators, KPIs. KPIs will differ between businesses, and depending on what the goal is for your custom app. If your aim is for customer interaction, you could choose to base your KPIs on your customer retention rate, or you might choose to base your KPI on the average revenue per user.
Once you have determined what your KPIs will be, you can calculate your ROI by weighing your KPI against your costs. This is the last, but most crucial step, of calculating the overall value of your app. It also requires a holistic view, taking into account the impact of your app across your business. Being able to understand and appropriately calculate the ROI of your custom app will help your business grow.
In order to help you get the greatest ROI from your custom app, Copper Mobile offers six distinct yet integrated services that span the entire mobile solution development cycle. From a business strategy to ongoing support, Copper Mobile offers every service necessary to build apps that make business sense.
