Over the past decade, we have forged kind of an unbreakable bond with our smartphones. To say that most today feel lost without it won’t be much of an exaggeration. Then along came the pandemic, which further deepened our dependency on smartphones. 

According to research , there are 6.648 billion smartphone users as of 2021, and the number is rapidly escalating even as you are reading this blog. An average person spends more than 11-12 waking hours in front of a screen, out of which at least 4 hours can be accounted in front of a smartphone. By 2023, there will be more than 1.31 billion users conducting mobile payment transactions across multiple platforms.

These existing stats and data projections, all direct towards one irrefutable fact; mobile is and will be one of the most invincible marketing mediums for brands. And what better way to bridge the gap between your business and its target audience, than by investing in app development. Mobile app development is digitization at its best. It is worth investing in, especially for direct-to-customer or D2C businesses. So, let’s explore how the D2C business app can help brands grow in prominence.

Why do D2C Businesses Need Mobile Apps?

D2C or direct-to-customer/consumer business has a different approach compared to B2B and B2C brands. Since it sells its products and services directly to the end-user, it has to strategize the brand positioning within the niche market, while gaining visibility online. D2C businesses do not rely on an intermediary or third-party entity for marketing their brand or selling their products/services. They have complete autonomy over ideating and developing the product range, along with the marketing and sales strategy.

The foundation of a D2C business is in its unique brand identity and culture that offers an exclusive shopping experience for the clients. This gives them an edge over the market competition and the brands that lack exclusivity in creating a holistic experience for the clients. The out-of-the-box brand culture is their USP that cannot be sufficed by using generic marketing and sales channels like Amazon, UberEats, AliExpress, and likewise.

D2C businesses usually rely on direct engagement through social media channels for customer acquisition. However, that can be enhanced for both the brand and the target audience through a D2C ecommerce app. Many brands initially start by reaching out to the target audience through their social media business pages and then shift to an app-based infrastructure to expand the reach and drive growth.

How Mobile App Development Propel D2C Business Growth?

Coming back to how a mobile app can propel business growth and brand visibility for D2C businesses, here are a few points that will give you more clarity on the same.

1. Attract Mobile-First Consumers : Consumer behavior, especially concerning their buying habits, has transformed rapidly over the past decade, more so in the pandemic years. Mobile is the preferred mode of shopping for the majority. As of 2021, more than 54% of the total ecommerce sales are generated through mobile phones. This will further increase in the coming days.
   
   This change in shopping behavior is majorly driven by the ease and convenience offered by mobile shopping. This is the right time for D2C businesses to tap into this behavioral transition of their target audience and build a mobile-first marketing and sales strategy. Along with social media marketing, having an official app can help them optimize the user experience and brand culture, with a mobile-centric approach.
   
   
2. Personalized Brand Experience: Consumers today get attracted to personalized and unique experiences. A brand cannot suffice that by using marketplace ecommerce apps, which cater to innumerable brands through a generic layout and infrastructure. Investing in an official app will empower your business to create personalized experiences for clients or customers. The user data generated from the app can help you create marketing content and develop products that resonate with the target audience.
   
   You can generate recommendations from the browsing and purchasing history of your target audience; then create tailored promotions to attract the customer, and even offer customized services. Personalized brand experience will help your brand gain more recognition from the get-go, increase lifetime customer value, and drive positive ROI.
   
   
3. Sustainable Business Approach: When you are partnering with an on-demand app or an ecommerce app, you have to abide by the company’s policies and branding initiatives. For instance, if the so-called intermediary is not running a sustainable business then your brand gets tagged with the same. When approaching the consumer mindset in the present times, you have to create a pro-sustainability and eco-friendly image, because your target audience will take notice of the same.
   
   With an official app, you can lay the foundation of a sustainable business, by creating your very own marketing and promotional campaigns, and infusing them into your app marketing strategies. You can advertise your sustainable approach to your target audience and benefit from the same. This is a distinctive brand awareness strategy that can only happen through an official app.
   
   
4. Consumer Base Expansion: Let’s say that you are a fitness trainer, who is trying to expand the business and increase the number of clients. With a single training studio, you can reach out to a handful of locals, while deflecting the existing market competition. Building a chain of fitness studios is not only expensive but it would take years. But you don’t need to go through this ordeal in this digital age. Build yourself an app! You can not only attract more local clients, but also people across the nation and even beyond the borders.
   
   A mobile application gives you the perfect medium to expand your consumer base from local to global. Although this might not apply to all kinds of businesses, an app would help you expand your business zone even if it is locally.
   
   
5. Data Analytics for Business Growth: An application is a mine of data. You can derive golden insight from the data analytics of the digital platform and the marketing campaigns. What is the visitor traffic? Which pages get the most hits? Which products are the bestsellers? What reviews are the customers posting? What is the rate of cart abandonment? Which payment options are most preferred by the customers? You can learn so much from the data derived via the app and use the same to create better marketing campaigns, develop better products, and improve the brand image.
   
   
6. Enhanced Brand Engagement: Using an app you can have direct engagement with the customers, alongside an active social media presence. You can create and post unique content and brand stories, creating a bond between the brand and its customers. Apps also allow you to interact better with the target audience. You can arrange in-app promotional events before a product launch use push notifications and personalized messages for engagement consistency. It’s intimate, economical, and leaves a vibrant image of the brand in the minds of the customers.

Type of App Development For D2C Business:

• Native app development: Native app development for the D2C business is quite common. The coding and framework are for a specific platform (iOS/ Android/ other OS). The app is built using the platform’s native APIs. However, there are cross-platform variations based on the native framework used, such as React Native app development, Xamarin app development, Flutter development, etc.
  
• Hybrid app development: Cross-platform app development, where a single code facilitates the app across multiple platforms (operating systems).
  
• Progressive app development: The app is developed based on web technologies and it is deployed on a browser. There is no need to install from the app store. It gives you a mobile app-like experience on a web browser.

Which App Development Is Best For D2C Business?

The choice of the D2C app development would depend on the scope and scale of a business, the demography of users, and the budget. You can hire a professional app development Expert like us to guide you on the right path. We would also help you with app marketing and promotions across multiple channels.

Wrapping Up!

To summarize, a D2C business app will give your brand unique exposure in this competitive market, guarantee fast growth through increased online visibility, and help you connect better with the target audience. According to Statista, mobile commerce sales surpassed $359.32 billion in 2021, with a projection of $728.38 billion by 2025. You can be a part of that billion-dollar industry with a D2C ecommerce app.