TOP 10 features of a successful business application

22-03-26

Mobile business applications solve important tasks – they help companies increase sales, promote the brand, attract an audience, strengthen customer loyalty, communicate with the target audience. Applications are used to accept payments, launch loyalty programs, collect statistics and analytics, support users, automate workflows, and process customer requests. Each of these tasks is responsible for a set of special functions that make the application convenient, useful, and effective for customers and business.

Registration and personal account

The registration functionality is used to identify the user and allows you to link a person’s actions to a specific account. The application creates a personal account, where the history of interaction with the application is stored: orders, purchases, payments, profile settings, accumulated bonuses, etc. This information is used to personalize content, promotions, special offers. The personal account allows you to manage most actions without contacting technical support, helps the user to independently configure the profile, makes interaction with the service predictable and effective.

To simplify the first login to the application, the user is usually offered several alternative registration and authentication methods – the list may vary depending on the specified security level:

• via e-mail and password with the ability to save login details;
• by phone number with confirmation via SMS;
• via Google, Facebook, Apple ID, LinkedIn, etc.;
• by biometrics – Face ID and Touch ID;

To protect against unauthorized access and fraudulent actions, data encryption technologies, token authorization, active session control and other methods are used. A two-factor authentication function is added, which involves a combination of two verification methods when logging in from a new device – for example, logging in by phone number and email address. All these measures allow you to work safely with personal data and payments within the application.

Push notifications

Push notifications are one of the main communication tools between the user and the company in the application. Pop-up notifications allow you to receive news and offers without opening the application. Notifications appear directly on the smartphone screen and immediately draw attention to important information. In business applications, push notifications are used for various scenarios:

• informing about changes in order status;
• confirmation of transactions;
• reminders about reservations, payments, events;
• notifications about new products or services;
• sending special promotional offers;
• notifications about the launch of new features;
• holiday greetings;
• informing about the accumulation of points under the loyalty program;
• reminders about items in the cart;
• other notifications customized for a specific business niche.

Push notification delivery is personalized – each user receives pop-up messages based on individual algorithms that take into account their activity, behavioral factors, preferences, tasks, geolocation, order history, etc. This approach increases the effectiveness of the delivery and increases the likelihood that the message will hit the target. Push notifications help maintain constant contact with users, increase the activity and engagement of the target audience, and give businesses broad opportunities in implementing a marketing strategy.

Online payment

The online payment functionality allows you to make payments without leaving the application, without switching to other services and without spending time on correspondence with managers. For the user, this is an opportunity to instantly book, order, buy, and subscribe. For businesses, this is an effective way to increase conversion, improve user experience, and increase sales in the application. Online payment options in the mobile application:

• payment services – LiqPay, WayForPay, Fondy, Portmone, PayPal and others;
• bank card – manual entry of details with the ability to save data in your personal account;
• Apple Pay electronic wallets for iOS and Google Pay for Android.

Entering payment card data and saving it for later use is completely safe for the user. The details are not stored in the application, but in a special protected environment. For this, a method of secure data tokenization is used – the system remembers only the encrypted identifier. The method allows you to store an unlimited number of cards and select the desired payment instrument for each transaction. Integration with online payment services is carried out via the API program interface or ready-made SDK libraries.

For additional protection of online payments, 3D Secure technology is used, which requires confirmation of the cardholder’s identity in one of the ways – via SMS code, push notification or biometrics during online purchases. Ensuring the confidentiality of payment information is regulated by the international PCI DSS data security standard.

Integration with website and CRM

Integration of the mobile application with the website and CRM unites all the company’s digital business platforms into a single ecosystem. Data is automatically synchronized on all integrated platforms – customer base, orders, loyalty program, catalog of goods and services, prices, price lists, content. Information is automatically updated, centrally stored and used in the work of various departments – sales, marketing, support service and others. This simplifies order processing, reduces the number of manual operations, increases data accuracy and opens up additional opportunities for personalized marketing and automation of business processes.

The user can work with the service both through the mobile application and through the web version – all changes are displayed in real time. For example, an order placed in the application immediately appears in the site management system, and an update to the product catalog on the site is automatically displayed in the application. Integration with the CRM system allows you to automate work with clients, tasks, and projects. Data from the application is transferred to CRM, used to process orders, maintain a client base, launch advertising campaigns, and analyze sales. The following types of data are usually synchronized:

• user base and customer contact details;
• history of orders, payments, reservations;
• catalog of goods and services;
• order and delivery statuses;
• accumulated bonuses and loyalty program data;
• contacting support;
• analytical data on user activity.

Chatbot and user support

The feedback form in the mobile application allows you to quickly resolve customer issues without switching to third-party communication channels – without calls, instant messengers, emails. In modern business applications, support is usually implemented in two formats – automatic and operator. Part of the requests is processed by a chatbot with artificial intelligence, which answers typical questions, helps to find the necessary information or perform simple actions. The history of communications with each user is stored in the system and is used to improve the service and personalize the application.

The built-in chatbot reduces the load on the call center and increases the speed of processing requests. AI bots are able to analyze the text of the request, recognize the user’s intention and generate answers based on the company’s knowledge base – this allows you to automate a significant part of communication with customers. More complex requests are transferred to a support operator, who connects to the dialogue directly in the chat interface. AI bot capabilities in the application:

• answers to typical questions about products and services
• explanation of the rules for using the service;
• assistance with placing orders or making payments;
• checking order status;
• receiving requests to the support service;
• transfer of dialogue to the operator in difficult cases;
• collecting feedback from users.

Loyalty program tools

The loyalty program in the mobile application allows you to systematically work with the retention, attraction and return of the target audience. Unlike classic plastic cards and paper coupons, digital tools make it possible to automatically accrue bonuses, personalize offers and track user activity in real time. The personal account displays the bonus account, accumulated points, available discounts, personal offers, and program participation status.

The client can use the accumulated bonuses when placing an order or exchange them for special offers. He independently manages points, sees accruals and expenses, which encourages more active participation in the loyalty program. For business, this is one of the most effective mechanisms for stimulating repeat sales and forming long-term relationships with customers. Popular models of loyalty programs implemented in mobile applications:

• bonus points for purchases with the possibility of using them for subsequent orders;
• cashback – return of part of the spent funds to the bonus account;
• cumulative discounts depending on the amount of purchases;
• levels or statuses of customers with different privileges;
• personal promotional codes;
• special offers for regular customers;
• referral programs with bonuses for inviting new users.

The mobile application allows you to automate most of the processes of the loyalty system. Bonuses are accrued automatically after purchase, and information about available offers is displayed directly in the user’s profile. An additional tool is push notifications that notify about accrual, remind about the expiration of bonuses, and inform about personal promotions. Analysis of customer behavior in the application allows you to segment the audience and form individual offers for different groups of users.

Personalization

Personalization allows you to adapt a mobile application to the needs of a specific user. The service takes into account the client’s previous activity, interests, purchase history and other behavioral factors to show the most relevant content. This approach increases the convenience of working with the application and increases the likelihood of repeated interactions with the service. In mobile applications, personalization is implemented based on data that accumulates while using the service – these can be viewed products, search history, previous orders, responses to push notifications, geolocation or other parameters. The system analyzes this data and optimizes content or offers according to the user’s interests – for the greatest efficiency, artificial intelligence technologies are used for this. Directions of personalization in a mobile application:

• recommendations of goods or services based on previous actions;
• individual promotional offers and promo codes;
• personalized push notifications;
• adaptation of the structure of the application’s main screen to the user’s interests;
• selection of content and product categories;
• individual interface settings.

Personalization is closely related to loyalty programs and advertising campaigns. Data on customer behavior and activity is used to segment the audience and create different scenarios of interaction with the application. For example, new users can receive one offer, and regular customers – another. For businesses, personalization means more accurate and effective work with the customer base. The service offers users exclusively relevant products, services or features. This increases conversion, increases the average check and helps to form a loyal regular audience.

Rating and reviews

A rating and review system allows users to rate products, services, or service performance directly in a mobile application. It is a customer feedback tool that helps to quickly identify problems, analyze service quality, and build brand trust. The presence of open ratings and comments influences new users’ decisions about choosing products and services.

In most applications, the rating is formed based on ratings or a “star” system. The user can leave a short comment, rate the quality of the product or service, add photos or clarifications to their review. The information is displayed on the page and used to form an overall rating. Common features:

• evaluation of goods, services, specialists;
• text comments from users;
• uploading photos to the review;
• sorting reviews by rating and date;
• marking helpful reviews by other users;
• company responses to customer comments;
• moderation of reviews to control the quality of content.

The rating system can be integrated with push notifications – for example, after completing an order, the user receives a message with a suggestion to leave a rating. This approach allows you to collect more feedback and form an up-to-date rating. The collected feedback can be transferred to CRM or other analytical programs to study the level of customer satisfaction, track typical problems, and use the data obtained to improve the service.

AI functionality

Artificial intelligence tools are gradually becoming a standard part of mobile application functionality. Integration with AI allows you to automate some business processes, work with large data sets, and adapt the service to user behavior. For businesses, this is an opportunity to increase the efficiency of customer interaction, improve the quality of service, and reduce the workload on staff.

AI modules can work in different parts of the application – for example, they are used to analyze user behavior, automatically process requests, generate personalized recommendations, generate and optimize content. Algorithms process data about customer actions, purchases, product views or use of application functions and based on this form individual interaction scenarios. Common AI functions in mobile applications for businesses and customers:

• recommendations for personalized product selection;
• AI assistants for communication with users;
• personalized marketing offers;
• intelligent search with understanding of the content of the query;
• automatic analysis of user feedback and messages;
• image and text recognition;
• voice interfaces, voice command processing;
• business analytics – forecasting demand, sales, and customer behavior.

The use of artificial intelligence allows a mobile application to work more flexibly and adaptively. The service reacts to user actions, offers relevant content, automatically processes typical requests, and helps businesses better understand customer behavior.

Analytics and reporting

Analytical tools record user actions in the application: orders, payments, registrations, page views, search queries, adding products to the cart, purchases, interaction with push notifications, etc. Based on this data, reports are generated that allow you to analyze the user’s path, behavior and preferences, evaluate the conversion of individual stages, see complex steps on the way from login to the target action. Analytics helps identify problematic stages of user scenarios, test new features, evaluate the results of updates and optimize the marketing strategy. What indicators can be tracked and analyzed:

• number of app downloads and active users;
• sources of audience engagement;
• user behavior in different sections;
• conversion of orders or other targeted actions;
• effectiveness of push notifications;
• repeat purchases and customer retention rates;
• average check and sales dynamics.

The above list of functions is relevant for almost all niches – online sales, services, banking, educational platforms, etc. The functionality is developed individually for each project depending on the business objectives, structure and purpose of the service, features of the marketing strategy, and the specifics of the target audience.

Our company KitApp does not limit customers in choosing functional tools for mobile applications. We have many years of experience in implementing mobile development projects for iOS and Android, cases of varying complexity from simple budget programs to large-scale mobile platforms with a unique combination of functions. We form the functionality based on the results of product analytics so that the application solves the tasks set and helps develop, promote, and scale the business. For consultation and calculation of the cost of a mobile application, contact us via the form on the website.