A mobile app is expensive if it is built "because a competitor has one". But there are situations where an app pays for itself quickly. Below are 6 such cases, with examples from our real projects.
1. Returning customers and a loyalty programme
If customers come back again and again (a store, a café, a pharmacy), the app becomes a digital bonus card that is always on their phone. With push notifications you can announce a discount without paying for SMS. Example: the 1001 Manruq app has mobile shopping, a QR bonus card and a 1C link, so stock and bonuses are always correct.
2. Internal work for employees
When staff work across several branches or in the field, an internal app replaces calls, Excel and messengers. Example: the ProMobile app brings online sales, branch warehouses, tasks and internal chat into one place. More than 200 employees use it every day.
3. Events and entry control
At large events the app gives the programme, registration and QR entry, and the organiser sees who has arrived in real time. Example: the app and QR entry for MedMeet, one of Armenia's largest healthcare expos, are built for 20,000 participants and 60,000 scans.
4. Online sales in several countries
If you also sell abroad, the app keeps the catalogue, delivery and payments for different countries in one place. Example: BonPharm's pharmacy app works in Armenia, the USA and the UAE, with shopping, delivery and health calculators.
5. Booking and services
Doctors, beauty salons, gyms: when a customer needs to book a time, the app frees the administrator from calls and reduces no-shows thanks to reminders. Example: in Consulo a patient finds a doctor and books a visit, and the doctor sees the schedule of all their clinics in one place.
6. Subscriptions and content
If you sell courses, training or content, the app helps keep the user's attention every day. Example: in the fitness app the user plans workouts, tracks food and sees progress, and Menergy has short videos and sign-in with email, Google or Apple.
When you do not need an app
If a customer comes to you once or twice a year, or you simply need to present your business and collect requests, start with a good website. It is faster, cheaper and can be found on Google. An app can be added later on the same backend.
Timelines
A simple app or MVP is ready from 2 weeks, a mid-complexity business app in 5–7 weeks, a marketplace or complex system in 8–10 weeks. How the work goes is described step by step here, and all our apps are on the mobile app development page.