How On-demand Mobile App Development is Growing During Covid-19

Author(s): Sophia Martin

Originally published on Towards AI.

No matter in which corner of the world you are living, the Coronavirus Outbreak is incredibly affecting everyone’s life and pushing the economy in the doom. On the one side, where lockdown is forcing people to stay at home behind the locked doors and shutting down their businesses, on the other hand, the mobile app development industry is rising at the fastest-paced.

Let’s have a glance over stats and facts to better understand the position of the mobile app industry during coronavirus:

• The forecast from Statista reveals that mobile apps are projected to generate approx 935 billion US dollars that is a double of 461 billion US dollars in 2019.0

• By 2022, it has been projected that consumer spending on an app will be increased by 92% to $157 billion globally.

• According to eMarket, the share of mobile in the overall US online sales will reach almost 50% by 2020, and mobile app downloads are projected to reach 258 billion by 2022 that is 45% higher than 2017.

In a nutshell: According to the above figures, one thing is clear that the mobile app industry is growing without showing any sign of downwards. Many of you must be reading these statistics with raised eyebrows that how it is possible, especially during this flu season, when businesses are trying hard to survive in the shrinking market.

Let’s dig deep to understand right from starting….

Highlights of the Content

• What Is the On-Demand App Industry and How Do They Work?
• Reasons Behind Increasing Demand of Mobile App Development Industry During Coronavirus.
• Type of On-demand Apps in Trend During Coronavirus
• On-Demand Grocery Delivering Apps
• On-Demand Healthcare Service Apps
• On-Demand Social Media Apps
• On-Demand Education Apps
• Cost to Develop On-demand Apps
• Conclusion

Dive Deep in each point…

1. What Exactly is On-Demand Industry and How Do They Work?

Undoubtedly, on-demand apps are spreading in the marketplace like a fire, as they are playing an essential role in creating a layer between consumers and businesses by simply creating an app that promotes explicitly your business products and services. In other words, the on-demand industry is immediately fulfilling the needs of the customers by providing simple access to the products and services they are looking for. Since on-demand apps are specially developed to target particular services, therefore it adds convenience, speed, and simple access to the customers.

The on-demand app industry is working with three crucial components, including suppliers, technology companies, and consumers. The IT company acts as the middle-person that bridges a gap between businesses and customers. The IT company builds an app considering the specific requirements of the suppliers and simultaneously keeping in mind the needs of targeted audiences. By deploying the best-suited technology, they develop a platform where consumers can easily access the services offered by the businesses.

2. Reasons Behind Increasing Demand of Mobile App Development Industry During Coronavirus.

Today billions of people across the world are under lockdown due to the coronavirus and strictly following the Government guidelines for Social distancing. But the entire scenario is raising the challenges for many people even to manage their essential commodities, including groceries, food, medicines, and more.

In that case, the only option left for people is to use the on-demand applications to quench their basic needs and push businesses to enter the on-demand industry to create a robust online business presence. And worldwide, essential on-demand services are seeking a constant rise in demand.

According to Statista, these are the few major fields affected by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Reasons Why On-Demand Mobile App Development Solutions Are Increasing In Demand During Coronavirus:

— Contactless Deliveries

According to resources, almost 95% of US families are using at least one on-demand app to manage their needs during this quarantine period.

The rapidly increasing cases of coronavirus all across the world have increased the fear among people to follow social distancing and avoid direct contact with the suppliers. This is where businesses are rapidly adopting on-demand services to prevent contact between the delivery professionals and users and broke the transmission chain.

— Providing One App with Multiple Choices

When it comes to buying anything, consumers always look for a variety of options, no matter whether they are buying offline or online. A reputed software development company can develop an on-demand app with all essential features that allow users to make a purchase decision by merely accessing the multiple options for products and services.

— Offering Quick and Convenient Shopping Experience

There is no clue how long this coronavirus pandemic will last in this world, and this is the reason consumers flocking to shops and panic buying overstock. While most shops are running out of stock and shutting down, On-demand apps are flawlessly working with proper planning to manage reorders and providing quick yet hassle-free shopping experience to the users.

To ensure the regular flow of goods and services, the on-demand apps are working with thousands of professional delivery staff to prevent buying panic and ensure convenience shopping right from the comfort of their home.

— Spreading Hygiene Awareness

In the wake of coronavirus, people are panicking everywhere right from buying essentials to maintaining hygiene. But the matter of the fact is, they know far less about the virus. In that case, guiding or educating your customers about what necessary steps they should take to deal with the situation and ways to protect your community’s welfare, can be a great initiative.

App developers help businesses to customize the on-demand app with this exclusive feature of creating awareness and making consumers feel safe.

— Increase Customer Satisfaction

Users feel fear to step outside in the streets or marketplace, but on-demand applications have made people get rid of this fear and purchase their choice of products through an app. The instant or 24-hour delivery services further enhance customer satisfaction and leave them with a happy shopping experience.

— Increasing Business Revenue

The on-demand apps are the clear boon for businesses during this Coronavirus season. On the one hand, on-demand apps providing doorstep deliveries to the consumers; on the other hand, these apps are providing great opportunity to add revenues to the pocket of business owners.

3. What Type of On-Demand Apps Are Trending During Coronavirus Pandemic?

The impact of coronavirus on various businesses acts differently. On one side, businesses that require face to face customer interaction may be losing their grounds, whereas, the businesses that can offer their services through the doorstep deliveries are seeing a surge in demand.

Many of you believe that the current outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic harms businesses. However, some industries are enjoying the unseen benefits, even in this gray situation, by merely investing in on-demand applications.

a.) On-demand Grocery Delivering Apps- Walmart Grocery, Instacart, and Shipt

On-demand apps are not the new concept for businesses and customers, but according to the app store intelligence firm Apptopia, online grocery apps, including Walmart Grocery, Instacart, Shipt, Instashop, are setting the new record of daily downloads. Comparing the average daily downloads in February to mid-March, these brands(Instacart, Walmart Grocery, and Shipt) have witnessed 218%, 160%, and 124% higher daily downloads as compared to other days.

The forecast from SuperMarket News, grocery apps have seen a 98% increase in the average number of daily downloads in February.

b.) On-Demand Healthcare Apps — Medi24, Push Doctors, AmWell

The forecast from Statista has revealed that the global healthcare market will reach $90.49 Billion in 2020 from $21.7 Billion in 2018. But, the coronavirus pandemic has pushed this industry to the next level and projected to generate higher than 33.7% revenue.

The Coronavirus pandemic is forcing nations to stay under lockdown even for the essential services. However, the demand for doctors and medicines can’t be compromised, especially during this flu season. So, where hospitals and clinics are filled with virus cases, on-demand healthcare apps are convenient to access even for medical supplies as well.

Medi24: A Switzerland based telehealth app was launched in 1999 with a team of 90 nurses and 25 doctors and used to take 6,000 calls daily. But, the press release of Allianze Partners stated that over the past month, they had handled 70,000 calls that is 34% higher than the previous year. Out of 70,000 calls, they have attended 30,000 calls related to coronavirus and have recommended self-treatment to the patients.

Push Doctor: A Manchester-based online medical consultation app has observed a 70% rise in consultations in the last month.

Well: The leading e-telehealth application has observed a 400% hike in the number of downloads.

c.) On-Demand Social Media Apps — Netflix, Facebook, Tiktok, YouTube

While coronavirus has locked down everyone behind the doors with no work, therefore people are finding entertainment on streaming apps like Netflix, YouTube, social media video apps like Tiktok, Musically, and getting connected with others over social media apps like Facebook.

TikTok: With over 500 million users, this video making app is already drolling over the teens, but its usage percentage has drastically changed from January 21 to March 24. The average daily traffic has been shifted from 16 million to 19 million in two months.

Facebook, Netflix, and YouTube: The Coronavirus pandemic has imposed a sudden hike in the streaming industry. According to reports, consumption of live-television, on-demand streaming, and video apps have seen an 8% to 22% rise in viewership.

d.) On-Demand Education Apps- Byjus, ClassDojo, DragonBox

With lockdown in force, live online teaching has become one of the recent trends in the education industry. The forecast from Statista predicted that on-demand education mobile apps would make 243.8 million US dollars in 2022.

In a nutshell: Considering the above-stated figures and track record, it is clear that hiring mobile app developers is a worthwhile decision to survive in the sinking market. The growth of the mobile app business in 2021 is creating great opportunities for the businesses of all domains as they are increasing in demand all across the world.

4. How Much Does It Cost To Develop an On-Demand Application in 2021?

Are you convinced of the growth of the on-demand app development industry during the Coronavirus pandemic and planning to launch your business app? But not sure about the development cost and time, then let me tell you that there is no straightforward answer to your question.

The development cost of any app is depending upon multiple factors, including app idea, the complexity of the app, choice of development techniques, integration of features and functionalities, choice of operating platform, and many more.

According to the survey report of Clutch, the average price of app development from $25,275 to 727,500 and can go higher depending upon the complexity of the app and its features.

Here is the bifurcation of factors affecting the cost of app development:

Note: All these estimations are based on the survey report of Clutch that has been conducted with 10 leading companies to determine the average cost of the app development. However, the average cost to avail Android app development services are starting from $18 to $30 per hour developer’s cost.

Ending Note

To end this blog, it is worth mentioning that the COVID-19 fight is not just a health emergency but also putting our economy at the alerting point. On one side, where small businesses are finding it hard to survive with the current lockdown in countries across the globe, on the other side, on-demand app development services are seeing a spike in demand.

No matter in which domain you are working, on-demand apps can provide you the way to reach your consumers and provide doorstep deliveries by keeping in mind the community safety and hygiene of employees and customers.

So if you are still thinking that developing an on-demand app for your business is a complicated task for you, then it is the right time to hire app developers to discuss your project details and get a perfect solution in real-time.

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Published via Towards AI