Many businesses today believe that having a mobile app automatically leads to more sales and loyal customers. They often put a lot of effort into creating these apps. However, the truth is more complex: simply having an app doesn't guarantee a boost in revenue. In this blog post we look at common mistakes and overlooked issues that often make mobile app investments unprofitable. We'll offer a clear, analytical view, going beyond the usual ideas.
To fully understand this complex challenge, we will break down the main issues into three key areas: the core strategy behind app development, a close look at how users engage with apps, and the vital need for the app to fit well within your overall business.
Strategic Foundations: Making Your App's Purpose and Value Clear
All of your users are inside your application, not your store! In this section we want to analyze your application and the features that you need to implement into it.
Savy (Chief Editor) Jan 17, 2024 • 5 min read
Beyond Feature Parity: Finding What Makes Your Mobile App Unique
A common problem with many mobile app strategies is that they don't truly connect with what users need or what makes the business valuable. Many apps are simply digital copies of existing websites or services, offering the same functions without adding any real mobile-specific benefits. The market is full of apps that just mirror web experiences, failing to use unique mobile features like location services, timely notifications, or direct links to phone hardware. When an app doesn't solve a specific problem or improve a user's experience in a way a mobile website can't, its value quickly drops. Users are smart; they want solutions that genuinely make tasks easier, offer special perks, or provide unmatched convenience. An app that doesn't clearly show and deliver this unique value will struggle to stay on a user's phone, let alone influence their buying choices.
To truly stand out and increase sales, a mobile app must use the special abilities of a mobile device. These include, but are not limited to:
- Location-Based Services: Offering highly personal experiences, real-time deals, or navigation help based on where the user is.
- Push Notifications: Sending timely, personal, and relevant alerts that encourage users to come back, without being annoying (e.g., reminders about items left in a shopping cart or special sales).
- Offline Functionality: Allowing access to main features or content even without internet, making the app useful in more situations.
- Device Hardware Integration: Using cameras for visual searches, microphones for voice commands, or fingerprint/face scanners for easy login, simplifying complex actions.
- Augmented Reality (AR) Experiences: Letting users virtually try on products, see interactive product views, or play immersive games that aren't possible on a regular web browser.
The Imperative of Differentiated Utility
The main goal, then, is to define a unique mobile-focused purpose that goes beyond just making transactions efficient. This helps build a strong, essential relationship with the user. It means doing more than just showing products or services; it means creating an experience that is clearly better or different on a mobile device. Without this clear difference, the app risks becoming just another icon on a busy screen, easily forgotten or deleted.
Performance Analysis: Understanding How Users Behave and Engage
This section focuses on how to truly measure an app's performance. It moves past simple numbers to deep insights into user behavior and the ongoing journey of the user. We'll further explore this by uncovering misleading engagement figures and discussing how to keep users interacting with your app long after they download it.
Unmasking Engagement Illusions: Looking Beyond Simple Numbers
The appeal of data often makes organizations focus on numbers that seem to show success but actually hide the app's real commercial impact. Downloads, daily active users, and session lengths are often celebrated as signs of engagement. However, these "simple numbers" can create a false sense of success, hiding deeper problems related to sales and how revenue is linked to app use. A high number of downloads means nothing if the app's setup process is confusing, leading users to quickly uninstall it. Similarly, long session times might just mean users are frustrated or having trouble navigating, rather than truly engaging in a useful way.
The main mistake here is not deeply analyzing the paths users take within the app that directly lead to sales. A truly analytical approach requires moving from superficial engagement numbers to detailed behavior analysis that connects user actions to sales processes, finding problem areas and chances to boost revenue. Without this deeper understanding, businesses risk celebrating activity that doesn't actually bring in money.
To highlight common issues in keeping app users and the vital need for deeper analysis, consider these typical reasons why apps are uninstalled:
| Reason for Uninstallation | Impact on User Experience | Implication for Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Poor Performance / Crashes | Immediate frustration | Direct loss of potential sale |
| Excessive Notifications | Annoyance, privacy concerns | Damages brand perception |
| Lack of Perceived Value | App feels irrelevant | No repeat purchases or loyalty |
| Storage Space Issues | Device limitations | Forces app removal |
| Complex User Interface (UI) | Difficult to learn/use | High number of users leaving |
| Too Many Ads | Disrupts user experience | Negative brand association |
| Better Alternatives Found | App is not competitive | Users switch to competitors |
The Post-Download Continuum: Keeping Users Coming Back
A mobile app user's journey goes far beyond just downloading and opening the app for the first time. A major reason sales don't grow often comes from ignoring the experience after the download, which includes everything from getting started to keeping users over time. Many apps fail to provide a clear, guided start that teaches users about the app's main functions and benefits. This initial difficulty can lead to early abandonment, as users don't want to spend time figuring out a complicated app. Also, without a strong plan to keep users—beyond just generic notifications—even engaged users might stop using the app.
Keeping users depends on continuously giving them value, offering personalized experiences, and actively encouraging them to return by predicting their needs. This involves using data to provide relevant content, special deals, or timely help. Without a carefully planned and executed strategy to keep users interested and feeling the app's value, the app becomes a temporary digital item, unable to build the ongoing interaction needed to drive repeated sales and create brand loyalty.
Key parts of a strong strategy to keep users after they download your app include:
- Smooth Onboarding: Guiding new users efficiently through the app's main features and benefits, making it easy to start and showing immediate value.
- Personalized Content & Offers: Using user data to provide tailored recommendations, exclusive discounts, or relevant information that keeps the experience fresh and valuable.
- Smart Push Notifications: Using a clever notification plan that is timely, relevant, and personal, avoiding general or too many alerts that make users tired of the app.
- In-App Messaging & Support: Offering easy-to-access help, guides, and direct ways to communicate within the app to solve problems and build user confidence.
- Regular Feature Updates & Bug Fixes: Showing an ongoing commitment to improving the app's functions, security, and user experience, encouraging continued use.
- Gamification & Loyalty Programs: Adding elements that reward consistent use and create a sense of accomplishment or belonging, driving repeated interactions.
Ecosystemic Integration: Connecting Your App to Your Business
This section highlights why your mobile app needs to be a seamless part of your larger business system, rather than a standalone digital product. We'll further discuss how to avoid the "siloed app" problem and understand the full investment needed beyond just building the app.
The Siloed App Syndrome: Disconnected Experiences
A common strategic error is treating the mobile app as a separate item, disconnected from the wider digital and physical sales world. For an app to truly boost sales, it must connect smoothly with existing customer management systems (CRM), inventory tracking, marketing automation tools, and even in-store experiences. When an app works alone, it creates scattered customer data, inconsistent brand experiences, and missed chances for sales across different channels. Imagine a customer looking at products in the app, but their preferences aren't reflected in email campaigns or suggestions in a physical store. This disconnection leads to a broken customer journey, eroding trust and making conversions harder. The most successful mobile strategies see the app as a central, yet connected, part of a complete sales structure. This allows for smooth data exchange and a single view of the customer. This integration helps with personalized marketing, simpler buying paths, and a full understanding of customer behavior across all touchpoints, which is crucial for maximizing sales impact.
Savy (Chief Editor) Sep 23, 2023 • 6 min read
Holistic Investment: Beyond Just Building the App
The money spent on a mobile app goes far beyond its initial creation. Many organizations underestimate the ongoing costs for maintenance, updates, security fixes, new features, and marketing. This oversight often leads to a big imbalance between the first investment and the continuous money needed to keep the app competitive, secure, and useful. When funding after launch dries up, the app stops growing, failing to keep up with changing user expectations or new technology. This stagnation directly affects sales, as users move to newer, more responsive, and feature-rich alternatives.
Furthermore, the return on investment (ROI) for mobile apps is often miscalculated. It usually focuses only on direct purchases made within the app, instead of considering the app's indirect effect on overall brand engagement, the long-term value of a customer, and increased sales across all channels. A realistic look at the true cost versus benefit, including often-ignored ongoing expenses, is essential to make sure the app remains a workable and profitable sales channel, rather than a constant drain on resources.
A clear fact in the mobile app world highlights this point: More than 1 in every 2 apps that are installed are uninstalled within 30 days of being downloaded. (Source: AppsFlyer, "App uninstall report – 2025 edition," data for 2023-2024). This statistic shows the huge challenge of keeping users and the critical need for continuous investment in user experience and delivering value after the app is launched.
Conclusion: Rethinking What Your App Should Achieve
The journey of a mobile app from idea to commercial success is full of difficulties that go far beyond just the technical work. For an app to truly increase sales, it needs a deep re-evaluation of its main purpose, a careful analytical approach to user behavior, a commitment to the entire customer journey, seamless integration within a larger business system, and a realistic understanding of its long-term financial implications. The time when you could just "build it and they will come" for mobile apps is definitely over. Future success depends on a thoughtful, user-focused, and commercially smart strategy that positions the app not just as a digital presence, but as an essential way to exchange value, building lasting customer relationships and measurable revenue growth.
At TatbiqIT, we work on designing and developing creative websites and applications. If you have any questions or need assistance, feel free to reach out—our experts will get in touch with you as soon as possible.
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