Mobile apps are positively disrupting our lives

They have changed the way we shop, look after our health and make payments. And this is just the beginning

By IBM
Updated: Apr 9, 2015 07:45:39 AM UTC
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Let me guess, you are a retailer! If that is the case, you should already have a mobile app for your shoppers. There are statistics to show that 67 percent of smartphone users only use apps from their favourite stores instead of browsing through websites. Mobile shoppers seem to value the money-saving offers, the interactivity and the ability to locate physical stores from their mobile apps. When online shopping started to catch attention a few years ago, it was touted to be a death threat to physical stores, but we all know now that the physical shopping experience is here to stay. However, even in the virtual space, mobile has made its position by offering unmatched customer experience through in-store mobile solutions. Retailers have started to use iBeacons-based personalised in-store offers to engage customers. The mobile apps enable such personalised services to engage customers, make them more informed and also to enable payments.

You could as well be working for the government. There too, mobile government services are perhaps the best bet to reach out to citizens. Most governments have announced smarter cities within each country. A key part of any smarter city initiative is connecting the government with its citizens. This is where mobile will play an important role. There are several mobile apps, for almost all smarter cities, which enable citizens to report any civic issue. The apps enable the capture of problems, which then trigger a workflow in the back end to, hopefully, resolve and close the issue. There is a plethora of such apps on various app stores, and it is likely that there is at least one such app sitting on your mobile device too. The Indian government has launched the mSeva service for mobile governance and it has built over 445 mobile apps just for India-centric services.

Maybe you are an educator, a teacher? Then you would already know the impact that mobile apps have had on education. iTunesU (which stands for iTunes University) is perhaps the most popular education app for iOS and comprises thousands of pages of course material. Several other universities, too, provide courses on iTunesU along with their regular curriculum.  There are currently over 75,000 educational apps on the Apple app store. Students anywhere can access high quality interactive educational material using such apps. There are several articles being written about how younger kids are able to learn complex interactions and understand mathematical concepts using educational games on tablets and smartphones. Such apps have been shown to be of tremendous value for students with disabilities. Perhaps, soon, more learning will happen on your mobile than in any school anywhere in the world.

Or perhaps you are associated with the health care industry. If that is the case, you would be having a Fitbit around your wrist that keeps a track of your daily health routine, takes your pulse and pushes this information to your mobile so that any anomaly can be detected early enough to avoid health complications. The health care industry is transforming itself through such wearables and sensors to track our daily lives. Such devices are also important for elderly care, where appropriate actions can be triggered when the patient needs care. Then there are a large number of apps that persuade us to establish and maintain a healthy lifestyle by tracking calorie intake and calories burnt. Also, there are several apps for health care professionals as well. One example is an iPad app which helps doctors explain to patients what a particular surgical procedure will involve with a drawing on the device. There are apps that can help track vaccinations and suggest first aid measures to children. Some hospitals even have their own mobile app that helps patients navigate the campuses in an easier manner. Such apps are transforming the way health care professionals are trained and how they interact with patients. No matter what chain you are in, you would have a mobile app that changes the way you work going forward.

I could have been wrong until here, but then almost all of us need to pay. And nothing is changing as fast as the financial industry, thanks to the several mobile payment options available now. While mPesa in Africa is the most-talked-about mobile payment phenomenon, last year has seen the announcement of ApplePay, which is now being followed by AndoroidPay from Google and SamsungPay from Samsung. The payment industry is being taken seriously by all mobile platforms and this is likely to push swiping of cards into history books and museums.

While mobile penetration has been rising for a while and we have witnessed the statistical prowess of the mobile revolution, the impact of mobile apps in positively disrupting the industrial journey has just begun.

- By Nitendra Rajput- Senior Researcher & Research Manager - Mobile Enabled Industry Solutions

The thoughts and opinions shared here are of the author.

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