The declining use of mobile apps is perhaps unexpected. When the mass market first took to smartphone use, one of the dominant attractions was the innovative and exciting range of apps that were available to users. Apple particularly took advantage of this with its App Store, providing a virtual marketplace that allowed iPhone users to download a huge variety of apps that had capabilities and features few people thought would be available on their phone – creating the concept for their marketing campaign “There’s an app for that.”

But as we so often see in the Product Life Cycle; the growth and maturity of apps has eventually led to their decline over time. There are a variety of reasons, but research and statistics show that fewer people are searching for and downloading new apps. Consumers in general are, however, still using a core few favourite apps that they use for functionality and lifestyle reasons – particularly social media apps.

52% of business apps are uninstalled within 30 days

This is torrid news for companies that have invested important resources into bespoke apps for their business, as the statistics are particularly damning toward business apps, providing evidence that business apps are now rarely used. In fact, research has shown that 52% of business apps are uninstalled within 30 days. Reports have also revealed that nearly 26% of business apps are uninstalled within the very first hour!

So, what does this mean for hospitality?

Many businesses have devoted significant resources toward creating apps to enhance their services and boost customer loyalty. But trends are suggesting it is no longer worthwhile to create a business app because consumers are no longer interested in downloading or using them. For this reason, Wi-Q is a cloud-based solution and not an app, meaning customers do not have to download anything. They simply connect to the web, and they are ready to order - check out our top 10 myths about the cloud.

wi-Q is a cloud-based solution and not an app, meaning customers do not have to download anything

A number of reasons have been cited for the reducing popularity of apps including; lack of phone storage, data privacy issues, declining interest and design/interface flaws. The key point is that fewer people are using apps, and at wi-Q we design our solution in synergy with these vital market signals to ensure that our products always match consumer behaviour.