The App World versus the World Wide Web: Who Wins?

The focus of this week’s blog is to highlight the ever changing landscape of technology and how we as consumers, are shaping the world around us. Technology is moving at a phenomenal pace and a battle is currently underway that many consumers worldwide are oblivious to, even though we are the “soldiers” in this battle.

For those of you in the dark, let us explain. For years now, the world has been dominated by the internet. The World Wide Web has satisfied our hunger for knowledge, information, entertainment and interaction. The dot.com boom, the rise of Google, the success of Facebook; this can all be attributed to the internet as a platform that has helped shape our world.

However, there has been a gradual shift away from the internet and traditional methods of browsing online (e.g. desktop computers/laptops) to a new revolution – the mobile revolution. For most consumers today, to satisfy their need for information they would simply search online using their smartphone or tablet. This is where it is critical for businesses to move with the times and have an app and a mobile enabled website to give the customer a pleasurable viewing experience.

Data released from the Wall Street Journal recently estimates that the annual revenue from the “app economy” will reach $25 billion. Indeed, a study carried out by Flurry.com found that on average, consumers use 8 apps per day. With customers becoming more comfortable using apps and trying new apps, can your business continue to resist acquiring an app?

Does the above data point to the death of the web? Not in our opinion. We believe the web will now begin to change and evolve to compete with the reality of smartphones and tablets. Looking into the future, websites will begin to look and function more like apps as this is what customers will expect. This reinforces the trend of mobile before web, bringing together the mobile app and customer experience to the mobile web.

The reality going forward is that tablets and smartphones are leaving desktops behind. Apps are leaving the World Wide Web in its trail and playing a big part in how we behave on a day to day basis. With this being said, is it time for your business to ra