Rail systems are finally making the digital transformation everybody’s been talking about for several years.
In the United Kingdom, for example, the Thameslink now runs 24 trains an hour – an increase of 50 percent in its capacity compared to years past. Making this possible took a lot of work on the back-end. Rail carriers consolidated their control centers and built modern, computerized facilities that leverage data analytics to develop intelligence about on-time performance, delays, and overall ridership per time-of-day and season.
Rail carriers are also deploying digital enterprise asset management (EAM) systems to reduce maintenance time and improve overall productivity. These systems precisely target what needs repairs and provide an immediate and accurate status of rail stock and parts to maintenance crews. Digital EAM technology can also monitor an inventory of trains in rail yards more efficiently, ensuring more predictive maintenance as opposed to simply repairing trains when they break down.
Rail companies have also invested in sleek electric trains that run faster, with fewer carbon emissions, and are easier for drivers to manage. Regenerative braking technology, which captures the energy expended by trains as they slow down and reuses it, not only delivers a smoother ride – through fewer stops and starts – but improves energy efficiencies and further reduces pollution.
Mobile ticketing and more
Digital technologies also offer major benefits to passengers, such as mobile ticketing, the ability to leverage Alexa and other digital assistants for train schedules and weather forecasts, and automatic refunds when trains are late or offline.
The results have been impressive. The UK’s Office of Rail and Road reports that rail passenger journeys in Great Britain in 2018-19 reached a record high of 1.759 billion. They increased by 3 percent compared to the previous year, driven by a 3.9 percent increase in the London and South East sector. Total passenger revenue growth also hit 10.3 billion pounds, its highest revenue since 2014-2015. Of course, increased ridership can be attributed to a number of factors, including evolving consumer attitudes toward rail’s eco-friendly advantages or time and cost savings compared to car travel, but it’s clear that digital is making traveling by train easy, cost-effective and gentle on the environment.
The shift to digital from paper-based systems requires that rail carriers take a much more focused look at their cybersecurity postures. They have to put in place security awareness programs for the rank-and-file staff and also communicate with passengers on ways to protect their digital identities as they purchase train tickets online and depend on their mobile phones to manage their busy travel schedules.
On the IT staff side, rail carriers need to put solid patch management programs in place so the back-end software runs securely and threat actors have fewer opportunities to inject malware. Most security experts will say that with a solid patch management program and basic security awareness around email phishing, organizations can prevent the vast majority of cyberattacks.
Full speed ahead
While rail carriers have not moved as quickly into digital as airlines and rideshare companies such as Uber and Lyft, they have made some great progress.
As we head into the 2020s there’s really no turning back. Change comes slowly, but with investments the industry has made in back-end technology and analytics, mobile apps and faster electric trains, we’re about to turn the corner into the digital future.
Rail systems have taken a back seat to airlines when it comes to focusing on customers, but that’s changing. In the United Kingdom, for instance, Network Rail has had great success in becoming more responsive to passengers. Its Putting passengers first program decentralized services and functions, creating five regions, each with its own managing director responsible for delivering train performance across 14 routes. Digital technologies are an important part of the program. For example, Network Rail sends consistent and reliable train information directly to passengers via mobile messaging. In addition, Network Rail is now leveraging advanced analytics to enable staff to track and deploy rail assets as needed. It also uses analytics to keep trains running on time by supporting solutions that resolve adverse weather or environmental factors like leaves on the line.
Rail organizations are seeking to improve many other points of the passenger journey through innovative solutions. Delivering these digital technologies, of course, assumes that the rail system has invested in upgraded Wi-Fi and has plans to support the emerging 5G standard as wireless carriers roll it out.
Here are six ways digital technologies are improving the ride experience for passengers in the UK and around the world:
1. More efficient ticketing. Digital technologies let rail customers identify the best time of day – such as off-peak times – for the most economical fare, and make their selection online or via mobile apps. While this may not necessarily help passengers who purchase a monthly pass, it can be helpful for workers who only need to report to the office two or three times a week, for parents traveling with small children or for a caregiver transporting an aging parent to a doctor’s appointment. Students on a tight budget also appreciate having access to information that can help them plan their travel time more efficiently and economically.
2. Convenient refund service. Most commuter rail passengers tap in or out with a smartcard or smartphone. After they tap in and take their trip to work in the morning, the system can notify them via text or email during the day that there is a network disruption and that their return trip home will be delayed by 30 minutes. If it’s going to be a longer delay, the system can send passengers suggestions for alternate routes and give them a percentage-based credit to their account. If a passenger was planning a longer trip for a vacation, the system can credit the traveler with a full refund in the event the train was delayed or cancelled.
3. Synchronized coffee and food services. The airlines have tied in services where travelers can order food or coffee to be ready for pickup when they arrive at destinations or make connections to another flight. These same types of services are becoming available to commuters. In England, for example, rail passengers can now have their coffee waiting for them when they arrive at the train station in London each morning. Or they may opt to preorder a quick snack at the station for their trip home at night. These types of personalized convenient services are becoming very popular as people go about their busy daily activities.
4. Digital assistants. Given the number of people who use Alexa, Google Assistant and smartphones with digital assistants, rail companies can now leverage those tools to reach customers. Commuters can query Alexa in the morning to find out if their train is on time, or get a quick weather report to know if they should take an umbrella. If they need to deviate from their normal pattern and go to a different location, they can query Alexa on the best prices and times for a round trip on that day.
5. Mobile tickets. This may be the year that mobile ticketing becomes more mainstream around the world. For the past several years, commuters in the Boston area have been able to use their smartphones to purchase and show their tickets digitally. Another mobile ticketing project is now well under way in Japan, and this year there are plans in the UK to make it possible for rail commuters to use their ITSO (Integrated Transport Smartcard Organization) passes on mobile devices.
6. Improved logistics and crowd control. Vastly improved communications make it possible to inform passengers if and when a train changes tracks. It can be inconvenient and annoying to wait for a train at one track and learn at the last minute – if at all – that the track has changed. This is particularly true for passengers who need special assistance, such as mothers with young children and strollers, or people in wheelchairs or on crutches. Instead of depending on older, often hard-to-hear PA systems, passengers can receive texts that inform them of the track change as soon as it’s known, giving them enough time to react and make their way to the new track.
Going digital improves the passenger experience, and it also makes the staff more efficient. As we head into the third decade of the 21st century, there’s no turning back. Rail systems need to go digital to stay viable to a generation of riders who simply expect these services and communications.
Seaborne trade, one of civilization’s oldest customs, has grown steadily over the last decade as global trade has flourished. The digital transformation of retail and wholesale business has revolutionized international commerce. But behind the point, click and order façade, logistics companies and transportation authorities are scrambling to manage demand for both speed and volume. At the same time national and international regulators are requiring seaports to mitigate the impact of congestion, pollution and other environmental effects created by crowded ports.
Seaports have become a focal point for improvement. While countries can build new roads to move more trucks or add tracks to carry more trains, seaports are different. Limited by geography and bounded by urban development, seaports in many countries are straining to manage the flow of goods. Ships are not only arriving more often, but they’re also bigger. Super max cargo ships can overwhelm port facilities by delivering tens of thousands of containers at once. Moving containers out by truck, one or two at a time is slow, adds to urban congestion and has an adverse environmental impact. Thousands of containers end up spending days, weeks or even months waiting to be picked up for transport inland. Compounding the issue is the need to perform customs inspections and clearance at the seaport.
To overcome these challenges, governments, shippers and port authorities are beginning to shift their perspective on seaports. Commerce has changed and so the port must change along with it. It’s time to liberate the port community from the harbor that established it, by redefining the essence of what a “port” is and does.
Government officials demand that all inbound and outbound ships are authorized at the seaport and that all paperwork and inspections are completed before cargo is removed from the seaport. This can result in waterside storage that leads to a backlog. If administrative tasks — reviewing paperwork, inspecting cargo, collecting taxes or duties – could be done inland, the “commercial port” could be freed from the harbor, provided that cargoes would remain intact and containers undisturbed and secure.
Digital transformation and the dry port
Developing inland ports, also known as dry ports or freight villages, addresses some of the logistical issues and creates new opportunities. Inland ports can be built in areas unconstrained by geographic features that limit size or access. Shifting container storage to inland ports reduces the burden on geographically limited seaports, thereby increasing the volume of containers the port can handle. Inland ports also offer more efficient access for intermodal transport systems. And the reduction of overland traffic in and out of seaports substantially reduces environmental impact and creates new urban renewal and development opportunities.
The digital transformation of the commercial port is the catalyst to using the inland port innovation to liberate the port community from the harbor. The process of digitally transforming the seaport into a digital port happens in four steps. The first step is achieved by developing a controlled customs corridor: a secure, digitally monitored and managed route that ensures everything unloaded from a ship arrives in the same state at the inland port. The same applies to shipments consolidated at the inland port bound for ships leaving the seaport. This development would eliminate the need for seaports to store containers, freeing up critical space to expand port operations while reducing urban congestion.
The second step is to deploy a cloud-based intermodal appointment system that is intelligently aware of the status of cargo, the roads and rails, as well as both planned and unplanned events that might disrupt transportation. Providing truck, rail and maritime carriers with more precise information about cargo arrival and departure times would result in a major improvement to time-definite delivery. In addition, a system for managing pick-up appointments will greatly increase the efficiency of cargo movement between inland and sea ports. Lastly, drivers and trucks can be cleared ahead of time and parking spaces preassigned, reducing the paperwork to be completed and speeding the movement of trucks through the ports.
The third step is to virtualize and manage the dry port and seaport as one entity — The Commercial Port. Transportation hubs like airports operate as an ecosystem with multiple independent entities working as one. Similarly, seaports and inland ports need to operate as a single entity supported by an intermodal appointment system and controlled customs corridor, to ensure that both locations know exactly where cargo is located and coordinate its movement into and out of the ports.
The fourth and last step is to automate and facilitate the ability of rail companies to efficiently shunt cargo between the seaport and inland port with minimal human interaction. For all the flexibility trucks offer in the movement of freight, the volume of cargo moving in and out of seaports calls for a solution that can handle a larger capacity with greater efficiency and lower environmental impact. The implementation of a smart rail cargo management system between the seaport and inland port reduces the negative aspects of truck traffic on the seaport, while applying the flexibility of trucks on the inland side. This makes best use of loading and unloading labor, as well as reduces the footprint of the port. The digital transformation of the commercial port returns the harbor to the city so it can be reclaimed for tourism, recreation and environmental stewardship.
The ancient Phoenicians and Greeks, builders of the first international seaport system, would surely be awed by today’s technologies and the scale of port operations. But the idea of increasing operational efficiencies of the port ecosystem through innovation and cooperation is something they would readily grasp. After all, good business is good business — in any age.
We are operating in a digital era where every company is a software company. With the growing advent of digital technologies, it has become impossible for a business to chart their success in the absence of applications supporting their internal and external functions.
This growing dependence on applications – enterprise and customer-focused – although a stepping stone for innovation and creativity, comes loaded with several challenges. Challenges that low code no code development methodology aims to address.
Bandwidth issues – The in-house IT team, across businesses, generally works on the everyday crucial business tasks. Because of this, they are generally left with minimal time for working on enterprise or customer-side applications.
Limited budget – Purchasing semi-custom apps or hiring a mobile app development company can be an expensive affair.
Demand for quick deployment – Even at a time when the adoption of DevOps is on a high-speed mode, the time it takes to develop an application is still high at large. The complexity-driven slow development speed almost every time results in delayed deployment time.
Although these issues can be solved by hiring a team of remote developers, businesses have started taking an alternate route – low code development. But does this mean the trending application development approach is the future of the sector? Let’s find out.
What is low code no code development?
Low code no code platforms enable businesses to develop apps with the help of a visual development approach in place of the alternate development route that requires writing thousands of code lines. Here are some of the top reasons why businesses choose to take the route instead of investing in full-fledged custom application development:
Although low code app development and no-code software development work best when placed together, there are several inherent differences between them, making it impossible for them to be used interchangeably.
No-code platforms are ones that enable teams with zero software development and coding expertise to assemble applications with the help of functional, reusable building blocks.
Low code platforms are the ones that demand a level of coding but make it extremely easy for the developers to develop new apps in the least turnaround time.
Both no code and low code platforms offer IT with complete governance over data, systems, and functionality. When working together, they enable rapid application development which in turn helps businesses reach their goals with the resources they have however limited. Here are some statistics highlighting the opportunities for Low Code Application Development (LCAD) and No-Code Application Development (NCAD) as the code for the future.
Gartner estimates that low-code app platforms would account for over 65% of development by 2024.
Forrester forecasts that the low-code market would top $21 billion spendings by 2022.
According to TechCrunch, the companies operating in the sector are paced to raise around $500 million by 2020.
Numerous benefits together have led to a rise in the LCAD and NCAD form of rapid application development. Let us look into them after looking into some of the most trusted low code no code app development platforms.
The best low code no code applications development platforms
When we enlist the best platforms for rapid application development, some names come on top – Microsoft PowerApps, Appian, OutSystems, Airtable, Amazon Honeycode, Salesforce.com Lightning Platform, Zapier, and Google AppSheet, etc.
The industry, however, is constantly expanding. Meaning the brands which are on top today might not make it to the list in the next quarter. What remains constant though are the benefits that businesses can draw from using low code no code app development.
Benefits of low code no code applications development
High development speed – the biggest pro of low code no-code app development is that the development time gets cut off from months to days. You can not just take your app to the market faster but also quickly work on the user feedback and add newer features, functionalities.
Lowered cost – at the back of low development time and high speed, fewer resource requirements the cost of developing a low code no code application is extremely low.
Lesser bugs – the lowered amount of code leads to lesser bugs occurrences as well. And with lesser bugs in the picture, the development time gets further reduced by manifold.
Better business stakeholder engagement – the inclusion of in-house developers in the low code no code application development process helps the stakeholders be involved in the deployment procedures.
Multiple deployments – low code development platforms enable businesses to build apps for multiple platforms at the same time. Usually, the deployment of an app on one platform is a complex task in itself. A task that becomes easier with low code no code mobile app development.
Amongst the many benefits of low code no code mobile application development lies the fact that it is fit for only certain app types – ones that generally lie in the ballpark of prototypes. The more you deep dive into the approach the more difficult it becomes to distinguish it from the white-label development methodology. The methodology is good on papers but has several ground-level issues attached to it.
Low code no-code application development shortcomings that keeps it from getting the title of software development future
Integration restrictions – Low code applications are more likely to give you integration issues when you connect them with legacy systems.
Absence of customization – Like every DIY software development platform kit, the platforms come with their fair share of customization limitations. At a time when the market favors those that have a competitive advantage, you will be forced to work on the platform boundaries and give up on certain planned functionalities.
Security risks – Multiple risks arise when you work on third-party platforms, especially the ones that make your application uncontrollable. Since you only get access to work on the frontend or the user interface, you have little to zero control over the backend data and process.
Coding is not everything – There is more to the application development process than coding. A custom app development agency works on user journey maps, design sprints, application testing, etc. While low code no code application development platforms can give you an application, there is no guarantee that there won’t be more apps similar to yours in the stores.
Does the code future lie in no code low code? Anteelo verdict
If you intend to develop basic applications that need little to zero customizations and come with low-security vulnerability, we recommend taking the LCAD and NCAD approach. But if your business goal is to enter the mobile app market with a high-quality successful product, customized application development would work best for you.
Irrespective of what your choice is, the future of application development, as opposed to general belief, doesn’t lie in low code no code development approach. The key to attaining a competitive advantage will require businesses to present a customized stand in the industry while ensuring that they have complete control over the backend and users data.
Airports face a number of challenges — aging infrastructure, fluctuating demand, sophisticated security needs and, now, an unexpected global health crisis — and legacy technologies are incapable of addressing them. In other words, we cannot expect to build tomorrow’s airport using yesterday’s solutions. We need radical innovation and that calls for new technologies. Digital twin fits the bill.
A digital twin is a 3D representation of the physical world. It enables developers to visualize products and spaces and to run simulations to show how they behave in differing conditions. Here are the five main areas where a digital twin can benefit airports:
1. Ideation
Airports are continuously seeking ideas on how to transform from physical infrastructure into real, living ecosystems. That means improving the passenger journey, and one way to do that involves creating 3D virtual experiences to simulate new concepts and validate their benefits; if they prove promising, the 3D virtual experiences can be used to demonstrate value to the airport stakeholders that are responsible for securing capital funding. Building stakeholder confidence early on ensures that investments will be used wisely and can radically shorten decision cycles from years to weeks.
2. Design and Engineering
A digital twin provides a collaborative environment to unite all supplier deliverables around a unique 3D mockup to converge much faster on a final design. The subcontractor’s design conditions and physical dimensions can then be verified and validated. The conformance of the final 3D design to initial requirements and FAA regulations can be readily shown. Tenants will benefit from a more controlled process and can achieve on-plan, on-cost and on-time delivery.
3. Construction
By leveraging a digital twin, project delivery teams can simulate how construction or renovations might impact airport operations. The overall operational impact of taking major infrastructure – such as a terminal – out of service, can be simulated. Once evaluated, an effective and proactive operational plan can then be put in place to minimize disruption.
4. Sales and Marketing
Digital twin also opens up many opportunities for innovative marketing. For instance, new and engaging AR and VR applications (perhaps virtual shopping experiences) could be developed to entertain travelers and drive retail revenue. And digital twin could enable marketers to test new and innovative marketing concepts in a virtual environment before committing to them. Moreover, employing digital twin can reduce the need for real photo shoots and costly film sets usually involved in marketing campaigns.
5. Operations
When it comes to airport operations, there are two primary roles for digital twin technology:
Maintenance: Digital twin provides a platform to monitor and analyze sensor information to predict asset failure. Further, it provides a diagnostic tool by simulating what went wrong. All this information is captured and communicated in 3D to the field via a work order to accelerate investigation and reduce maintenance costs.
Passenger Flow: 3D simulation provides a better understanding of daily operations. It gives a holistic view on how planning interacts with airport activities such as construction, renovation or other events which may cause irregular operations. Mitigation scenarios can be simulated to address the impacts and shorten recovery times. This reduces costs and, turn-around times and, most importantly, helps to eliminate congested passenger flows. For this to work effectively, it is imperative that the virtual model provides a reasonable and trustworthy representation of a real-life scenario.
The airport of tomorrow
Digital twin is being used in other industries – to support the development of autonomous driving technology, for example – and delivering value and return. Airports that similarly embrace digital twin have much to gain – improving their ability to innovate for the future by encapsulating an airport’s overall environment and life cycle in a virtual environment. In an industry faced with unprecedented challenges, digital twin technology – a highly visual way of modeling, thinking and doing business – will help transform and deliver the airport of tomorrow.
The 5G IoT reaches new dimensions in all aspects where 5G connects more IoT devices at higher speeds and makes things slow things non-existent.
Dive deep into your imagination and seek a world where smart homes can unlock doors just by scanning your face, automatically adjust lighting and temperature, a world where chronic diseases are managed 24-7 and where accidents are a thing of the past. You can imagine that the fifth generation of wireless technology promises more than just a fast network.
It will not only help you redefine the network but also establish a new global wireless standard for speed. A 5G network builds a bridge to the future. This technology is not just a new generation of wireless technology, it is a 5G foundation to release the full potential of IoT thus revolutionizing technological growth. We are well aware about IoT and its working.
IoT is described as an ecosystem of interrelated computer devices, digital machines, and objects that have the ability to communicate and transfer data to each other in real-time, with minimum human intervention.
Major components of IoT include – devices, connectivity, data processing and user interface. Since IoT is already in the blooming stage, with the help of 5G (fifth generation), it has the potential to reach a whole new level. 5G and IoT technology together have a wide spectrum that increases the overall bandwidth and allows a massive amount of IoT devices to connect.
IoT and 5G have given rise to the mobile ecosystem by introducing a powerful combination of extraordinary speed, expanded bandwidth, low latency, and increased power efficiency that will be connecting billions of networks in the coming five years and is changing our world. Let’s look into some numbers to show you what 5G enabled IoT is capable of.
Ericsson’s latest Mobility Report says that the number of 5G smartphone subscriptions worldwide will rise to 600 million by the end of this year, almost tripling from the 2020 total. By 2022, 5G subscriptions will cross the one-billion mark.
Internet of Things (IoT) will connect more than 50 billion devices by 2030.
5G will be 10 times faster than current LTE networks. This increase in speed will allow IoT devices to communicate and share data faster than ever.
In 2030, the forecasted total number of 5G internet of things (IoT) units sold, business to business, is 44.8 million. Of these, almost half are expected to come from industry 4.0 applications, also known as smart factories. The second largest share of forecasted sales in 5G IoT units, is use cases in smart cities, with 8.4 million units.
Connected cars is projected to become the largest segment of the global 5G Internet of Things (IoT) endpoint market, with an installed base market share of 39 percent by 2023, the equivalent to 19 million endpoints. The overall 5G IoT endpoint installed base is forecast to grow from 3.5 million in 2020 to around 49 million in 2023 worldwide.
Due to the increase in 5G users, the industry anticipated to benefit the most economically is information and communications with an estimated $251 billion contribution to the U.S. GDP between 2021 and 2025. Real estate and business services industries are expected to contribute $190 billion and $187 billion, respectively, in the next five years.
Now that we are aware about what IoT in 5G technologies can pull off. Let us look into the advantages IoT and 5G bring to the table in detail.
What Are The Advantages Of 5G And IoT Tech?
1. Greater speed in transmissions
Speed in transmissions can reach 15 to 20 Gbps. With the help of the new found speed we can access data, files, programs etc on remote applications. By intensifying the usage of the cloud and making all devices (mobile phones, computers, etc.) depend less on the internal memory of the device, it won’t be necessary to install numerous processors on a device because computing can be done on the Cloud.
2. Increased number of devices connected
5G impact on IoT is clearly the increased number of devices that can be connected to the network. All connected devices are able to communicate with each other in real-time and exchange information.
You can imagine that when we talk about a smart home, hundreds of devices will be connected. If you think of an industrial plant, we are talking about thousands of connected devices. Such a great number of connected devices will allow concepts like building a smart city possible.
3. Lower latency
In simple words, latency is the time that passes between the order given to your smart device till the action occurs. Thanks to 5G this time will be ten times less than what it was in 4G.
For example: Due to lower latency the use of sensors can be increased in industrial plants. Be it control of machinery, control over logistics or remote transport all is now possible. Thanks to lower latency, which has led healthcare professionals to intervene in surgical operations from remote areas with the help of precision instrumentation that can be managed remotely.
4. Network slicing
5G implements virtual networks and creates subnets such that the network connection is adjusted as per the specific requirements. By creating subnetworks, some specific characteristics are given to a part of the network. The programmable network will prioritize connections, in case of emergencies by allocating different latencies in the connection.
You are now familiar with the advancements and advantages that applications of IoT in 5G can offer. So, let’s discuss how this wave of new technology is coming up with an endless number of use cases.
5G IoT Technology Use Cases
1. Smart traffic mobility
A world where accidents are minimal, would be a great world to live in. 5G IoT applications can enable the sharing of real-time information about traffic and road conditions among cars and other road users. Such smart mobility and driver assistance services require 5G communication devices in vehicles, with pedestrians, etc and roadside sensors infrastructure.
By collecting and analysing real-time traffic data from the roadside infrastructure and the vehicles on the road, such Intelligent Transportation Systems would be able to timely warn drivers about hazardous road conditions, traffic blocks and safety compromising situations. As a result road safety and traffic efficiency will increase.
2. Smart grid automation
Demand for electricity is increasing as we speak. Virtual power plants and smart grids are the technological solutions for the same. 5G allows us to inculcate real-time management and automate the smart electricity grid. The maintenance can be optimized once we start detecting faults and providing solutions rapidly.
5G is being largely adopted because of the increased deployment rate and lower cost in comparison to wired alternatives. As a result, utility operators are progressively updating their grids with new sensors, control systems and integrating renewable energy resources.
3. Video surveillance
Another 5G based IoT application that is assumed to thrive is video surveillance. Due to the recent turn of events around the globe, the government is ready to invest in public surveillance and security systems. As of now, video surveillance systems rely on wired connectivity, but the adoption of wireless networks can result in fast set-ups and lower costs, boosting connectivity and performance as compared to the wired ones.
5G and IoT security solutions allow us to prevent the loss of critical assets.
According to marketsandmarkets, 5G IoT video surveillance cameras is expected to grow from USD 2.6 billion in 2021 to USD 40.2 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 73.0% during the forecast period.
With the help of 5G we can securely and consistently monitor facility conditions from any location
Quick action can be taken on important security alerts that are notified on mobile devices
4. Smart city
The European Commission defines a smart city as “a place where traditional networks and services are made more efficient with the use of digital and telecommunication technologies for the benefit of its inhabitants and business”.
Smart cities use the5G and IoT devices to collect real-time data to understand demand patterns and respond with faster and lower-cost solutions. You can also call it a digital city whose ecosystem is designed to run by connecting several dedicated networks of mobile devices, sensors, connected cars, home appliances, communication gateways and data centers.
We already know that more than 50 billion devices will be connected to IoT by 2030. 5G is expected to unlock the potential of IoT and be a driving force for the smart city by addressing and overcoming all connectivity issues.
Final Say
Each year technology is innovating itself with new discoveries and ideas. IoT – the concept which did not even exist a decade ago has today not just gotten mainstream but has also marked a presence, across industries, across the globe. Looking at the above emerging technology of 5G and IoT and it’s numerous use cases now is the time to dive deep into mobile IoT app solutions and contact an IoT application development company.
For that you need to find a trustworthy and reliable IoT app development company in USA or other countries where you belong to partner with. A company that would help you expand your decentralized journey. Here comes Anteelo to help you out by providing top-notch solutions for your business needs. For any queries you can contact us through the link provided.
Fintechs are taking advantage of digital transformation by bringing a start-up mentality to corporates to drive growth in businesses.
Coronavirus was a random economic test that no one could have fully anticipated and as social distancing, lockdowns across the globe and work from home rules became common around the world; companies that had seen the writings on the wall became accustomed to the digital age and were the first winners. In this article, we will be discussing in detail how digital transformation in financial services is accelerating the change in Fintech.
Startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have had to reorganize their digital transformation strategies and look to the lending regulatory agencies for quick funding to restart and adapt to the digital ecosystem.
Fintech is not just limited to startups; it also forces large, well-funded enterprises to continue to compete and innovate if they want to stay afloat. Fintechs creates new ways for customers to access and deliver financial services, with simple ways to make payments on investments with quarterly advice and create a personalized budget with the help of the app. To bring difference using digital transformation, a plan with a strategic approach is required.
Professor Anne-Laure Mention, Director of the Global Business Innovation Enabling Capability Platform at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, in her 2019 paper- “The Future of Fintech” highlights the ways Fintechs are disrupting the industry with their faster, cheaper, and attractive service models that are inviting interest from the regulators.
Rapid Growth in Fintech Brought By Digital Transformation
While we know that the financial services industry has a traditional perspective and takes time to adapt to innovation, the pandemic has created a different picture. It has accelerated tangible change by adopting rapid physical and digital transformation, which requires the fintech industry to meet the challenge of equipping businesses with powerful computing systems.
Changes can also be attributed mainly to the rapid change in consumer behaviour and new emerging patterns set by the clear will of cash-less and contact-less activities.
Some stats below describe the rapid adoption of digital transformation.
According to a survey by ZDNet, 70% of companies either have a digital transformation strategy in place or are working on one.
Another report by PTC and CorporateLeaders states that 60% of companies which have undergone a digital transformation have created new business models.
The IDG’s Digital business research includes the top industries for digital-first business strategies with services (95%), financial services (93%) and healthcare (92%) being at the top.
How is Fintech Digital Transformation Making SMEs Efficient?
Greater lending flexibility
In the current system, traditional lending models make themselves ineffective because they are not designed to measure and therefore, seem to impose a barrier on SMEs to earn money. Legacy systems are more expensive compared to fintech companies, which boast a reduced performance model designed to reduce costs. There is also a lack of flexibility in this system.
This is where a cloud-based lending approach can make a difference. Creating an application programming interface (API) that will integrate seamlessly with asset systems and provide an awesome and sustainable digital model that can drive a well-designed lending solution.
Channelling digital fintech offerings
With the increasing pace of digital platform acquisition during the pandemic, digital payment platforms and digital wallets and credit cards have seen a rise in demand in SMEs’ transactions. Additionally, SMEs and startups from across the globe have started taking advantage of the digital profits and loans available through simple, fast and secure fintech solutions backed by robust infrastructure processes. By informing high-end consumers and warm-hearted SMEs they have come up with the idea of using fintech solutions to drive their financial operations.
Processing data for operational efficiency
With innovative digital lending platforms, such as knowing your customer (KYC) and personal identity or KYC based on social security, financial consultants can easily access customer data and get their approval, thus ensuring better efficiency. Data Analytics can be used to improve the understanding of customer portfolios to enable better credit processing. Another useful area where data can be used to detect fraudulent detection, where customer behaviour is recorded and used to analyze potential fraud.
Digital Transformation Trends in Financial Services
Among all industries affected by the pandemic and changed by the digital transformation wave, the finance sector experienced one of the most drastic changes in its transformation. Fintech being one of the industries completely dependent on manual work and person-to-person contact, the road to digital transformation and fintech has been a new journey in this sector. The evolution of digital transformation in finance industry has become a business imperative to improve customer experience through development of new products and services.
According to Binder Dijker Otte (BDO), 97% of financial services firms are putting their resources into digital transformation after reshaping their business models to stay competitive in an evolving sector.
Growing enterprise agility
After the numerous experiences gained from the previous financial crisis, an organization’s ability to expand its agility has become a vital trend in the industry. However, to support the type of constant advancement and improvement that shapes the foundation of agility, financial organizations need quick, reliable access to growing amounts of information without making tedious manual work processes.
Increasing mobile banking
The worldwide pandemic has seen customers rushing to mobile services for their financial requirements and bringing digital transformation in banking industry. While mobile banking is not a new concept, but as the first lockdown was imposed, according to Fidelity National Information Services (FIS), that works with the world’s largest banks, said that there was a 200% rise in new mobile banking registrations in April 2020; while mobile banking traffic rose 85% increasing the need for digital transformation in banking.
The universal utilization of smartphones in our day to day lives has increasingly shifted our choice to digital banking for everyday banking services like electronic bill payments, shared payments and instant transfers.
Increased collaboration
As entrepreneurs and business leaders across different industries embrace the team structure as an operational model and acknowledge the democratization of information, there is nowhere required to work together as solidly as in the financial sector. Since, financial enterprises need to adhere to administrative guidelines that implement a siloed way to select business units. But for other business units, the ability to effectively communicate and work can mean the difference between getting to the end goal first.
Risk assessment
The collection, storage and analysis of big data is extremely important to financial services and digital transformation consulting firms. For instance, the quick and perfect finish of a due diligence process before a huge merger and acquisition can make great differences for the financial investors, organizations and employees influenced by it.
Mobile pay utilities
A decade ago there was a time, when mobile wallets were a totally new concept to the people. As times are changing, thus, so are the methods of putting away riches and making payments. Mobile wallets have become the rule of the payment, be it merchants, shopping malls, and other sellers like to utilize mobile payments versus traditional cash and checks. All thanks to the comfort, security, and ease of availability have provided a route to digital development in finance sector over the years, which keep on developing as the time goes on.
Challenges Faced In Fintech Digital Transformation
The first challenge they face is how to present investors and other stakeholders with a clear view of their proposal, especially if their offer is not in a certain way in the existing markets, and is not allowed by a certain number of customers. These difficulties present challenges in raising funds for commercial investors. These participants will want to see clear evidence that fintech digital transformation is innovative, capable of measuring and mitigating its risks as much as possible.
Fintechs faces a major hurdle in building relationships and trust within clients working with traditional financial services providers. Fintechs needs to fight the myth that their new invention calls for security and data management.
Fintechs needs a very supportive control framework that aligns boundaries, to be able to scale globally with minimal collisions.
The fourth digital transformation challenge comes in the form of international action; 95% of Fintech firms failed when trying to scale up. The reasons for this is that Fintechs are failing to operate beyond regional and national regulatory limits, and are failing to reach customers at critical times.’
Conclusion
Financial innovation presents an important opportunity that exceeds its impact on financial services firms; the whole economy can benefit. It embraces changes in the supply of banks, insurance companies, investment funds and other digital strategy financial services firms, as well as the transformation of internal structures and processes, management systems, new ways of communicating with clients and distribution channels. emerged as the cornerstone of new financial institutions.
Digital strategy consulting firms and Fintech provides new ways for customers to access and deliver financial services, with simple ways to make payments on investments with quarterly advice and create a personalized budget with the help of the app. Fintechs brings corporate thinking to the forefront while also increasing competition, customer focus, and collaboration. These fashions bring clear benefits to consumers in the form of competitive pricing, as well as new and easier services to manage their finances.
After getting to know the growth of fintech through digital transformation, now it is time to select the appropriate digital transformation companies to reach your goals. For any information or query you can contact us at Anteelo– a known digital transformation consulting services company.
As the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, it completely changed our perspective about digital technology in business and its implementation. It has encouraged digital adoption and transformation all over the world! But the question remains, are we utilising it’s full potential?
Digital business transformation post Covid-19 is at the center of today’s economic development debate due to its widely increased usage. As per a survey done by Statista on how will the Covid-19 pandemic affect the overall economic situation of the digital economy, the opinions were mixed. Let’s see how business transformation in digital economy is assumed to shape up according to the survey:
33 percent of surveyed international digital decision makers believed that the digital economy will benefit after the pandemic
25 percent believe that number of business players will be reduced while the major corporations will emerge stronger than even once the pandemic is over
24 percent think that the digital economy will have to endure a long-term revenue loss like the overall economy
16% of the people who were a part of the survey believe that no predictions or forecast is possible at the moment
Is Covid-19 Really Accelerating Digital Transformation?
Yes, we have seen a drastic shift of consumers towards online channels, companies are coming up with digital business transformation strategies to stay in the game. Let’s look at some stats to get a clear picture, shall we?
The pandemic has accelerated digitalization in business. Many companies have accelerated the process of digitization of their supply-chain, customer interactions, and internal operations by three to four years. Not only this, companies have also accelerated in adding digitally enabled and efficient products in their portfolios by seven years!
How Digital Transformation Benefits Your Business?
Increased efficiency: DX will help streamline operations and automate the manual processes. As a result, you will get better speed and enhanced focus on revenue-generating techniques and activities.
Reduced cost and enhanced productivity: Optimising business technology and operations around digital technology means cost-per-transaction savings and increased sales. Also, since employees are already working remotely, their focus is on leveraging collaboration technology and tools to maximize workforce productivity and maintain the company culture.
Increased profits: Companies that undergo DX improve their profitability. Let’s talk about the results reported by the SAP Center for Business Insights and Oxford Economics:
Improved agility: Due to software development, businesses can increase their agility with DX to improve speed-to-market and adopt Continuous Improvement (CI) strategies. This allows for faster innovation and adaptation while providing a pathway to a much improved version of what was.
Enhanced customer experience: Customers have gotten used to having endless choices, low prices, and fast delivery. DX manages to keep the consumers happier than ever.
Accenture reports that customer experience has emerged as the key driver of sustainable business growth. They found that even a slight rise in the customer experience count can bring millions of dollars growth annually.
6 Ways Businesses Can Make The Most Of Digital Transformation Market Opportunities
Let me walk you through the key elements of digital transformation for your business model. So, without further ado, let’s begin!
1. Omnichannel commerce
Centralising customer experience is one of the most important strategies to ensure that we are engaging the customers and at the same time making it easy for them to find the answers that they are looking for. Due to the unfortunate turn of events in 2020 all the physical business locations are shut down and as a result consumers have no option but to go online for their basic needs.
For example: we can choose groceries online, pay online, track our order, receive items on our doorstep in a contactless form and leave feedback all on one convenient app. It is important for the businesses to blend the physical and digital aspect smoothly and create an integrated channel.
2. AI and machine learning
Last year an IT Ops and Security company Splunk announced its “Data to Everything” campaign, and I couldn’t agree more! Data is obviously everything but data without the technology to analyze it becomes obsolete. AI and machine learning are exactly the key elements we need right now. All data to be captured, analyzed, managed, enhanced and visualized in rapid succession.
3. Operational agility
Digitization of processes lowers the amount of resource and time needed for maintaining operations and innovations. Companies are enabling workers with digital tools and platforms for improving collaboration on the go, while using digitization tools for streamlining their operations through data capture and analysis automation.
4. Embracing automation
Did you know 84% of the consumers preferred interacting with computer automated systems. Especially in times like these, such DX in business can go a long way! Computer based systems increase the customer digital experience. In case, you have not used automation as a part of your business transformation strategy then I suggest you start now!
It will help you save time since automated responses engage and provide services faster than human advisors or customer care services. It will also increase efficiency, because the time spent by team members on basic processes like follow-up emails and ticket prioritization will be automated.
5. Cloud strategy
The organisations who are still pondering over the idea of migrating onto the Cloud needs to accelerate the action in this area post the Covid crisis. The logical starting point could be setting up a site on the cloud that should be regularly tested as part of the routine drills.
6. Information security
Last but not the least key element of DX is securing the data of your organisation and customer. Such sensitive information should be tackled with utmost security. In recent times, a surge in security breaches has increased mainly due to substantial increase in usage by working remotely.
Recently, security concerns were highlighted in Zoom, where their executives acknowledged that the online communication platform was not designed for a sudden surge in the app usage. So, your focus should be on making the ‘Information Security’ an integral part of the overall design of your organisation. An equal emphasis should be given to securing the IT assets – Servers, Desktops, Smartphones, etc by integrating the best-in-class security tools.
In order to leverage DX post pandemic, I strongly suggest to adhere to the key elements mentioned above.
Help Your Business Adapt To The New Normal
By 2023, 53% of all investments in information and communication technology will be in digital transformation. That represents increased spending by more than 50% from 2019 levels. Well, in my opinion DX is the need of the hour during this crisis, even post Covid-19, the business world will be completely digitally transformed. Confused? You can always go to digital strategy consulting firms.
What can’t be cured must be endured! Business transformation has crossed the stage of being a trend, it is now a necessity that cannot be ignored. It has now become a mode to win a competitive edge. I hope that I have helped you view gain perspective as to why DX is essential for your business. In case you want more guidance, reach out to our digital transformation strategy consulting team.
IoT currently is in its golden age, transforming various industries by storing and processing data in a distributed manner and making enhanced productivity.
IoT is a complex ecosystem of interconnected devices that can communicate with each other. These smart connected devices are able to gather, share, and analyze information and take actions accordingly.
Research shows that there will be 35 billion smart devices online by 2021 and this number will rise to 75 billion by 2025. So, it is safe to say that IoT is growing at an enormous rate and so are the use cases, trends and technologies surrounding it.
The emerging trends in IoT are majorly driven by technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain, 5G and edge computing. Within this interconnected web of technological advances lies in the business value of IoT applications like smart wearables, smart homes and buildings, smart cities, autonomous cars, smart factories, location trackers, wireless sensors and much more. This level of connectivity helps consumers experience a comfortable secure household that they can control and monitor anytime. IoT also promotes cost and energy savings. From a business point of view, it helps make operation management more efficient, improves productivity of the resources and reduces human labour and above all it provides vast business opportunities.
Since we are well aware about what IoT is and how it works, let us jump straight to IoT statistics that you should not ignore!
Statistics You Need To Know
According to Fortune Business Insights, the global internet of things market size stood at USD 250.72 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 1,463.19 billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 24.9% during the forecast period.
The Internet of Things (IoT) market in the U.S. is estimated at US $45.7 Billion in the year 2020. China, the world’s second largest economy, is forecast to reach a projected market size of US$169.1 Billion by the year 2027 trailing a CAGR of 29.9% over the analysis period 2020 to 2027.
The enthusiasm for IoT adoption is not only global, but also across all industries. Among the enterprise IoT decision makers Microsoft surveyed, 85% say they have at least one IoT project in either the learning, proof of concept, purchase, or use phase, with many reporting they have one or more projects currently in use. Adoption rates are similar across surveyed countries such as, US, UK, Germany, France, China, Japan and core industries like – manufacturing, retail/wholesale, transportation, government, and healthcare.
94% of businesses will use some form of IoT by the end of 2021. Among current IoT business adopters, 88% believe IoT is critical to their business success.
Now that you are aware of the facts and numbers regarding IoT, let us discuss emerging IoT trends, shall we? Past turn of events such as the unfolding of the 5G technology, latest developments in AI Blockchain, the on-going pandemic crisis will dictate the trend of IoT emerging technologies. But we cannot deny the fact that the future with IoT will be smart, secure and reliable,let’s understand how:
Top IoT Technology Trends 2021
1. IoT security
Till date, security is one of the major concerns when it comes to such an extensive level of connectivity. A security vendor has detected over 100 million attacks on IoT endpoints in the first half of 2019 alone, highlighting the continued threat to unsecured connected devices. As a result, security is an evolving IoT trend and many companies around the globe are developing IoT security solutions using different technologies.
2. IoT fueled with 5G technology
5G technology is not just a new generation of wireless technology, it is a foundation to release the full potential of IoT thus revolutionizing technological growth. It is without a doubt the most important internet of things emerging technology since reliable connectivity will result in better performing IoT devices. Real time data processing, lower latency, network slicing, higher transmission speed and extensive coverage are a few things that 5G brings on the table.
3. Blockchain
Increased adoption of blockchain technology is one of the latest IoT trends.
Blockchain can ensure data protection in IoT devices. Blockchain allows successful interaction between multiple network nodes and ensures safe record keeping and that is why it is a great fit for IoT applications since they are also distributed by nature.
4. IoT enabled AI applications
Two very different technologies such as the internet of things and artificial intelligence can together provide commercial solutions. AI algorithms now need very less data in order to deliver good and effective results. In industries, these two technologies can help automate many processes and reduce downtime, reduce operating costs, increase efficiency and enable predictive maintenance.
5. Digital twins
The digital twin technology trend came into limelight in 2020. A digital twin is a virtual representation that serves as the real-time digital counterpart of a physical object or process. A digital twin can be used for multiple things such as monitoring, diagnosing, optimizing and controlling asset performance and utilization. From US $3.8 billion in 2019, the projected compound annual growth rate of the digital twins market will be US $35.8 billion by 2025.
6. Voice activated IoT devices
Amazon Echo, Siri, and Google Assistant have taken voice-based user interfaces to a different level. Voice interactions will now be used in other applications across various industries that will allow us to change settings, giving commands and receiving results from our smart devices. Banks and FinTech startups have been one of the earliest adopters of voice and speech recognition technology. Another impressive development in voice recognition technology is voice biometry. It allows organizations to create a digital profile of someone’s voice, by analyzing a series of specific characteristics such as tone, pitch, intensity, dynamics, dominant frequencies, etc. Companies are confident that this process will be more secure than the methods that are currently in place.
7. Smart cities
While witnessing the emerging technologies in IoT, one cannot ignore smart cities. Since the past five years, many governmental institutions have begun IoT projects that will impact the entire cities. With enormous amounts of data, the government will be able to implement various intelligent solutions for multiple issues like traffic congestion, citizen safety, energy utilisation, sustainable development, etc.
For example: In order to improve urban planning, transportation and public safety, Singapore collects, analyzes and shares data from connected sensors.
Business owners, entrepreneurs and governments are using IoT in order to increase work efficiency, save money, and to create a better user experience. While top IoT technologies are still in their early stage of development in many applications but their overall impact on the top industries is tremendous. Let us look into some applications in IoT devices for specific industries.
The Emerging Industry Wise IoT Applications
1. Agriculture
Did you know that the world population will reach gnarly 10 billion in 2025 and global food demand will witness a 70% increase? We do have a simple solution – smart agriculture (IoT agriculture). With the help of IoT sensors, farmers can make more informed decisions. This will help them achieve higher and better quality crop yield. It will also reduce costs by reducing the use of resources such as pesticides, water, and electricity.
2. Transportation
In 2021, the upcoming cars will be smart cars, which means they will be connected to the internet. These cars will ensure better safety not only for its drivers but also for other vehicles on the road. They will also be capable of software updates and lower emissions. Right now we do have e-scooters, bicycles and skateboards but with IoT evolving companies will be able to reduce their operational costs and deliver a better experience to the drivers and passengers of the vehicle.
3. Healthcare
Due to the recent turn of events, the healthcare sector has experienced a boom of IoT innovation. During the Covid-19 crisis, demand for IoT health applications like telehealth, digital diagnostics, remote monitoring, etc have skyrocketed, thus enabling real-time tracking and alerting the patient’s health IoT has improved the patient engagement and satisfaction with doctors by making interactions and procedures easier and more efficient.
4. Consumer electronics
IoT can enhance user experience and customer satisfaction simultaneously by providing convenience in people’s everyday lives. IoT helps in collecting consumer’s data efficiently and allows the producers to analyze and optimize the usage of their devices or applications.
For example: Due to the on-going pandemic wearable health monitoring devices will become a way of life.
Conclusion
IoT solutions are growing worldwide and the future trends of IoT will play a significant role in the near future. Major technologies such as blockchain, AI, 5G, cloud computing, and so on, are going to play a very crucial role in the advancement of global connectivity and the internet of things. IoT is taking over all aspects of our lives so, if you have an out of the box idea, now is the time to get in touch with an IoT application development company. We are one of the top IoT app development company in USA that creates applications which operate using sensors and deliver outstanding results.
For any regular person, it is hard to associate the term “free” with “revenue”, right? Why wouldn’t it be for free means no cost?
In this article today, we will take up this unlikely association of terms and see – can they really compliment each other, i.e., Can a business really make money with a free application?
However, before everything, let’s discuss why one should even consider taking a step into the direction of developing a free application for business, where they could develop a paid app and generate revenue upfront.
We have some mind-blowing statistics up our sleeve that would make you reconsider everything and change your perception towards free apps.
Free Apps Vs Paid Apps
On comparing free apps with paid apps, the numbers we received were ground-shaking. As per Play Store statistics, the number of free apps alone is approximately 2,589,804 as opposed to 1,25,894 paid apps. Whereas, according to the App Store statistics, 90.3% of total apps are free. Similarly, the difference between the number of paid apps downloads vs. free apps downloads is huge and is in favor of the latter.
These stats speak volumes about the preferences of users, globally. Therefore, it is proved that developing a free application is going to fetch you a wider user base.
You might be wondering about “How Do Free Apps Make Money on Android and iOS?” or the question buzzing in your mind right now might be – “Is it even possible to make money from a free app, let alone higher revenue?”
Absolutely!
What you need is a success recipe (in our case, a powerful app monetization strategy) that will provide you detailed insights on prevailing monetization models, enabling free applications to become money-making apps.
Proven Free Mobile App Monetization Strategies
Now that we have witnessed the proliferation of the popularity of free apps, let’s get straight into the strategies that make it possible for these free apps to make money without explicitly earning from users.
Advertising
Being a pretty familiar concept, advertising is one of the most popular and influential ways to earn money from an application. When talking about this trend in the app monetization, you promote services or products for third-party clients on your application and in return, you get paid. There are many parameters on which a company pays for the advertisement –
Per impression
Per click
Per install
The discussion doesn’t end here. There are five variants or ways in which you can display the ad on your app –
Banner ad
These are the type of ads that you might have seen at the top or bottom of any app. This placement is considered less intrusive and hardly tampers with the user experience. Although, studies show that these banner ads have a very low CTR; meaning there are fewer chances of any user clicking on that ad. Nevertheless, the fact that banner ad growth in 2017 increased at CAGR 7% is a clear indication of its effectiveness despite everything.
Rich Media ads
Evident from the heading, rich media alludes to popular mediums of media such as engaging videos induced with dynamic CTAs, Parallax scrolling, other social media components, QR codes, and more.The case with videos is that an advertisement video would start playing when there are any natural pauses in the app (mostly random). Many apps also reward users upon watching the whole video. One case in point is the “Ludo King” app that offers coins for playing a video.
Native ad
Native ads are the most artful of all. These ads are so well integrated into the app’s interface, making it hard for the users to recognize them as ads rather than as part of the content of the app. Facebook’s ads appearing as user-generated content is a prime example.
Interstitial ad
Though might be considered a little too much on-the-face, these ads are a great way to promote third-party services or products. There is a high chance of getting more CTR via this ad type as they cover the whole of the device screen, obtaining the full focus of the users. Users can either choose (X) option placed on the ad or can click on it.
Incentivized ad
These types of ads include incentives for users in return for performing specific in-app actions such as filling out a survey or poll, sharing content, and so on. It is like killing two birds with one stone, for you not only earn through advertising, but you also get a loyal customer base via giving out incentives. One of the catalysts of this trend is the RunKeeper app.
List ads
Being self-explanatory, List ads are displaying multiple ads (advertisers) at a time.
Referral Marketing and Affiliate Income
This is a proven free mobile app monetization strategy. Under referral marketing, the content containing information about any affiliated company is shown in the application. Here also, your earnings will depend on the clicks and number of installs done through your app. The rewards earned are based either on the revenue share or the cost per action (CPA) model.
This marketing model is used for –
Promoting other apps via banners or pop-ups,
In-app advertisements
Advertise via in-app store
Similar to the previous advertisement model, campaigns that are used in affiliate marketing are:
Cost-per-Mille – Popularly known as CPM, this is where you get payments depending on the number of impressions. The advertiser is charged every 1,000th time the affiliate ad is shown (known as mille in Latin). In comparison to the Android platform, iOS affiliate ads are usually more expensive and sometimes can differ upto 30%. AdMob, operated by Google has the highest end of CPM rates.
Cost-per-click (CPC) – The term is self-explanatory pertaining to the revenue generated by the number of clicks on the advertisement.
Cost-per-sale – Also called as PPS (Pay-per-sale), this where a developer is charged when a sale/purchase has taken place. The publisher of the app is paid a fixed commission (a specific percentage of the purchase).
Cost-per-view – With CPV, you are paid on every view on the advertisement video or other rich media ad interactions.
Cost-per-install – Under the CPI model, you generate revenue via per install of any software product.
One case in point for affiliate marketing here is Amazon. You can select a product to advertise it in your app and then get the ad fees depending on every redirected purchase.
In-App Purchase & Freemium
Another great strategy to turn your free app into a money-making app is to engrain the in-app purchases model in your application. With this functionality, any user who makes in-app purchases will be given some sort of bonus or premium functionality. You can sell any virtual product under the in-app purchase model including gaming currency, or ability to unlock any stage or purchase any fictitious thing relating to any particular game.
Now, there are three types of in-app purchases-
Consumable – It is a product that can be used only once within the application, i.e., Gaming currency.
Non-consumable – It refers to any product purchased for long-term and repeated use, i.e., unlocking any gaming level or buying any virtual book, etc.
Subscription – It’s a model allowing users to access premium features functionalities of a product for a limited time. This is what we are going to discuss next in detail.
Subscription
As explained above, this is one of the most in-trend monetization models and a way through which a free app brings profit, mainly employed by online newspapers and magazines, cloud services like Dropbox and SoundCloud, and entertainment apps such as Netflix, Spotify, a ride-sharing app like Uber, etc. Though the app is free to download, a user will have to buy a subscription plan to access any kind of feature which the app is mainly famous for.
In fact, as per the report by Sweet Pricing, 5% of the overall successful apps are using this model. Though, not a money-magnet primarily, it can help you generate big bucks in the long run.
There can be many options under this model –
Monthly-based subscription
Yearly-based subscription
Per-day subscription
Major platforms like Google and Apple allow the app owners to manage subscription transactions through them. Consequently, Apple enjoys 30% of the first year’s overall subscriptions followed by a decrease to 15% after a year of paid service. Whereas, Google is more generous in this regard by taking only 15% of first year’s revenue.
Sponsorship
Being one of the most effective free mobile app monetization techniques, the sponsorship model is ideal for those apps having an existing strong user base and on the top of it, caters to a particular market niche. This way, you can connect with the sponsors belonging to that industry and match their brand with ads, info in the app, or even adapt the design of the app to that particular brand.
There are primarily two kinds of deals – Revenue from the app divided equally or setting a monthly sponsorship fee.
Crowdfunding
Rather a new cog in the machinery of monetization, Crowdfunding is another way how free applications make money. There are several renowned platforms like CrowdFunder, AppsFunder, Indiegogo, Kickstarter, etc that developers use for generating funds for app like vinted.
In fact, in 2017, 138 app ideas received fundings amounting between $10k-$100k on the Kickstarter platform.
Email Marketing
The email has been a great source of marketing to many organizations since its inception, something that also became a crucial option for every mobile app development company and app marketing team to promote mobile apps.
The process consists of accumulating user data (email address) and then sending them corresponding marketing materials to procure the interest of subscribers in the product.
Certain ways through which you could collect the email addresses are:
Asking for the email address in return for rewards (coins, bonus, etc.)
Employing third-party tools
Encouraging them to sign up via Facebook SDK
Note: Always ask for permission or inform the users before collecting any data along with stating the purpose.
Pay Per Download
Under this popular free app monetization model, an app is offered at a one-time fee charged at the time of download, giving access to all its functionalities and features, as opposed to the premium model.
Though this model ties all the profits and revenue to the number of downloads, this might not be the first choice of many app developers. The reason being, users might not feel comfortable paying for the app upfront without even getting a trial.
One way to go around it is to have an impeccable marketing strategy with exceptional app listing, press, and reviews to promote the app’s features and values.
Though, there were the most popular and prominent ways to earn money via free apps, there is one more not-so-avidly-used app monetization model –
Accumulating And Selling Data
It might not be the most ethical practice, but there are many apps out in the market that earn profits on their free apps by selling their databases to third-parties. The information traded might be the email addresses, personal preferences, and searches of users, and social media accounts.
If this is something you do not support (which is excellent), you can make use of this raw data to tap into the minds of users and improve your product/services based on their preferences.
How To Choose The Right Free App Monetization Strategy?
Any app monetization strategy is deemed futile which doesn’t compliment your business model. All the efforts will turn to dust if you can’t procure expected results from your endeavors. This makes it prominent for you to find out which strategy would render positive results, something that we have eloquently covered in our article “Choosing the right app monetization strategy”.
Free App Monetization Tools
Here are some tools that will help you in integrating your application with one of these free app monetization models.
For Freemium App Model
Play In-app Billing – A powerful tool by Google for every Android app development agency to easily integrate the freemium model into their app. The tool takes care of all the checkout details, negating the need for your app to process financial transactions.
Apple In-App Purchase – This Apple tool enables the users to buy the in-app content/services or subscription and treats it as a software download from the store.
AdWorkMedia – It is a perfect tool to integrate advertising methods with gated freemium tools in a system. It allows you to implement content and product lockers, provides walls and other similar monetization tools.
For In-App Advertisements
Google Admob – This tool from Google helps the users to analyze the data accumulated on the activities and preferences of customers via Google Analytics. This allows users to improve their advertisements, based on the understanding of the analysis.
Apple iAd – This poses as a great tool for users to show ads of other companies while also managing their own advertisements – all in one place.
NativeX (for games) – This tool is developed by Venture beat. It renders incredible no lag video with creative ad units for impeccable game app monetization and user acquisition.Unity (for games) – Only targeting ads for gamers, this tool displays customized ads based on each user’s behavior in the game app.
For In-App Video Advertising
Vungle – It is a remarkable tool that has the SDK working on all major platforms, i.e., iOS, Android, and Windows.
Adcolony – It employs its proprietary Instant Play ID technology and buffer-free video playback in order to engage and monetize users.
For M-Commerce Purchase
Shopify – This tool is excellent for adding e-commerce to the native app that allows customers to buy directly from within the app.
MobiCart’s tool – It effectively allows the application to act as a website, facilitating the buying and selling of products.
App Monetization Mistakes To Avoid
The occurrence of mistakes is probable in the initial stages of any process, which resultantly invites blunders creating great losses. In which case, a pre-insight into these mistakes is helpful in avoiding them completely. So, here they are –
1. Not Analyzing And Targeting A Particular Niche
Understanding the geographical needs of the users is pivotal. Your app might be preferred by users from one country and not obtain attention at all from others. This is why it is important for you to study the market niche and its feasibility in relation to the location of the targeted user base. So, instead of crying over spilled milk, it is better to analyze your potential users first and then develop a monetization strategy around it.
2. Selecting The Wrong Pricing Model
A crucial part of the app monetization strategy is setting up the prices and rather a sensitive one as well. Carelessly or assumingly setting up prices can blow up in your face, obliterating everything you have worked hard for. For instance, $5 may sound fair to you for the US audience, as iOS users’ average spending on mobile apps is $88 per year, but the same pricing would not work for users in developing countries. So, always make sure to study your audiences well before finalizing anything.
3. No Strategy For The Localized Version
Let’s understand this via an example. Say, you are charging 1 USD from users to jump a level in the game in the US. This might be an acceptable amount for US users to pay for in-app purchases but may not appeal to users in other regions where finance is a concern. There are even some regions where the in-app app monetization model might collapse, i.e., Latin America, where users are not in the position to spend as much.
However, you can here choose another monetization strategy i.e., in-app advertisements to bring in revenues.
4. Not Having A Strategy At All
More often than not, Indie developers publish an app just for the sake of it or for fun and give no heed to making the app a lucrative business. Planning an app monetization strategy is something that should be done while the development process is on-going.
Of course, you can mix up all these models and integrate them together into your app in a tasteful and practical manner.
Conclusion
Based on our understanding of this article on “How do free apps make money”, it is evident that in-app advertisements is the easiest and effective app monetization model that can be adopted for free apps along with other kinds of applications.
Whereas, other strategies such as in-app purchases, subscription, and freemium models are those that are suitable for certain types of applications, offering particular functionalities.
