August 2020 - anteelo

Make COVID-19 the Springboard for Your next Mobile App Idea

Posted on 30/08/202009/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

The world was sucker-punched as it continues to reel from the ongoing economic paralysis of COVID-19. But fighting to keep businesses alive is not a lost cause. The impact of the pandemic on businesses has sure been merciless, but as we turn the page to a socially distant and digital reality obvious business models are presenting themselves.

Mobile app development services have the proverbial doses to inject new life in dying ventures. It is an opportune time, more so for a few app categories than others, to reassess their strategy or better, reintroduce themselves to the masses in a new nutshell.

COVID-19’s Impact on the Mobile App Economy

Approximately 1.6 trillion hours were spent on mobile apps in the first quarter of 2020. People increased their mobile usage as part of the stay home quid pro quo. And while COVID-19’s effect on the economy presents a mixed picture, the by-product results for the mobile app industry are anything but.
In April 2020, users spent 27% of the waking hours on mobile phones, an increase from 20% in 2019. The period between February and April saw impressive spikes in app downloads. Combinedly, iOS, and Android app stores recorded 12 billion downloads, up from 9.1 billion for the same slot last year.
The download spikes weren’t without cause and translated into higher consumer app spends. For H1 2020, the combined consumer purchases on the Apple Store and Google Play Store reached $50.1 billion. Of this $32.8 billion was claimed by Apple and $17.3 billion by Google Play.

But what were the people downloading and spending on exactly?

For starters, Tinder is the highest-grossing app on both the play stores raking in $433 million followed by YouTube. For the States, we get a good idea of people’s tastes during the initial part of the pandemic in the following graph. You cannot forego education, essential commodities, and work. Apparently, these were the most downloaded categories by Americans from March 2 – March 16. Such was the effect of COVID-19 on mobile apps, making now the best time to start a mobile app startup.

Impact of the Pandemic on Mobile Apps

The scale of economic uncertainty that the virus has unleashed on the planet is parallel to none in human history. It exposed the shortcomings of interdependent countries that shook to the core due to their reliance on a centralized supply chain hub, China. As trading routes were disrupted, few app categories absorbed and began relishing the rising consumer interest. They make the highlight reel of the impact of COVID-19 on mobile apps.

E-commerce Apps

Due to the mandatory stay/work from home (whichever is applicable) stance of the federal agencies, people shifted their preferences to order essential items online rather than step out. Given that the E-commerce locale constitutes multiple categories, the ones that made the priority list of people were food, hygiene products, clothing, and medications. This is evident from a survey in which 52% of Americans admitted to shopping more online due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Another survey revealed the itinerary checklist of items that more and more people have opted to order online.

The impact of the pandemic on mobile app development has been such that we experienced a surge in requests to develop MVPs for eCommerce vendors. Some aim to diversify by launching newer subsidiaries, others taking their first steps in the field. It was recorded that global eCommerce sales at the height of the lockdowns hit 66% and that has now flattened at 7% above last year’s sales levels for the same time. In keeping with such forecasts, we think the demand for such apps will continue to rise.

Fitness Apps

Forced to put up at home, people are conscious of the role a healthy body plays in hosting a complimenting mind. There were about 656 million health & fitness app downloads in August 2020 making the total downloads for Q2 47% higher than the same time last year. Strava was the highest gainer with 179.2 million downloads within the first 5 months of 2020. The bottom line is that even couch potatoes are acknowledging the benefits of boosting immunity be it through a robust exterior or vis-a-vis a diet planning and monitoring app.

As a result of the impact of coronavirus on mobile apps development, the health & fitness apps marketplace is expected to grow at a CAGR of 21.30% from 2020 – 2027.

Our 600+ team (also working from home) has immense insight into developing healthcare apps such as Soniphi, Mutelcor, and Health-e-People. No matter the impact of COVID-19 on mobile apps development, we know exactly what on-demand e-commerce solutions need especially in times like these.

Messaging Apps

One of the immediate COVID-19 effects on mobile, or rather the impact of it shall we, is that people want to stay connected. And that can happen either through video (more on it later) or messages. Yes, we already have messenger apps like Facebook and WhatsApp, but their rate of adoption differs from one country to another. But one thing is certain until things normalize everyone will make note of maintaining online connectivity through chats.

Factoring in COVID-19, US adults will spend about 24 minutes each day on mobile messaging from 2020 – 2022. Also, considering the next big idea is just around the corner, perhaps it’s still not too late to consider entering the online chat marketplace.

Video Calling Apps

Following a flattening of the curve at many locations and the subsequent lifting of restrictions there has been an upsurge in second waves. Community transmission hasn’t been culled and the majority of people have resorted to the hope of a vaccine, an approved lot of which is expected by the end of 2020, latest. But issues in distribution will remain therefore mandating social distancing to sustain.

Offices could remain shut for a long time, a possibility that has been jumped on to by video calling apps. This impact of the pandemic on technology has been such that online meet-ups are the new normal. Whereas Zoom and Skype have been the go-to apps for businesses there are others like Houseparty and Hangouts Meet, that are designed for lighter occasions.

The video conferencing apps marketplace is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.7% from 2020 – 2027 and possibly attain a size of $10.92 billion by the end of the forecast period. You can bifurcate the business model of the video conferencing app based on:

Conference type – service-based video conferencing, integrated, desktop, and telepresence
Deployment – Cloud, on-premises
Target Group – Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and large enterprises
Application – Rooms, huddles, middle room, large room

EdTech Apps

Globally, as much as 1.3 billion students were impacted by national school closures due to the virus. Considering the staggering growth rate, it’s not a secret as to why EdTech is a profitable domain.

Google Classroom topped the charts for the most downloaded app for July with 14.8 million downloads. This growth was 13.5 times higher than the same time last year. It was followed by YouTube Kids, Duolingo, Tips for File Transfer 2020, and Cake.

There are multiple ways you can differentiate your app based on the target audience. To give you an overview you, with the help of a mobile app development company like Anteelo, you can design the following types of Edtech Apps based:

Online Learning Management Systems – e.g. CenturyTech, Edmodo, Google classroom, Skooler
EdTech Apps for Smartphone Users – e.g. Ubongo, Funzi, KaiOS
Apps with Offline Accessibility – e.g. Kolibri, Rumie
Massive Online Open Courses – e.g. EdX, Udemy, Coursera
Self-directed Learning – e.g. Byju’s, Code It, Discovery Education
Mobile Reading Applications – e.g. Worldreader, StoryWeaver
Apps for Teachers for Content Creation – e.g. Buncee, Kaltura, Trello
Apps for Distance Learning – e.g. EdSurge, Brookings, Education Nation

Online Food Delivery Apps

The market for online food delivery apps reached a valuation of $107.44 billion in 2019. The impact of the pandemic on the global mobile apps market, especially its food delivery sector, has been mostly affirmative. As more people opted to order essential groceries online due to COVID-19, the market value for such apps in 2020 is projected to touch $111.32 billion. This spells a CAGR of 3.61% in one year.

But experts believe this is the lower-end of the ceiling that was adversely affected due to global economic frailties. As public spending power enters its regenerative state the CAGR would grow by 11.51% through 2023, bringing the cumulative valuation of such apps to $154.34 billion, meaning it is time for on-demand brands to start preparing for the post-COVID world.

As a top mobile app development company, we’ve had the privilege of partnering with brands like Domino’s and working closely to help them grow their business. Based on such exclusive experiences, we know which premium specifications and user tastes help brands stand out.

Bringing It to a Close

By now you would have understood that the impact of Coronavirus on the mobile economy will be far better off than the impact of the pandemic on businesses operating in the retail space. If you need (honest) suggestions on how to improve your app idea or you plan to undertake a makeover of an existing app, then do get in touch. Our experts would be happy to do their bit in your success, as they’ve done on previous occasions in taking handkerchief ideas to million-dollar valuations.

Technology Contributing to Real Estate During Pandemic

Posted on 28/08/202009/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

For a few years now technology has been a driving force behind innovations in the real estate sector. But when it comes to complete digitalization, real estate tech has not been one of the pacesetters.

A situation that the industry was forced to correct in 2020.

COVID-19 driven traveling restrictions and the fact that it brought open houses to a halt brought the usage of technology to the forefront, marking a new beginning for several real estate tech firms on the way.

As the present situation stands, the longer the pandemic stays, the greater will be the chances of digitalization efforts sticking with the real estate software development process in the long run. For an industry whose technology adoption spotlight was substituting home viewing with a video, the technological advancements in store will be nothing less than a true revolution.

When you look at these forced real estate technology advancements from a real estate tech firm front, will be nothing less than good news. By using next-ge technologies like Blockchain, AI, AR/VR, etc. the proptech industry will be able to keep its growth momentum intact.

Let us, deep-dive, into the state of real estate and technology combination and how it is setting a new trend for the real estate technology startups – one that would continue post-pandemic.

The pandemic has dramatically expedited the merger of real estate and technology in a way that the sector is on the path of becoming contactless and technologically rich. With a plethora of new efficiencies been brought about by technological innovations, the functioning of property management stands to change for the good.

Here are some of the most glaring technologies which are helping the sector sail through the coronavirus crisis:

1. Automation of business practices

One of the most important and yet common examples of technology in the real estate industry has been the arrival of automation. Touted as the by-product of artificial intelligence in real estate, automation can be seen across marketing, engagement practices, and business processes. Here are a few automation areas that have risen in popularity during the pandemic:

Lead generation through website forms
Omni-channel syncing of leads
Lead nurturing through drip emails or automated workflows
Transaction and tasks management
Financial and accounts automation
Property inspection automation through Spectora

2. Virtual home tours

By far one of the most loved pandemic-driven technology in the real estate industry is the virtual home tour. Going by an AppFolio survey, “71% of property management companies said their priority of virtual showings has increased,” and “64% believe they’re here to stay.”

The technology going beyond 2D photographs, video conferencing tools, and interactive 3D models pose to be a tool that makes COVID showing process an unprecedented success.

Virtual showings come with the value of extending beyond the current climate. It offers prospects greater flexibility in the apartment hunting process. With conveniences ranging from easing schedules, visiting houses in far-away areas virtually, etc. virtual property showing is something that is going to stay.

3. Cloud adoption

The one issue that real estate technology ventures have been trying to solve across the years is the reliance on papers. Streamlining real estate procedures keeping digital platforms at the center is a grand step businesses could take for continuing to serve buyers/sellers through stay-at-home orders.

The benefits of this disruptive technology in real estate can be seen in:

Reliable security and storage
Reduction of operational costs
Gives real-time sharing and accessibility feasibility

4. Streamline paperwork with Blockchain

In a traditional real estate economy, the property management process is considered to be highly complex, especially since multiple stakeholders are a part of it.

Property management can either be done offline through manual paperwork or through independent software. A result of this is that information remains confined to a database – a problem that property technology startups aim to solve.

However, with the increasing role of blockchain for property transactions, the future of real estate can be changed.

Real estate mobile app development done on the premise of a blockchain-based property management system uses smart contracts that can ease the process surrounding signing the lease agreements to complying with filing maintenance requests and cash flow.

A secondary field where a real estate software development company can see Blockchain impacting the real estate apps sector is deed management.

Defect in deed paperwork can make it illegal to proceed with the deed management process until the issue is resolved. In case an issue emerges, property owners are liable to pay heavy legal fees ensuring the accuracy of property titles. The application of Blockchain in real estate can be applied here to make the paperwork secure and transparent.

Parting Words

Looking at the future of the real estate sector, technology inclusion would continue to grow and restructure how transactions are conducted, thanks to COVID-19. One key factor that pandemics won’t change however is the need for personal relationships. Property agents, investors, brokers, and lenders must continue to develop their influence sphere. When you partner with a real estate app development company you must keep the human part of the process into consideration.

Enterprises Piloting the New Normal with Next-Gen Applications

Posted on 27/08/202009/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

Remote working, physical distancing, travel limitations, and the psychological effect of isolation have together changed stakeholders’ behaviors in every organization while creating unexpected challenges along the way. This pandemic has not just disrupted everything once denoted normal but has also been forcing enterprises to navigate the recovery period and develop a new normal for the post-crisis era. Even amidst the clear need for digital transformation, enterprises are grappling to remain competitive in a world filled with nimble startups. These enterprises were once dependent on their IT models as a key to a competitive edge. Now, however, the same IT cores have made it difficult for them to adopt a new normal centered around flexibility, speed, and efficiency.

With being nimble now accounted as the only way to survive and scale in the COVID-19 world, enterprises have turned their focus on the development of next-gen apps.

Table Of Content

The Need for Next-Gen Apps
What Does Next-generation application development Mean for Enterprises? Speed, Efficiency, and Flexibility
Key Transformation Areas for Enterprises
The Best ADM Approaches for the Creation of New Normal Enterprise Applications
Schedule a Discussion

The Need for Next-Gen Apps

Businesses need apps that will be able to adapt to changing demands and scale to meet customers’ and employees’ needs in real-time. An enterprise application development company by building next-gen apps based on business understanding and customers’ requirements gives enterprises a platform to transform digitally.

Next-generation mobile apps and other software help enterprises:

Lower the time to market when meeting the changes in customers’ needs.
Lower product complexity by utilizing a cross-platform, scalable ecosystem.
Make smarter business decisions through analytics-backed insights.

What Does Next-Generation Application Development Mean for Enterprises? Speed, Efficiency, and Flexibility

The need of the business hour for enterprises, as we noted before, is to look for next-generation application management services. This new normal in enterprise software revolves around a trio – Efficiency, Speed, and Flexibility.

Speed – Pre-COVID, release cycles came with a months-long completion time. Now, with customers’ needs changing by the minute, enterprises don’t have the leverage of taking up months for deployment. There is no guarantee of a problem staying a problem by the end of those months. The new normal enterprise will have to bring in agile methodology in its application development and maintenance process to offer its stakeholders value in real-time.

Efficiency – The success of every nimble enterprise lies in automation, a well-planned business integration, and the adoption of agile methodologies. And all of this can be achieved through practices like the integration of AI in mobile apps, re-prioritization of business processes, and weeding out unnecessary feature sets.

Flexibility – Zero downtime has become a success mantra. But its adoption is a lot easier written or said than done. In order to become truly flexible, enterprises must modernize or replace their outdated applications. However, letting go of the legacy system is one of the biggest digital transformation issues.

What enterprises need is a next-generation application maintenance program that would make proper use of the modernization spend while enabling digital transformation.

Before we get down to the nitty-gritty of what that next-gen application would look like, let us look at the areas that enterprises would have to work on to compete within themselves and with the startups flooding in the business ecosystems.

Key Transformation Areas for Enterprises

The best thing about enterprises is that they understand how COVID-19 would change them – on some grounds, better than their startups’ counterparts.

The speed of automation will expedite

The automation of key processes and routine tasks has remained at the center of business development for some time now. This need for task and process automation is not new. Back in 2017, McKinsey & Company forecasted that 30 percent of key tasks across industries will get automated by 2030. “Before the pandemic, automation was looked upon as a way to boost efficiency while cutting costs,” said H.I. Executive Consulting. “With social distancing directives likely to stay in place for a while, more and more businesses are accelerating their automation efforts in order to reduce close human contact to a minimum, free up employees to manage crisis response and focus on providing essential services.”

The movement towards remote digital service

The new normal for business after covid will be organizations changing their support and service delivery plans to meet the digital reliance of their employees and customers.

Here are some examples of what a remote digital service looks like.

The digital-powered Russian bank Tinkoff created a cloud-based call center with several freelance employees. The bank focuses completely on virtual servicing. To date, they have expanded into a team of 14,000 call center operators of which 6,000 of them make an average of 500,000 customer calls every day from homes. The bank’s cost of managing and training operators gets offset by the savings made from rental offices and equipment.

In the telecommunication industry, companies have started launching digital-only offerings that redefine customer experiences and gather considerable attraction. The USP of these services lies in customers signing themselves and moreover with more than 80% of customer-care activities being conducted online. In this digital-first model, online referral act as the biggest source for customer acquisition – estimated to be 15% of the total sales.

The success examples are prevalent across multiple industries. This has turned remote service into a trend that has a high-profit potential.

Supply Chain Disruption May Continue

Global lockdowns have resulted in a massive scale of supply chain disruption. Back in February, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV stopped production in their Serbia factory for they weren’t able to obtain automobile manufacturing parts from China.

The majority of the enterprises understand the manufacturing and delivery process of their Tier 1 suppliers while having little visibility on further the line. The business need is to make the supply chain resilient for the post-COVID period. And in order to do that, enterprises would have to:

develop strong backend infrastructure – possibly by combining blockchain and supply chain processes
remove the dependency from paper-based processes
share data with suppliers for gaining manufacturing stages visibility.

Partnerships will become collaborative and lean

Enterprises can meet the changing partners and vendors’ preferences by shifting to a more collaborative and flexible set of partnerships. These partnerships can be multi-form. Example: An IT consultancy firm could work with remote vendors to decrease their office and travel cost. There can also be enterprises providing agreements with their vendors for long-term opportunities. For example, how Alibaba supports SME suppliers with an extended line of credit.

As a part of the new normal for the marketplace, we are seeing partnerships brewing on the basis of an understanding of customer needs, wherein both the partners can mix knowledge and create value. For example, recently, WhatsApp started enabling its customers to directly connect with brands and make purchases through a simplified mobile experience on WhatsApp.

Management systems of a new model

Met with the unsurity of the new reality, enterprises have started looking for ways of adopting virtual management systems in enterprise application development services.

For effectively responding to a fast-changing environment, businesses will consider making use of advanced analytics tools, automation, and digitalized processes to meet customer demand fluctuations in semi-real-time. We can also envision enterprise application development solutions being built on human-technology interactions which would help businesses collect insights for IT-driven productivity rise.

To meet with the changes that a post-COVID world would pose, businesses would have to take a modernized approach – one that would help them become cognitive. While this can be achieved through the creation of new-age technologies backed next generation mobile applications services, it would need enterprises to get back to their legacy systems.

Here are some of the application development and maintenance approaches that we have been offering to enterprises coming to us seeking digital transformation consultancy.

The Best ADM Approaches for the Creation of New Normal Enterprise Applications

Optimizing the current IT systems

Enterprises can optimize their present IT systems with modern approaches and tools to cut costs and heighten efficiency. We advise organizations to make use of AI and automation capabilities for ensuring quality and following DevOps steps to lower the development cycle.

By deploying new-generation capabilities and features around existing systems enterprises will be able to innovate and keep their competitive edge – even when they are not prepared for complete cloud transformation. They can attain easier access and modification of the legacy systems through the use of technologies like containers, API integrations, and microservices.

Gather data and convert it into an actionable product in a minimal time range

When we build enterprise applications, we focus on benefiting from cloud-native, digital-first technologies to deliver growth at speed. Deploying speed-focused innovation abilities are generally backed with an MVP, small feedback loop, test-driven development, and a fail-fast approach.

The intent of this approach is to help enterprises take key business decisions and turn them into products that their stakeholders need in as close as real-time.

Social Media Towards Its Next Evolution Set By Technology

Posted on 27/08/202009/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

From a time when an old school telegraph was considered to be the hottest medium of establishing communication to now when Facebook has doubled down its effort on the development of a mind-reading device, social media has already crossed several stages of evolution. Stages that have established it as a sector that is here to stay and grow. One of the pivotal factors behind the unprecedented growth that the domain is witnessing both in terms of users and scope of constant growth is the technology used in social media.

These number projections are the direct result of the direct influence of technology on social media. The constant inclusion of communication and content creation, distribution aiding technologies like native mobile apps – getting business access to users’ camera and GPS – geotagging, AI for image recognition, etc. have helped shape the current stature of the social media domain on a global scale.

In this article, we will be briefly revisiting how far social media technology innovation has come since Six Degrees, the platform that ruled 1997 followed by a look into the new technologies for social media.

The Evolution of Social Media – A Timeline and Key Events

The future of social media technology began in 1997 with SixDegrees.com, the first social media site. The platform enabled you to create a profile page, curate a list of connections, and send messages to your network. At its peak, the website was used by over one million users before being bought over for $125 million and facing an ultimate demise in 2001.

The failure of Six Degrees, like its success, was followed by a number of social media networks. Around the time and early 2000s a number of new social media platforms like Friendster, AmIHotorNot.com, MySpace emerged and witnessed their decline in the domain.

However, there were a few that, at the back of their strong business model ready for growth from day one. Here are some of the social media platforms that continue to come on top of the social media landscape in terms of user count –

In addition to these, there were some other key names in the social media technology evolution landscape – LinkedIn, foursquare. Grindr, Pinterest, Snapchat, amongst others.

An unvalidated fact behind the growth and sustainability of the selected social media platforms can be seen in the incorporation of the right technology in the domain. Let us delve into it deeper.

The Importance of Technology in Social Media

The role of technology in social media evolution, although starts with the advent of smartphones and laptops on a precise level, begins with mobile apps. In 2019 alone, it was estimated by a Lyfemarketing report that over 91% of all social media users use social channels through mobile devices.

There can be a number of reasons behind the rise in mobile application adoption for social media usage:

Convenience in terms of not having to open a laptop and opening the application within three clicks.
Integration with mobile in-built features like camera, location, microphone, etc.
Ease of capturing and sharing content

We believe that up until this point you must have gathered the need for social media application development. However, the list of the impact of technology on social media doesn’t just end with one component. There are a number of other technologies like APIs, geotagging, QR codes, etc which have contributed to making social media where it stands today.

Technology incorporation makes social media accessible, safe, and real-time in addition to making the sector operate seamlessly with users’ experience through the mode of automation, integration with other social media applications, and eCommerce.

With the benefits of technology and social media peeked into, let us move on to the list of technologies that are helping social media app developers take the sector to its next evolution set.

Technologies Driving the Future of Social Media

1. RFID – Radio Frequency Identification Tags

RFID, in layman terms, means a small computer chip that can store information about an individual or object. Every chip comes with a unique serial number that can be tied to the information present on the chip. Let us give you a practical application of this technology through this example – Suppose you are at a music concert and you scan your RFID device with an RFID device that has social features integrated into it. By simply bringing your RFID device to the other one, you will be able to Like a band on Instagram or Facebook or download a couple of their music tracks on your device.

The growing popularity of RFID in the event and eCommerce domain (through the mode of NFC) has led to a number of social networking app development companies integrating RFID into their mobile applications.

2. Augmented Reality

AR and mixed reality are some of the most popular social media application features. There are a number of use cases that social media houses experiment with when integrating AR with their applications but the one that has witnessed mass popularity is the use of face filters. Popularized by Snapchat, AR-driven filters are used by both individuals and businesses to deliver engaging content.

Another example of business-level usage of AR in social media can be seen in social media advertisements. Last year, Snapchat created an AR-based app for Snap Original where Bhad Bhabie interacted with the users as if they were interacting in the real world.

3. Artificial Intelligence

Out of all the new-age technologies that you will read about impacting the social media sector, the one name which will be placed on the top is Artificial Intelligence.

AI is a prime component of every social platform active in the market today. This is the number one reason why the technology is now involved in the social media app development cost on a default note.

Facebook utilizes advanced machine learning for a number of tasks: recognizing faces in poss to targeting users for advertisements and even for strengthening their search functionality.
LinkedIn makes use of AI for offering job recommendations, suggesting people whom they’d like to connect, and sending them specific posts for their feed.
Snapchat uses the capability of computer vision for tracking physical features and overlaying filters that move with them in real-time.

These business examples are a validation of how AI is a crucial part of all the different genres of the social media domain.

4. Blockchain

Decentralized social platforms is one of the most up and coming genres of the social media sector. There are a number of use cases of social media and blockchain convergence which businesses from both sides are experimenting with. Here are some of them –

The social media networks depend on ad-based business models that share a common shortcoming: the creators are unequally compensated for their content on the platform. A smart contract can be put into use here for ensuring that the creators get the amount that their content is worth without any delay or unannounced deduction.
There are businesses working towards combating internet censorship. Usually, based on a distributed ledger, the individuals will be able to read and curate their own content with a surety that no entity will be able to block access to content.

5. IoT

The last in our list of social platform and technology trends is the Internet of Things. The technology is used heavily for social media monitoring and marketing purposes by some of the top names in the industry like N&W, Disney, and Tencent, etc.

Organizations are constantly on the lookout for an IoT skilled social media app development company that would help them create solutions around real-time monitoring of data and insights coming in from social media to help them make better business decisions.

Here were the five technologies which are taking the social media sector towards a new evolution era – one that will be a lot more open and transparent in nature. Want to be a part of the revolution? Contact our team of social media experts.

Role of digital transformation in reducing business costs

Posted on 25/08/202009/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

Digital business transformation constitutes the integration of digital technologies in all areas of a business. It integrates new operational processes with improved values delivered to the consumers. Did you know that by 2023, the spending on the technologies and services that enable digital transformation worldwide is expected to amount to 2.3 trillion U.S. dollars?The above-shown statists will help you understand the global digital transformation market revenue from 2017 to 2023. By inculcating a digital business transformation strategy, you will experience a cultural shift towards more agile and intelligent ways of doing business, powered by technologies such as advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence. Digital transformation for business growth in the current landscape is more a matter of necessity than a matter of choice!

How Are Businesses Going To Function Post Covid-19?

There is no denying the fact that the current pandemic has drastically affected the way an organization works. Let’s pay attention to the current truth of the business world, shall we?

Increasing operational efficiency and transforming the existing business are the most important business initiatives
63% of organizations believe that delivering excellent customer experience as measured by customer satisfaction scores defines success as a digital-first business
Improving customer experience and increasing cybersecurity are also essential initiatives considering the pandemic

Can Digital Technology In Business Help in Cutting Unnecessary Expenses?

If you want to keep your budget in control then without any doubt your biggest ally is technology! Digital business transformation solutions as a whole cover three major sectors – operation, strategy, and management. In the operations sector, one can start with processing data in the cloud, digitizing business processes and documents, and optimizing processes.

Digital transformation strategy changes the way business functions by focusing more on customer experience and needs. In the aspect of management, it revamps the entire business model of a company further taking advantage of the commercial and productive opportunities created by the current digital trends.

How digital maturity drives revenue?

If you completely understand the importance of digital transformation in business then you know how investing in technology can lead to higher revenue by providing your consumers the well-deserved value. A pattern that held true across all industries was that higher-digitally mature companies in this year’s sample were about three times more likely than lower-digitally mature companies to report annual net revenue growth and net profit margins significantly above their industry average.

7 Benefits Of Digital Transformation In Business

1. Revenue growth

Companies that implement the digital transformation business model see an improvement in their efficiency and profits. Let’s talk numbers!

80% of organizations that have completed the digital transformation report increased profits.
85% say they have increased their market share.
On average, leaders expect 23% higher revenue growth than competitors.

2. Increased efficiency

Software development companies open up the possibilities of what is working fine and what can be improved. Constant efforts are being made towards reducing the time of execution.

With the help of digital tools, companies can not only see efficiency in their workflows but also in their supply chain by integrating those tools at each stage of development of a service or product delivery. This process can be as simple as tweaking an existing process by including a digital checkpoint or as advanced as automating a process and remote monitoring the output at each stage via IoT devices.

The traditional ranges of productivity and efficiency have now indicated an increased possibility of cost improvements to about 25%. Not only this but incorporating practices like remote monitoring, robotization, and optimizing the entire workflow improves the labor costs in percentages above 60%.

3. Increased consumer satisfaction

DT drives customer experience towards ultimate brand resonance. This is not a secret anymore. Businesses across numerous sectors are using digital platforms for gaining insights into customers’ needs, using technologies to communicate directly with their customers, and inherently transforming customers’ touchpoints.

Here are some of the ground-level ways that digital transformation solutions entail for their consumers:

Personalizing the customer journey
Seamless omni-channel presence
Embracing automation to keep customers updated.

We simply cannot deny the fact that organizations that are able to leverage design thinking into their current structure will see a significant advantage in customer experience!

4. Improved data collection and analysis

Data collection and analytics have opened up new windows for digital businesses. Data analytics tools make it easier to collect and analyze customer data and further result in making informed decisions. Data can be securely hosted on a cloud-based system, which will further allow you to save up to 50% when compared to traditional data management systems. It is one of the best ways to enhance your strategies by studying the online habits of your target audience.

5. Increased flexibility and scalability

The impact of digitalization on business is such that it allows you to explore scalable alternatives. It breaks you free from the processes that come with old technology that accept manual inputs. Modern software and processes allow one to integrate various business parts, further making it more flexible. Tasks like service requests, providing support, or connecting the data can now be automated without manual intervention.

6. Enhanced reliability and reduced risks

From a technical point of view, the old technology cannot back up, maintain and protect the data of your company as well as of your customers. This will certainly make your business an easier target for cybercrime. Hence, as your organization will grow, the technology and processes have to evolve.

By upgrading to digital tools, you’ll see improvement in the efficiency and effectiveness of current risk- management approaches. Also, remember that digital risk initiatives can reduce operating costs for risk activities by 20 to 30 percent.

7. Increase agility

Business transformation makes organizations more agile. You can improve speed-to-market pace and adopt continuous improvement and continuous deployment strategies. This will not only make innovation happen fast but also increase the rate of adaptation while providing a pathway to improvement. Also, let’s not forget that business transformation consulting firms will keep you at the top of your game among your competitors.

To Sum It Up

I have listed above the reasons such as automating tasks for improved efficiency and effectiveness, enhancing customer experience, increasing flexibility, scalability of your business, and reducing risks; but the most important thing is to keep your business objective in mind!

Below listed questions like –

What do you want to achieve via digital technology that you can’t in the present scenario?
What value addition do you want for your customers to experience that your current technology and processes are not allowing?
How do you plan to collect the data and use it for your target audience?
What manual tasks can be cut off by the introduction of digital tools?
What revenue growth do you expect if you invest in new technologies and tools?

In order to start the evolution process of your company, contact a digital transformation solutions provider now to transform your business journey strategically and as smoothly as possible!

THE EVOLUTION OF DESIGN THINKING

Posted on 23/08/202009/06/2021 by Tushar

Who started design thinking? And where is it heading? In our Long Read, I feel design thinking’s growth from a niche activity to a mainstream practice. Pulling examples from the worlds of technology, public sector and finance, there is an endless argument that we need design thinking and designers more than ever.

The evolution of Design thinking

There’s no birthday for design thinking. Despite important landmarks and significant claims and contributions from designers, projects and agencies like us, there was no big bang. In the old days, the term “design thinking” described the techniques and methodologies employed by designers to create abstract services and experiences. Now, it’s much broader in scope and application.

Design thinking was present a long time ago in any design education. The system of analysis and synthesis, sketches, computer renderings and models made in workshops was all about customer insight, concept creation, prototype-building and testing. These are the same processes and techniques that nowadays we call design thinking.

But in my very first job, I noticed that the business world was actually very disconnected from customers and design practice. The prominence was more to the engineering team rather than the end user. Earlier design briefs (or I should call it User Interface briefs) focused on features and market research instead of user insight and testing. Unconscious decisions were made, resulting in marketing that over-promised and an operationally focused customer service.

The spread of design thinking

Geoffrey Moore’s Law of Technology Adoption describes how an initial idea is spread by visionary early adopters (good example is Facebook began as Harvard sophomore and early adopters made it big). The idea traverses the “chasm” of slow adoption and then grows dramatically when those applications and contexts show evidence of success.

Design thinking began with the spread of design practice. When the pioneering agencies began to talk about service design and design thinking, early adopter organisations were quick to see the benefits. Economies moved towards creating value from services as well as products.

But for many years, design thinking remained the domain of the early adopters, because it was seen as threatening traditional, expert-based thought. It wasn’t until we created sustainable service and design thinking practices and the mainstream started believing that such “soft” techniques actually worked that design thinking took off.

Fast-forward to the end of 2015, when tech services giant IBM launched its design thinking methodology and recruited 1,000 designers worldwide, though they burnt close to $100 million in just a year and scraped everything later. But across the globe, design has become an important integrated element within companies and organisations.

Design thinking – in Technology

Technology is an obvious application for design thinking. As a central part of our lives, technology has to be accessible, usable and appropriate to people other than the clever few who developed it. During my time at GreeneStep Technologies, the techniques of usable interface allowed me to shape the strategy and delivery of technology projects. Usability and beauty was a driver of revenue, not a “nice to have”. And this helped companies see the real business benefits and allowed them to successfully exploit the scale and reach of technology. The future of big ideas such as the Internet of Things is as much about trust and customer approval as it is about big data and networks.

…In financial services

The interest in design methodologies in business has been phenomenal. I am as surprised as anyone to find that at Barclays, design practice and design thinking are at the heart of how they develop digital banking services. The same goes with Fidelity USA, How many of us know they have a humongous UX centre where close to 60 creative minds put design thinking to work.

Barclays set up a centralised design office four years ago. Through a series of industry-leading products such as Pingit and Barclays Mobile Banking, it led the way in digital banking. Design is now integrated into every business – and designers are in great demand.

But with digitisation comes opportunity to do more than designing screens. Deconstructing processes, removing bureaucracy, putting the user at the heart of process and designing their service experience all change the nature of how we engage with customers.

…And in the public sector

It’s a lesson learnt by government too (Not to the fullest yet).

For the public sector, design thinking has been particularly attractive and at odds with traditional practice. Whether it’s obesity or mass transport, engaging with societal problems and driving real behaviour change is tough.

Customer empathy

I am amazed every day at how keen business leaders and managers are to use the tools of design and user research in projects and strategy. And it’s no fad. In a post-innovation world, where blindly pursuing new ideas is no longer the primary objective, empathy with customers comes top of the list.

We need emotional context to create clearly differentiated brand experiences that are simply more beautifully designed. This demand often comes from younger generations of employees who are frustrated with old corporate ways of doing things. And, of course, from customers, who increasingly articulate their thoughts and criticisms via social media.

The revolution of design thinking

This is an important moment in the journey of design thinking. Great progress has been made. We’re fed up that so many aspects of our lives have been designed by accountants, marketers, technicians or policymakers – those who care more about revenue, message, technology or politics than our real needs and desires. Design offers tangible benefits that complement, orchestrate and deliver human value.

But this is just the beginning. Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, is often cited as the creator of design thinking (though he’d agree that we’d all been doing it anyway). In a recent speech at Central Saint Martins in London, Tim noted that business school students were great advocates of design thinking and a more creative, empathetic approach to management.

There’s great value in demystifying and sharing the tools of design. But it’s also vital to know when a higher level of skill and design thinking processes is required.

Design’s interest in deep user insight, rather than mass research, can therefore offer great value. The same goes for tools such as co-creation and prototyping. By piloting prototypes, you gain feedback and catch problems early in the process. In this way, design has the potential to impact on the success of an initiative or policy.

So, we’re surrounded by success and the embracing of design. Job done? Mission accomplished? No.

Designers are different

A designer will see things differently from an accountant, stakeholders or a technology creator. In creative workshops, business students would come up with a single concept and be happy with it, whereas a design-trained student would create five and iterate each idea before finding the ultimate solution.

In a world fascinated by processes that promise responsiveness and rapid development, as exemplified by agile, the role of the designer becomes ever more important.

The designer is a facilitator, a champion of human empathy and a guardian of quality and simplicity. Designers override organisational or technical decisions that can chip away at the customer’s eventual experience. It’s collaboration between all parts of the organisation that makes great design happen.

It’s time to love design

There’s also a perception that design thinking and associated activities like service and customer experience design are somehow weak when it comes to aesthetics. But this should never be the case.

Now is the time to raise our ambition. The outputs of design thinking should be as beautiful as we can make them. They should be loved and treasured by all who use them. Rarely does this cost more, though it can take time to find talent and allow it to flourish. The results are always worth it.

Now that we love design thinking, it’s time to love design. Design of the detail, the delivery, the communication, the feel and the experience. People know design is their right and not a luxury; it’s merely humankind deciding how to make things as good as we can make them. This can be applied to an exceptional health service. Or to a transport system that’s empathetic to those who live around it as well as those who use it.

Design is the ultimate shared human activity, by us, for us. It’s time to love design, not just on its birthday, but every day.

Stay tune for what Anteelo has for you on this year’s DESIGN DAY!

Inspiration: Smart Design – Products that Change Our Lives by Clive Grinyer

* Disclaimer: all the images are copy right of their respective owners, we have only used it for display purpose.

UI and UX – Critical Components of E-Commerce Success

Posted on 23/08/202009/06/2021 by Tushar

The strong shift towards e-commerce in India is ever more evident with India stepping into ‘1 billion mobile user club’. According to a new Bloomberg report, country now has around 1.03 billion mobile phone subscribers. SBI research report says the e-retail market was around USD 6 billion in 2015. And India expects 125 million online buyers with USD 19 billion (only through mobile) business by 2019.

One of the research held in India shows, ‘The largest digital properties in India (Facebook, Google) and e-commerce businesses have acknowledged that they receive 50% traffic from the web and 50% traffic via mobile (mobile web and app)’. However, mobile traffic is growing at a much faster rate. But, we most definitely cannot ignore the fact that only 7.8% of mobile users have smartphones. But the non-smartphones users heavily use the Internet!

125 million online buyers in India by 2019
Mobile Commerce sales to hit $19 billion by 2019
Just 8% of e-commerce addressable market lives in Top 8 cities, rest to be reached by mobiles.

The rapid change in e-commerce has strongly focused the entire design industry. Looking back, from print we shifted to web design and today we have stepped into the whole new era of designing for systems. It’s not just limited to that! We see highest level of personalization and customization taking place serving almost individual customer needs. The question here is ‘Who’ tracks the online behaviour and needs of your target consumer, ‘Who’ digs into the competitors product, ‘Who’ study the market trends and ‘Who’ gives you a solution that exceeds expectations?

The success mantra to stay ahead in the game for all online businesses lies in innovation and tactfulness of online platforms – the answer and key is with UX (user experience) and UI (user interface) experts. These are the people who ensure that your company makes a lasting impression on your potential consumers and convert them into loyal ones!

User should experience a complete bliss when they are navigating through your platform. An easy to use portal with all the necessary information and detail makes a big difference. These designers have an ability to get inside the heads of users and present you with answers to typical ‘What and How’s’ of your digital product! They are part researchers, observers, thinkers, developers and marketers. Remember, when you went to some website and in seconds, were fed up because you could not find the information you were looking for or you had to look up the entire page just to find one simple login; thus, is an example of a bad experience. Such that you would not want to go again. And then there are Websites like ‘Facebook and LinkedIn’ that generate high volume traffic mainly due to the enhanced user experience. Therefore, if you are interested in generating high volume traffic on your portal, you should ensure that it is user friendly and easy to navigate. And, more so serves needs of every individual customers in a way that they feel that they feel part of it.

Like, Beauty is incomplete without brains. Similarly, UX is imperfect without a great UI! A great User Interface is the part of the web interface (portal or mobile) that faces the user when he looks at the portal. The use of effective and simple user interface design will be of immense help in achieving the objectives of going online. Right from colors, fonts, graphics, animations, wordings, placement, almost everything is so beautifully inter-related and in a flow that users are bound to fall in love with your product and portal. A good user interface not only increases the usability but also leads to the smooth completion of any task at hand thereby making everything enjoyable and flexible as per the requirements of users. The visual appeal of a UI on portal or mobile has a significant impact on users as its information Architecture doesn’t enable engagement on its own.

To conclude, UX is as simple as making an online, digital world as human friendly as possible. And, UI makes it as pleasing as possible. The world of e-commerce, demands an expert guidance in offering a platform that would ensure that profits see an upward trend.

Impact of Digital on Brand DNA

Posted on 22/08/202009/06/2021 by Tushar

“Brand is a CONNECT between consumers and companies”. This is a very simple yet powerful definition.

This so called ‘connect’ has undergone a seismic change recently. This change can be attributed to continuous evolution of technology which has really simplified a consumer’s life. Brands are continuously finding it difficult to establish a connect with their consumers and more so in this digital age. Earlier, brands had fewer, what is popularly known as, “moment of truths”. Consumers didn’t have access to much information. Hence choices were also limited. Marketers hardly focused on their prospective consumers. Advertising was seen as a potent weapon as a brand building tool than customer satisfaction and other elements of brand building. Customers had very limited options to voice their feeling about brands.

Digital has had a transformational effect on how brand business is done. According to Interbrand.com, Google was ranked 38th in 2005 out of top 100 brands whereas in 2009 it is ranked top 7th brand of the world. Considering the fact that Google stared its operations only in late 1998, it’s a huge achievement. Brands like Google, iPod, Facebook & YouTube have proved the notion wrong that brands take a long time to become the top brands.

Digitization has empowered the customers with unlimited tools to make them heard. Abundant access to information, thanks to Google, has left little room for brands to act smart with customers.

Brand touch points have increased in comparison to what they used to be. More interestingly, customers now have the power to make them heard at every such point through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Orkut to name a few. Brands are now aware that negative word of mouth spreads faster than positive word of mouth. Hence, brands are continuously employing “Online Reputation Management” tools to cater to disgruntled customers.

Digital has proved that brand building need not be an expensive activity. Brands are constantly exploring the power of ‘viral videos’ which are rather cheap to create and still give the brands great mileage. The recent “miss u maggi” campaign, by Nestle on YouTube has close to 1 million views so far and still counting.

PR seems incomplete without ePR. Upsurge of blogs and review websites have made people trust their peer group more than the advertisements. Worse, users may give more credence to feedback posted by a stranger on a website more than what a brand is communicating.

Today, marketers are in a better position to understand online behavior of the users that visit their sites. Web analytics tools can be of great help in understanding what pages are most visited by users, what is the path traversed by users before making some purchase on your website, how many users are coming through paid media versus how many users are coming organically etc. Never have brands got so many insights to serve their customer better, all thanks to this Digital Age.

Brand building has become more comprehensive today wherein customer satisfaction, customer experience, customer delight get equal, if not more, weight age which probably only advertising once enjoyed. Digital empowerment has changed the rules of the game. It has opened up a bag full of opportunities for the brands. It has taken brands a step closer to their customers. And the good news is that you can be a top brand in few years if you are updated about the game. You are closer to your customers than ever before. But the point is: Are you listening, do you even care to have a INTELLIGENT DIGITAL INTERFACE?

*All the content and images are sole property of their respective owners, This is just a knowledge sharing platform.

iOS 14 Privacy Features and Their Impact on App Distribution

Posted on 20/08/202009/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

Apple has a habit of introducing revolutionary changes year after year with every new operating system launch. 2020 was no different. In fact, in many ways, it was the most revolutionary year for Apple in terms of advancing user experience and privacy. In case you missed out on the features that the new iOS 14 updates comes with, head on to our article – How to prepare your app for iOS 14.

However, we can presume that by this time you must have gotten acquainted with the key aspects of iOS 14 privacy features. But do you know that the update will carry an impact on the process of how your partnered iPhone app development company handles your app development and distribution?

Let us talk about it in detail in this article today.

The List of Privacy-Centric iOS 14 Updates

The biggest announcement that Apple has made in terms of the iOS update that will be made next year is giving users the option to clock IDFA identifiers at the application level. A move that strengthens the tech giant’s position in the Apple vs Android, which platform is a more secure debate, would require the apps to ask the users for permissions to gather and share users’ data.

There are other privacy-related moves as well, but let us attend to IDFA first.

1. Changes in IDFA and store-level control

What is IDFA?

An identifier for Advertisers is a unique identifier for all mobile devices which is used for targeting and measuring the effectiveness of the advertisements on a user level across all the mobile devices.

What is the update about?

For every app install, users will have to opt into IDFA. When developing apps for iOS 14, app publishers will have to provide a summary of privacy practices on the basis of which users will decide whether they want to opt-in IDFA or not.

The impact of this update lies in ad campaigns becoming incapable of performing control recency, optimizing and measuring ad performance, or perform behavior-based segmentation. Additionally, the move is contributory to consent fatigue, which would increase the instances of users declining the data view request.

The impact of the update on the advertisers will be two-fold –

Retargeting to users will not work in the iOS application development process if the users opt-out of sharing their IDFA. Brands that don’t use deterministic variables like a phone number or email id (like Google and Facebook do) will witness a reduction in the targetable audiences.
Because of the limited access to IDFA, brands will not be able to show relevant ads to the users, a move that might direly impact user experience and ad monetization efforts of iOS app development.

2. Changes in app install attribution

iOS 14 comes with an updated SKAdNetwork interface that offers a method for Apple to notify the ‘ad network’ when a campaign creates app install conversion.

The impact of this update is the negligence of another type of app conversions for which a mobile app campaign would want to optimize other than app installs.

3. Control over geo-location access

Presently, iOS users have control over which apps access their location through the ‘Location Service’ setting. The new update will allow the users to opt-out of precise location sharing. And when that happens, only approximate geolocation data will be shared with the apps.

4. Privacy report highlighting ‘tracking’ companies

Apple presently comes with the feature of Intelligent Tracking prevention or ITP which blocks cross-domain tracking. With iOS 14, there will now be a ‘Privacy Report’ passed to the users in addition to the ITP. It will tell the users which companies it is blockchain from viewing their data.

The impact of this update is more image-based than anything else. Brands have multiple use cases for tracking users – recency control, frequency capping, behavioral-based targeting, spend attribution, etc. But the update will give the users a perception that every company has the same tracking intent.

How is Anteelo Preparing for the Changed iOS 14 App Development Process?

iPhone app development has always been one of our strongest suits. We have always one of the first iOS app development company to run hypothesis testing on all the new updates. iOS 14 version is no different.

Our team of iOS app developers has deep-dived into how iOS 14 impacts app creation and promotion and while we have looked into the changes that we will have to make the app ready for iOS 14.

The primary step for us was to peruse the platform-wise recommendations for the iOS 14 update.

Facebook
Google
Apple

The documentations helped us get on top of the changes that were coming with iOS 14 and what we needed to do to prepare for them. Keeping technicalities aside, let us share our plans in terms of making your app pass Apple’s updated security principles in layman’s terms. But first thing first, let us look into the ways the app ecosystem is going to change in 2021.

The way iOS 14 influence app development will see the following things happening –

The space between organic and paid revenue and installs will get blurry
The efficiency of user acquisition and ad monetization will lower
The user-level ad reporting will become functionally impossible with iOS 14
Another impact of iOS 14 will be that retargeting campaigns will not be viable anymore
Apple’s SKAdNetwork is poised to become the source of ad attribution on iOS
Post-install events will majorly be attributable for around 24 hours

In light of these changes, the first thing that we will be focusing on is ensuring that the SDKs we use across our iPhone app development services are up to date. Virtually every SDK – analytics, attribution, and ad monetization, etc. will have to be updated for accommodating iOS14.

Secondly, we will shift our focus on top-of-funnel activities – like ad watch, tutorial completion, etc. – instead of button funnel-like subscriptions and purchases.

Lastly, we will be revisiting how we ask for consent from the users. After ensuring that the users are having a good experience within the app, we will plan strategically-timed push notifications explaining how the tracking will elevate their experience in the application. Here’s a snapshot of what that would look like –

Other than these, going by the statistics that over 30% of the iOS users have already disabled IDFA sharing, we will be exploring new approaches to help our clients retain their growth marketing expectations without relying on personal information. Here are some of them –

1. Use SKAdNetwork for advertisement attribution

Apple has released SKAd Network that enables Apple to manage the attribution passed to the Registered Ad network. While there are ways to optimize and scale marketing with SKAdNetwork, like how it helps identify redownloads and track attribution, they are not very ideal because of multiple reasons –

Allows only click-based attribution
No date stamp parameter is provided
The campaign IDs are limited to 100 per ad network.

2. Non-individually identifiable IP address-based tracking

Another way brands can negate the iOS 14 impact on app distribution is by relying on the users’ truncated IP addressed for advanced contextual targeting and attribution. This way, they won’t have to identify any individual user.

If you are looking for an iOS application development company that is skilled to help migrate your existing application to iOS 14 while having a complete understanding and solutions to how iOS 14 impacts app creation, reach out to our team.

Role of Technology In Changing the Future of Consumer Lending

Posted on 18/08/202009/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

Dive into the many changes that now stare at the lending-centric consumer financial services landscape and how technologies are fueling the shift. Every once a decade, technology innovation and customer demand merge in a way that drastically changes the consumer-facing financial service sector.

For instance, when The Motley Fool, eTrade, and Intuit came into the market some decades ago, consumers took it upon themselves to personally manage their finances and invest their savings in places that would get them maximum returns.

In 2021, the financial service industry is again staring at disruption. A number of technological and economic factors have developed a perfect situation where people are deciding how they want to manage their pay, pay for services and goods, finance a car or home, or even how they want to borrow.

To answer these changes and shape the future of lending, a number of tech-driven consumer-facing financial services companies have entered the market to address this consumer behavior shift. The entrants have become the reason why lending has become one of the most profitable finance app ideas.

In this article, we will be diving into the many changes that now stare at the lending centric consumer financial services landscape and how technologies are fueling the shift.

What is Contributing to the Evolving Landscape of Digital Lending?

The changing space of digital lending transformation is bringing a remarkable shift in credit analysis and bank loans. The rise of technology progress and big data has led to a series of alternatives coming into the market questioning the credibility of credit score – a prime factor driving the lending industry.

When we dive into the changes that are taking place in one of the slowest transforming financial services, we can find four factors fueling the digitalization of the consumer financial services space –

Changing consumer behaviors – especially the COVID-19 driven behavior
Rapid technological changes
Changes in compliance and regulations
Innovations happening in the space of simplification of operating models.

The combination of these four factors has given birth to a time where consumer insights are blended with product innovations to make fintech consumer lending a lot more inclusive. In addition to serving only the high credit-worthy consumers, the future of the credit industry is now powered to involve consumer segments with low credit history (low-income households, students, freelancers, etc.).

The digital lending landscape has grown to an extent that it can now be categorized into three sectors –

The ultimate aim of the technology-induced digitalization innovations happening in the sector – across the three subsets – is to digitize the entire customer journey (from KYC to reporting) at speed and at scale at a level where the traditional lending system could never reach.

How is Digital Lending Changing With Technological Advancements?

1. A new way of vetting applicants have come on the surface

New credit mechanisms are building on the proposition that traditional ways of applicants’ approval on the basis of FICO credit score is an incomplete sign of applicants’ creditworthiness.

By using artificial intelligence, new models are being developed. These models factor in information surrounding thousands of data points like employment history, education details, and spending habits to verify if an applicant will be able to clear the debts on time. On the basis of these insights, a new credit score is coming to the surface as the future of consumer lending.

2. AI-backed strategy and sales streamlining

Digital lenders have started asking their partnered fintech app development companies to use machine learning for enhancing loans by making underwriting decisions. The algorithms can help validate if the applicants are telling the truth about their income level.

The process is best suited for people having an insufficient credit history, less income, or anyone who is charged higher interest because of the lack of financial data. Machine learning is also being used heavily for its ability to detect fraud through analysis of customer behavior backed by the time they spend answering applications’ questions, looking at the price options, etc.

3. Blockchain eliminating the need for intermediaries

Through the mode of blockchain, digital lending companies can develop a high trust, low-cost platform. With the complete loan process existing online, people will be able to keep a record of documents and transactions on an anonymous digital ledger platform thus eliminating the need for third parties and intermediaries.

4. Cloud computing solving digital lending sector uptime concerns

The most common corners of the lending sector are – security, storage, and 24*7 upkeep time. Cloud computing solves all these issues in addition to offering a series of additional benefits like

Secure connections
Cost-effective and time-efficient management
Disaster recovery
Simplified online processes
Automation of processes

While these technologies are playing a key role in bettering the state of digital lending, what is important for the sector to keep evolving. A way the sector can keep getting efficient is by knowing the trends that are waiting for them in 2021 as the future of consumer credit.

Digital Lending Market Trends 2021-22

1. NLP will better customer experience

Smart lending systems will be using NLP for recognizing and understanding customers’ questions and converting them into actionable data. There are multiple applications that the digital lending companies will be experimenting with in 2021 –

Lenders will be able to offer advice to basic queries through a chatbot
They will use the technology for analyzing customers’ feedback, getting insights that can help them improve the customer experience.
Analyze the data to better the credit scoring accuracy

2. Regulatory sandboxing

While the consumer lending sector needs constant innovation in order to develop and grow, it also needs regulation for ensuring security, safety, and ethics. Sandboxing is how both factors can be respected in the modern lending system.

It is the mode f testing innovative services in a controlled setting for the regulators to conduct their assessments before a complete rollout. The Compliance Assistance Sandbox (CAS) Policy, announced in 2019 highlights the process.

“After the [Consumer and Financial Protection Bureau or CFPB] evaluates the product or service for compliance with relevant law, an approved applicant that complies in good faith with the terms of the approval will have a ‘safe harbor’ from liability for specified conduct during the testing period. Approvals under the CAS Policy will provide protection from liability under the Truth in Lending Act, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.”

3. Greater omnichannel capabilities

Technology will be seamlessly connecting the lender with borrowers through a self-service holistic digital experience. The year will see borrowers picking up on the half application form which they started on their phone, on their laptops.

Omnichannel capabilities that make it easy for them to jump from one platform to another without any shift in experience is what would help the digital lenders rule the year while becoming one of the key mobile app development financial services.

4. Non-banking institutions will continue entering the space

We have already seen Amazon offering loans to small businesses and Apple announcing its credit card. All of these innovations are the advanced stages of companies’ capabilities and how they help their customers reach their goals.

The year will see the consumer finance market getting introduced with a greater number of P2P consumer lending organizations. Backed by the abilities of new-gen technologies like Blockchain and AI, consumer financing companies will be giving banking institutions tough competition.

Now that we have looked into the many ways consumer lending businesses are getting prepared to rule the sector through their partnership with a skilled fintech application development company, let us close the article by looking into some ways you can become the next big digital lender.

How Can You Become a Digital Lender?

There are a number of brands that have placed themselves in the future of the consumer financial at the back of their digital inclination.

Shifting from a traditional lending mindset to a digital bank-oriented one is not an easy task. There will be resistance to change, an unacceptance towards risk, and other things. A digital bank transformation will require a strategic foundation supported across all organization levels. As a lender, you will have to focus on offering an exceptional digital experience to your consumers. The last thing you would want is getting axed by Google on the Play Store at the back of a bad experience and lack of regulations-compliance assurance. Here are some things that we recommend on the basis of our extensive skill set as a financial software development company –

Provide transparent information on the approval guidelines
Develop new training material, gen-z inclined communication about new policies
Provide alternate channels to your consumers. Don’t force them to visit branches.

The secret sauce of your lending business success will be transparency and communication. The more open your business is, the more will be the chances of your consumers to choose alternative lending models. We can help you strategize your lending process digitalization.