The Cost of Mobile Game Development

Mobile games are one of the most popular mediums for communicating a message to a wide audience and, in many cases, have become profitable for many businesses.

In order to succeed in your business and develop a mobile game, you need to calculate the approximate cost first. The time it takes to create the game will depend on how much time and energy you’re willing to invest, as well as which platform or touch points you want to focus on.

Let’s start by looking at some key statistics.

Mobile Gaming Stats

Mobile games have never been so popular. Here are some statistics about the global market.

• The US still expects to have game revenue worth $18,250 million in 2020. By 2022, it will increase to $22,828 million according to Statista.
• Games like COD: Mobile and PUBG Mobile reached $500 million and $2.6 billion in revenue respectively this year, showing the US Market’s growth potential for new games.
• In 2021, there were almost 2,659.5 million mobile game players globally.
• We predict that mobile gaming revenue will increase at a 2.9% CAGR by 2024.
• A recent study found that 72% of mobile device users in the United States play games on their phones.

Mobile Game Development Costs and Factors that Affect Them

The mobile game development cost considers the different factors. These are the top affecting aspects of the cost.

Pre-Development Costs

Developers build a Game Design Document which is vital for developing the logic of a game.

With the game design document creation, you need to estimate costs based on how much time and effort is required for the process. The cost per each hour of work can be determined depending on which aspects the project needs.

Platform

You need to select iOS or Android for your game development. The cost of the apps is based on different factors and is dependent on what type of app you’re making. Android costs more than iOS, but it has a larger reach realm in mobile platforms.

Apple gadgets administration and payment systems are more expensive than those of the Android. Single-platform development costs less than multiple-platform development.

If you want to earn revenue from multiple platforms, you should opt for cross-platform development.

Design

The game design stage should take into consideration areas of target user, game levels, and gameplay. Without planning for the end result, you may have many bugs in your app.

The most high-profile types of designers are UI/UX designers, architects and game artists. They charge fees that depend on their experience and skills.

Game App Testing

The testing process for making games is similar. A game developer cannot tolerate a small number of bugs, which is unacceptable to gamers.

To prevent mistakes, budget some money for testing services. Testing helps to make sure your game runs effortlessly and also provide a good user experience.

Category and Genre

The cost of game app development depends on what kind you want. There are three main types: simulated app, social gaming app, and casual games. We can categorize game apps depending on complexity:

• Casual 2D Games: These are usually low-budget games that involve a soundtrack and basic 2D graphics. Although these are basic games, they provide great scope for scaling-up and user engagement rate.    
• Mini-Games: Casual or mini-games are basic solo games that don’t really need playing skills.
• Mid-Level Games: These mobile games include good graphics, story, character development, and leveling-up. The depth and variety in the content boost the replay capacity and involve players for a longer time.    
• Social Games: Multiple users play these games on social media platforms like Facebook. These games are the same as browser games and can access limited user info. Generally, developers build these games with SDKs offered by social platforms.    
• High-Level Games: These games need a massive budget, and you can hit the jackpot by targeting the right audience.
• Business Games: businesses use mobile games as internal tools to encourage creativity, improve communication, and make the work environment more engaging and fun-filled. They cover multiplayer games feature exciting graphics, storyline, soundtrack, game levels, and cross-platform compatibility.

Game Complexity

If you know the genre and category of a game, you can decide what features it needs. Games that are simple enough can go without social media integration.

Developers have to pay more for adding features like a voice-integration and gyroscope to a game, which underlines the development cost and makes it expensive.

Mobile Game Engine

The mobile game engine is an important factor to consider as your mobile game will depend on these engines. You’ll need to select a suitable game engine for your game depending on the type and features it has.

There are many different mobile game design engines available on the app development market. Each one has a set of pros and cons, which you can use to select one that is right for your business needs.

How Much Does Mobile Game Development Cost?

The cost to develop a mobile game is dependent on the platform and features chosen, as well as your location. Costs can vary quite a bit between companies, but will more than likely be more expensive in developed countries.

It may cost more money to make a game that is high in graphics, with many features and is able to be used on many platforms. The price will decrease if you have fewer demands that include these things.

The Best Way To Monetize A Game App

You can use app monetization techniques to earn money from the software you are developing. The most popular techniques for monetizing an app include in-app purchases, in-app advertisements, and subscriptions.

In-App Purchase

Apps often use this monetization strategy of having a free app with in-game features that require users to pay real money to unlock.

Subscription

Many customers are looking for ways to “try before they buy” and this is where a subscription model becomes lucrative. For any app, it doesn’t matter the price-to-value ratio – if it’s useful, users will pay for their subscription.

Advertising

One of the greatest monetization methods for in-game purchases are advertisements. These ads, though difficult to deal with have the potential to make a lot of money off the game. They also consist of user-rewarding and motivating functions that attract players towards premium subscriptions and higher levels without external ads

Freemium

Some games try to get you to pay for a premium version by providing the free one. The games work as they will have ads while you play. Making a purchase allows you to remove ads and enjoy the game without distractions.

Final Thoughts

Selecting a mobile development company is a crucial decision that will affect the future of your game. Ensure that you get the desired quality at the lowest cost. Check different companies and choose one that delivers at an agreeable price.

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What Is IT Staff Augmentation And How Does It Work

When a startup reaches a certain level of success, it must decide whether to expand its IT staff or outsource the work to an independent contractor. Both options necessitate additional investment. At the same time, startup owners nowadays require a team of specialists in various fields at their disposal. It is important for owners to make an informed decision. The right option can potentially save these startups a lot of money, but the wrong decision can also cost them a lot of money. The best solution is to consider augmenting the IT team as a viable option.

The same is true for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs frequently lack the funds to support a fully staffed IT department. It becomes costly and taxing for businesses to hire new employees and provide formal training. As an SME, you need a trusted IT partner who will not only help you complete a project, but also add value to it. Without a fully-staffed and competent IT department, your company will be unable to meet the needs of customers. 

There are numerous advantages to using staff augmentation–whether you need software developed, a website made, or any other tech-related task. In this blog article, we will explore them and demonstrate why your company should consider outsourcing IT teams rather than recruiting everyone within.

What is IT staff augmentation

IT staff augmentation, as the name implies, concentrates solely on IT talent. It is a flexible outsourcing model that allows businesses to supplement their existing teams with the skilled professionals they need to achieve their business goals.The augmented team is often assembled based on the project’s requirements and the team’s skill set. When done properly, it is the easiest and fastest way to expedite the deliverables of a current development team. The outsourcing model combines the advantages of hiring a member of an internal team with the flexibility and cost-efficiency of a typical offshore outsourcing. The outsourced staff can also handle management and coordination, allowing you to focus on other aspects of your business. 

The basic goal of IT staff augmentation is to quickly find a team that can make up for the gap in skills and knowledge of an organisation. Technically, staff augmentation is similar to assisting your team without hiring extra members. By increasing your workforce, you avoid having to deal with HR and administrative employment difficulties. Instead, the augmented team’s outsourcing partner will take care of all of these issues.

Staff augmentation might be full-time or part-time. For example, you could just hire a team of experts to make up for the competency gap. In other cases, an augmented team can completely replace the existing employees. 

Benefits of staff augmentation

1. Reduced costs 

Staff augmentation enables IT businesses to reduce expenses at various levels. You won’t have to spend money on recruiting, office space, equipment purchase, taxes, employee benefits or anything else. Because augmentation staff are selected for their competence in a particular field, it also helps to reduce the cost of training permanent staff. If you don’t require someone full-time, you can sign a contract with your staff augmentation source to get the specific staff you need for the requisite period.

2. Access to the talent pool

IT staff augmentation vendors typically have a diverse set of IT expertise on their team, such as front and back-end developers, network engineers, cybersecurity experts, UI/UX designers, and so on. Working with an IT staff augmentation partner offers you instant access to all of this talent on an as-needed basis at a cheap cost.

You also get a very focused and unbiased workforce as the augmented staff are dedicated to complete specific projects and meet deadlines while approaching their tasks with focus and accuracy. Their primary goal is to ensure the success of the projects assigned to them. The existence of external talent also allows you to gain direct access to a global pool of competent IT experts. 

3. Increased flexibility

One of the primary advantages of staff augmentation is that it allows companies to hire employees based on short-term needs and projects. Companies with this flexibility have a competitive edge since they are less vulnerable to economic downturns. On the other hand, companies that are unable to adapt to the changing market conditions will fail. Staff augmentation allows companies to be more responsive. In addition, startups can grow and scale down depending on their current needs. Flexible IT staffing enables companies to extend their operations on a trial, project-specific basis without committing to a full-time workforce. As a result, they are not bound to employees who will not be needed for many months. 

4. Higher productivity

By engaging an external talent pool, you can increase productivity and reduce project delays. Team augmentation specialists are accustomed to working in a fast-paced atmosphere. They will prioritise key tasks and devote as much time as is required to complete them before the deadline. Their extensive knowledge enables them to anticipate errors and share issues and risks with you before you set the release date.

Alternatively, staff augmentation ensures that your team is completely focused on your project. Because project-based outsourcing teams may operate on multiple projects at the same time, your augmented team’s efficiency may be higher than having an in-house team.

How to succeed with team augmentation

Companies that have successfully integrated staff augmentation into their business model understand how to leverage the skills of remote IT specialists. If done correctly, the IT Staff Augmentation model can have a positive impact on your company as well. Here are a few things to consider in order to properly implement the model:

• Set clear expectations.

Whether you’re hiring directly, through a recruitment agency, or through team augmentation, you must understand what you, your team, and your company anticipate from the new IT staff. What skills, characteristics, and attitudes must they possess in order to add value to your product? Are they aligned with your core values and work culture? This will help to ensure that there is no misunderstanding about their roles and responsibilities.

• Select the right talent. 

Take your time to select the best talent pool. Not all IT staffing agencies are created equal, and you should choose one that thoroughly vets their talents. By correctly sourcing your personnel, you can ensure that your employees are prepared for the task at hand. Check to see if the IT staffing firm has an excellent track record of offering highly qualified personnel and keeping their promises. When you find them, the partner is no longer just a gap-filler; they are a partner in your success, which is exactly what you want.

• Ensure clear communication. 

It is critical to have transparent and seamless communication between the augmented staff and the company in order to meet the required project goals. Your team must be aware of the vision, mission, and project requirements. You need to ensure that you establish an effective process to allow for open communication. Clear communication helps make sure that you are not wasting your resources. It is important to improve communication during the development cycle so that everyone can adhere to decisions and effectively contribute to ongoing projects. Allow team members to ask questions and provide feedback throughout the process to create a cohesive team environment.

• Form a long-term partnership. 

Building a long-term relationship with a staffing partner enables you to scale up your  workforce on large projects. The time and effort you spend sharing vital information about your business, building trust, and integrating them into your environment, workflow, and culture can be utilised in future projects. After that, you can scale back down so that your own teams can handle the workflow. Having access to these on-demand staffing services allows you to save the time and resources required to onboard new team members whenever you have an IT project that demands special attention.

Staff Augmentation with Creativ Digital 

Creativ Digital is ready to help you achieve your business goals with our topnotch IT talent and team augmentation experience. Whether you need staffing services to develop your website or mobile app, or overhaul your complete IT recruiting strategy, Creativ Digital can support your business with the right technology  solutions. Our Sydney-based team of IT specialists becomes an extension of your team. Each team member is carefully chosen based on the expertise  and requirements you need. 

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Basic NFT Development Guide

There are many online marketplaces for digital collectibles. If you are interested in developing your own marketplace, Blockchain is a technology that we already know and cryptocurrencies have been introduced to change the way people think of commodities.

NFTs (Non-Fungible Token) are platforms that use Blockchain as a public ledger. They work together to create digital markets. The popularity of these platforms has led developers and entrepreneurs to create digital marketplaces.

If you want to create an NFT marketplace app, you’re on the right place because we have suggestions on how you can create this type of app.

What is an NFT Marketplace?

An NFT marketplace is basically a platform where you can preserve and trade NFT tokens. These tokens can be auctioned or bought at a fixed rate and you need to have a crypto wallet in order to make transactions.

In an NFT marketplace, users can create an account, upload digital artworks and sell them online. In this type of niche marketplace, clients can find all they need, such as digital artworks. These are higher in demand due to the specialized audience and what they offer.

For example, with AltairNFT, users will be able to collect and trade NFTs with other AltairNFT account holders. AltairNFT also provides unique content for these users in the form of recorded live streaming content from sporting events, concerts, and virtual events.

How Does an NFT Marketplace Work?

To use a marketplace, you need an account and an e-wallet. Your account would then be verified which is followed by connecting the wallet to your account. Finally, there are some steps that need to be followed before you start trading.

• Create an NFT and define all preferred parameters
• List digital goods for sale and wait for the completion of the moderation
• Buyers bid when an auction takes place
• When the auction is complete, the marketplace transfers the cryptocurrency and digital products.

If you take part in an NFT marketplace, your connection to the seller is regulated by a smart contract. This contract contains information about the NFTs and it makes the process automated and user-friendly.

Why are NFTs Getting Popular?

NFTs are popular because it lets ordinary people support artists that they like. Buying NFTs also makes it possible for you to use the image. For instance, you can use it as a profile picture or even re-sell it again.

The popularity of NFT has increased drastically in the past few years. In 2020, it had a market value at $338.04 million and has been growing since 2018.

Some NFTs are called digital scarcity tokens, ensuring a particular number of tokens will be injected into circulation in one company’s ecosystem. For example, an NFT asset called Everyday: The First 5000 Days was sold at $69 million in 2021. It is a collection of artworks arranged in a collage.

These stats predict that NFT marketplaces will grow in popularity in coming years. In order to stay competitive, a marketplace app would need a profitable revenue stream.

Best Features To Include In an NFT Marketplace App

A good NFT marketplace app should include the following features:

Storefront

An ideal NFT marketplace has a storefront that works like a dashboard. It can provide users with all the data they need in 1 place. It has all the data needed for an asset.

• Owners    
• Bids    
• Previews    
• Value history

Advanced Token Search

Fast search can greatly affect customer satisfaction. Customers should be able to get complete information on products they want quickly, without effort. An ideal NFT marketplace app should contain product arranged systematically. For example: art, images, music, videos, memes, etc.

Bid and Buy

Users should be able to buy and sell NFTs across the platform. Offer bids should have a date attached to them and users should be able to see the current status of their offers.

Create Listings

Allow your customers to create and submit digital collectibles. Make sure they have minimal effort when submitting a file. Provide them with a page to submit files, collaborating the detailed product description. Include information like tags, title, and description.

Wallet

Since NFT marketplaces use crypto for transactions, it should have a wallet that allows customers to store, send and receive NFTs and cryptocurrency. You can create your own wallet or integrate existing wallets like Formatic, Coinbase, or MyEtherWallet into your platform.

Listing Status

The listing status of the product allows prospective buyers to see the progress of how your product is authenticated and if it is ready for sale. The verification process helps protect buyers from counterfeit goods.

Rating

Buyers on a NFT marketplace can read seller’s feedback and ratings to judge whether the seller is trustworthy. Rating systems help sellers present themselves effectively, driving more buyers to their product.

5 Things To Consider When Building an NFT Marketplace

Following are the factors you should consider when creating an NFT marketplace.

Transparency

Your NFT marketplace must be transparent and give the user a clear view of all transactions. The Blockchain will ensure that an error-free payment procedure provides a seamless transacting experience.

Security

This is a feature of an NFT marketplace that ensures traders are protected from loss making trades and other unnecessary functions. It’s powerful in its protective capabilities, ensuring the success of all transactions.

Decentralization

It allows you to copy and distribute all information to different Blockchain networks. At the time of a new block’s introduction, the network updates its Blockchain for making changes.

Monetization Tool

A monetization tool would be helpful in an NFT marketplace. It can give users the flexibility to earn money on their own terms.

Smart Contracts

Initializing smart contracts doesn’t require a commission. Signing the contract prevents fraud and reduces the need for intermediaries.

Tips in Building an NFT Marketplace

Choose a Niche

To start a new NFT marketplace, you should start by selecting a niche. If you have a general idea, discuss it with developers to help refine your strategy and time estimate needed to create the platform. Consider vertical markets instead of horizontal ones because they may be easier to launch.

Define Your Project’s UI/UX Design

When building a marketplace, make sure you have good UI and UX. These design features enhance the usability of your platform and increase the quality of the user’s experience.

Move to Front-End Development

If you have a design idea, it’s time to execute it. Choose a reliable framework to meet your objectives. Hire an expert NFT developer to assure great functionality and credibility.

Use Smart Contracts Token Generator

The back-end of an NFT marketplace is different from that of a server-based one. When an NFT marketplace utilizes Blockchain, the data gets authenticated and stored on the Blockchain.

Test and Deploy

Software testing is the first place to look when your NFT marketplace app is encountering errors. It’s vital that you identify and solve every problem before launching your project so that it runs smoothly.

Post-launch assistance is also necessary to reduce bugs and assure quality performance. In short, this step makes sure credibility and superb app functionality.

How Much Does it Cost to Start a New NFT Marketplace?

To create something complex, you must invest more money developing the digital marketplace for art.

There are ready-made solutions at a lower cost. However, there is no assurance when it comes to security.

Alternatively, you might hire a software development team to create a custom app for you. They can create a user flow, build the functionality, add features, and design the marketplace from the beginning. Hence, the price may increase a little more.

Bottom Line

NFT’s popularity is growing day by day, which means this is the right time to launch an NFT marketplace app. These marketplaces contain many excellent features. Turn to an experienced app development team to do your project from scratch.

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Ways To Improve eCommerce Customer Experience

The future of digital commerce is customer experience. According to Walker Insights, it is the most essential brand differentiator, not price or product, as many believe. Of course, an attractive offer, reasonable price, and similar factors are also important. But ultimately, what separates one company from another lies in the success of the customer experience.

But what exactly does customer experience (or CX for short) mean?

Customer experience refers to each interaction a customer has with a brand across all sales channels — whether it is online or offline, desktop or mobile. It’s a broad definition, but the factors that make up outstanding CX are also vast – from the look and feel of the website to 24/7 customer assistance and responding to negative social media reviews. 

CX will always be important—but when it comes to making your business as successful as possible and distinguishing yourself from the competition, the eCommerce customer experience might make or break your results. If your clients have a negative encounter with your eCommerce firm, this will most certainly leave a lasting impression. In such an extremely competitive market, they won’t have to look far to find a better CX elsewhere.

As SuperOffice puts it, “Customers no longer base their loyalty on price or product. Instead, they stay loyal to companies due to the experience they receive. If you cannot keep up with their increasing demands, your customers will leave you.”

What is an eCommerce customer experience

eCommerce customer experience includes everything from buying a new microwave on your phone’s Amazon app, to selecting and paying for a music subscription service on your tablet, to purchasing a concert ticket on your laptop.

eCommerce shopping experiences might vary greatly. But they must all be easy and hassle-free for your customers.

All the steps on your customer’s journey sum up to a positive or negative customer negative experience. It begins when a potential consumer comes into contact with your brand for the first time, whether through a recommendation from a friend, viewing an advertisement, conducting a web search, or any other means. The first impression is crucial. The next key event is a visit to your eCommerce website, where everything can influence perception: text, graphics, product search, buying process, and web page performance. If the visit is satisfactory and the product matches expectations, the next stage of the customer experience begins: payment and transaction completion as well as any support or follow-up.

Also critical to your future success is to provide icing on the cake – fast and accurate shipping, as well as exceptional post-sales service.

If a customer has a hard time even after deciding to buy a product, they may be more willing to drop their cart and buy something from your competitor. Unlike the traditional brick-and-mortar store where there’s a personal touch, improving customer retention online is futile. When you lose potential and present consumers, you have to invest more money to acquire new ones, and you lose a competitive advantage. You see, there are countless reasons why you should be concerned about customer loyalty. 

How to boost online customer experience

Now that we’ve tackled why eCommerce businesses should strive to make the shopping experience as simple, personal, and relevant as possible, here are some tips and tricks to help you improve your customer experience for online shoppers: 

1. Make it personal

People love to receive offers and content that really aligns with their interests. It’s then clear that personalisation is an important ingredient in the formula for eCommerce success.

A lack of personalisation can be costly for retailers. According to Accenture, 41 percent of consumers switched companies in 2016 because of distrust and insufficient personalisation, costing these companies more than $750 billion.

Personalisation, on the other hand, can help businesses enhance profitability by up to 15%, according to Gartner. Furthermore, research suggests that strong personalisation increases consumer spending by 48%.

Here are some customised touchpoints which you can try: 

• Provide individual discounts on customer-related products or services
• Communicate with customers in their local lingo
• Get to know their location and provide delivery information to that area
• Offer suggestions and recommendations (provide a list of recommendations based on related products or recently viewed or bought items)
• Personalise emails (i.e. birthday greeting or an invitation to an online VIP event)
• Personalise other aspects on your website such as the homepage and checkout page 

2. Capture customer feedback

Understanding customer feedback and sentiment is critical for optimising your customer experience, especially for ecommerce. Listening to what your customers think and feel about their ecommerce experience is the best approach to make changes that are important to them. After all, they are they are the experts on what they need and want.

Every company’s ecommerce experience is distinct. As a result, attempting to guess what customers want when they make an online purchase from your company can be too complicated. You can go after things which may seem important to you but don’t really matter to customers. Instead, asking them directly on what matters and what needs to be fixed will effectively and efficiently improve your experience.

The Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) survey is an excellent technique to collect this information. Surveys and reviews might help you address your customer’s pain points if you’d like to incorporate some quick iterations that will go a long way. You can ask customers questions such as, “How happy are you with our site’s checkout experience?” ” Alternatively, you may inquire about their degree of satisfaction with browsing, adding products to their shopping cart, and payment. CSAT surveys might include any specific aspect of the eCommerce experience or the entire experience.

3. Leverage your social media 

Many people now have the opportunity to connect with people all over the world and share their thoughts, thanks to the popularity of various social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Regardless of your target market, today’s generation is used to communications and promotions on social media platforms. Utilise these free channels by planning and implementing methods that will interest your target audience. This may play a crucial role in your company’s success and offer a cheap way to advertise.

Through the use of various social media platforms, you may reach the greatest possible number of your target potential customers and persuade them to buy your items even if they are not actively shopping for them. Social media platforms are real-time avenues for communication that will let you handle customer issues or enquiries faster than submitting a ticket or calling customer service. Try to be as active as you can to respond to your customers’ questions promptly on social media to improve your eCommerce customer experience. Create content that has the potential to become viral and receive retweets and clicks. 

A better eCommerce customer experience may be achieved with the right implementation, which will eventually boost sales and customer loyalty.

4. Optimise for mobile

We now live in a mobile-first world. Mobile apps offer convenience. They offer everything a customer could possibly need right in the palm of their hand. According to Google, more than 40% of online purchases are now completed on a mobile device.

The best mobile experience should be designed through custom development with a specific user in mind—the customer. It should be easier for customers to shop, so they can have everything they need in a single app.

Every eCommerce business should strive to create optimised mobile experiences for its customers. As more customers are turning to mobile devices for shopping, eCommerce businesses need to ensure that their product listings and images are optimised for mobile or have a mobile app that they sell through their own websites or third-party marketplaces.

5. Enhance your website

One of the most integral aspects of customer experience for an online business is the experience they have with your website and platform. Your website must be seamless, fluid, and consistent with your brand throughout. If your site takes too long to load, you will give away free points to your competitors. The way your brand is perceived by a customer depends greatly on speed. Customers prefer not to wait for websites to load, so they hit the back button instead and go somewhere else. 47% of online customers want your business to load in two seconds or less, while 64% of mobile users view your site on a smartphone. 

A creative and appealing storefront can be just as important to making a good impression. Factors such as design,  colour, fonts, navigation, and buttons influence the user’s subconscious. Using attractive graphics, beautiful imageries and relevant searches are some of the tactics to improve customer experience and conversion rates. Branded keywords for product descriptions will help establish your value proposition with your customers and show them exactly what you do.

Conclusion

Starting your own online business is now easier than ever. However, simply opening your own store isn’t enough. As an eCommerce business, you can try many different strategies to build your brand and drive sales, but if you don’t give your customers something other than a product, you’ll lose a sizable portion of the market. You’ll end up investing more money in areas like promotion, sales, special offers, and marketing, which could prove to be very costly for both you and your business. 

To ensure that consumers remember you and return to your store, you must work hard to make the online customer experience the best it can be. That is why it is well worth your time and effort to devote your time and resources to creating the ideal customer experience, which will ultimately lead to increased sales and satisfied consumers.

Considering the tips we have offered, you can enhance customer experience by working with a professional eCommerce website development company and digital marketing agency. Creativ Digital will ensure that your website has the ability to maintain a consistent brand image and provide a seamless experience for your customers.

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3 Foundations of a Successful Design System

Design systems are difficult to change, especially for experienced team members. What if it doesn’t work out? What if it causes new issues?

Switching from old school design techniques to a brand-new system can be a big change not only for the product but also for the whole organization.

However, adopting a design system helps teams to develop guidelines for delivering a fully functioning product and can help you get the most out of your team as it encourages collaboration.

Design systems are set up so that anyone can make use of them, and the underlying documents teach you how to. Design systems also include a governance scheme where ownership or contribution is clearly defined, allowing for unique user experiences, as well as providing teams with templates and examples on how to get started.

A design system can give you the following benefits:

• Lowered cost: having everything in one place reduces the work done by different teams
• Improved confidence: clear instructions on developing a user interface gives the team more confidence.
• Enhanced empathy: When designers all work on the same system, it creates empathy and a clearer understanding between teams.
• Defined principles: Design systems are crucial for people who are in design teams as they give each other guidelines for their work.
• Boosted Productivity: productivity improves after everything originates from 1 source.

Build Consistent Front-End Experiences

If you want to build consistent front-end experience, you need a well-documented and standardized set of UI blocks to help team members understand the basic foundation of which the UI is built.

This increases output speed and encourages collaboration between members to develop and implement features promptly. Additionally, conflicts are less likely to happen when companies can ship features faster compared to when they are without a design system.

Factors To Keep In Mind When Using A Design System

• Take advantage of open-source to simplify design. It may be the case that your company can’t afford to build an entire system from scratch. Instead, use open-source when you can and follow certain best practices for building these systems.
• Protect the product with documentation. Documentation must be comprehensive and up-to-date. Clear, step-by-step instructions can help neophytes get acquainted with the framework, while detailed examples make the process more efficient.
• When designing products, teams should follow predefined rules and adhere to patterns. Enforcement can help teams avoid wasting time and helps to speed up the process.

Control Quality and Maintainability

Design systems have a number of advantages including quality and maintainability and reducing the number of designs to which you are exposed. Always be on the lookout for ways to simplify your life in order to limit the number from design work not regularly used.

• The release process is made more efficient with an AI-enabled design system, which allows teams to release products faster. This has the benefit of keeping up with competitors and providing compatibility for teams that choose to roll back their work. The CI/CD should be automated and all information about releases is sent across channels, so all teams are informed.
• Feedback loops are important for determining what needs to be improved on, and how issues should be addressed as soon as possible. Effective feedback loops will ensure that a backlog of unresolved items doesn’t consume the team’s attention.

Keep Developers and Designers in Sync

If we want to deliver a good-quality product, developers and designers should be in sync

• Collaborating is essential for product development. To make sure everyone understands the rules, maintain an open dialogue with contributors. A high level of maturity across disciplines should make incorporating new ideas easier. Having a streamlined pipeline for pull requests and a dashboard for bugs and features will keep employees informed about what’s going on and what needs to be done next.
• You must collaborate to work efficiently, and your team should feel open to give their opinion. If they do disagree, they shouldn’t be afraid to ask teammates for input or help resolving conflict. Create a strategic plan with a timeline so everyone knows what needs to happen next. Design systems should also be updated as your project progresses, in case you encounter any roadblocks, otherwise new teams coming on could have the same issue.

Final Thoughts

A design system will help teams replicate designs quickly. Teams can continue to use the same elements over and over, which means that the time spent for “reinventing the wheel” is reduced and lowering the risk of unintended inconsistency.

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Why Your Retail App Needs To Stay On-Track Post COVID-19

The coronavirus has changed social norms, from shopping habits to how we communicate with one another.

After the pandemic, companies struggled to keep their sales at the same pace. They had to figure out a new business strategy because people aren’t spending money. As a result, businesses have been restrained by lockdown and everything but essential services have closed – along with rising death rates from the virus.

The amount of time needed to adapt to new changes in the retail industry is ever changing. 81% of U.S. small businesses say they have felt long-term impacts from COVID-19, with 87% preparing for an economic slowdown.

A New Kind Of Customer Is Emerging

Buyers have become more digitally aware in many countries. Even though buying power is still strong, it’s not only buyers who are changing in this evolution.

Businesses are starting to innovate in the digital space and they are looking to add more value to their customers’ lives.

Many governments around the world imposed physical distancing and lockdown protocols and the pandemic caused billions of dollars losses in the retail industry, so sellers are looking for alternatives to their physical presence.

According to a study by Bazaarvoice, 49% of consumers worldwide were shopping more often online during the pandemic than before. Retailers have started to strategize their moves and to take their brands on the high roads of digital success.

Sadly, COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon.

If the present situation continues, customers will still distance themselves from shopping, and head toward ecommerce.

Interactive media is where the future is headed, which has been shown in search trends to buying habits. To increase your customer base, you should use innovative strategies to market your company on these platforms.

In a lockdown, 88% of the global consumers reported they plan to stick with the new brands they tried. This has retailers on their toes as they try to meet consumer demand.

Business owners need to prepare for the post-COVID-19 era: Brands need to be creating a CX that prioritizes the customer. Businesses have an opportunity to stand out and earn the loyalty of customers while the pandemic is still ongoing.

The future of the Internet is all about how people are going to experience it. Current research shows that 86% of people will likely spend more on a product in order to get a better customer experience. After all, you are the consumer. Hundreds of brands are available to choose from. Which will you pick? Companies are using AI to provide more pleasant experiences, making it easier for customers to purchase items online.

A survey of small and mid-sized businesses found that 25% either invest in new technologies or upgrade their current setup to adapt to the rise of pandemic conditions.

Thanks to online technology and the internet, the need for brick-and-mortar stores have decreased. The need for retail apps is prevalent because of their popularity in online communities.

Mobile apps are one of the best ways for brands to reach their target audience and generate connections with consumers for a personalized experience.

The New Normal For Your Business App

You’ll see more investment in APM (application performance monitoring). This technology is top on a list of digital transformation trends that you will see even post-pandemic.

APM allows you to track how your application is performing. They allow businesses a way to focus on features that will help the end user as well as detect and troubleshoot any problems.

Research has shown that 91% of companies who implemented AI through their operations have had excellent outcomes, such as improved user experience and better customization for individual clients.

As a retailer, you know what your customers need. In order to stay on top of consumer trends and make more profits you need to build or incorporate services that match your customer’s demands.

What Your Retail App Should Be Offering

Here are some insights you need to consider.

Provide ‘In the Moment” Shopping Experiences

Tiffany Hogan, a Kantar principal analyst, said “a store has to be just as exciting, or more exciting to shop online and as easy to shop.”

Brands should cater to customers on multiple platforms and in-person experiences. Reviews, even positive ones sometimes, are important for online brands because of how easy it is for a customer to look elsewhere.

What’s next?

Retailers are trying to create a new type of shopping experience by integrating augmented reality, virtual reality and artificial intelligence.

For example, Sephora has a virtual makeup application app but also offers products like lipstick and eyeliner virtually. They are also following COVID protocols for their brick and mortar stores to amp up services. This is adding value to the customers and making more sales opportunities.

AR and VR can help shoppers purchase products from brands before they actually invest in a product.

The retail sector can expect an increase in the purchasing and usage of AR and VR technologies. According to Statista, by 2020, spending on these technologies is projected to reach $7 billion and distribution spending could reach $4.4 billion.

Open Channels of Communication

Social connections are important to humans. They want to buy from brands they feel a more personal connection with. 76% of consumers would want to buy from a brand that was interacting with them on a personal level.

Chatbots provide easy access to the information customers need in order to successfully use a product. Retail brands will have to use AI and ML since they can self-support customers through chatbots.

With the use of Chatbots, retailers have seen an increase of 86% within 3 months. It has helped retailers cut down on phone time and offer better customer services online.

The customer care trend is growing and messaging apps are leading the way with their easy self-help service options. You can set up polls or answer questions on platforms to provide your customers with quick and expert help.

Experts predict that by the end of 2020, 80% of new enterprise applications will use chatbots.

Chatbots can also help deliver more accurate suggestions, exclusive access to previews, and create a more highly personalized atmosphere. It can help deliver suggestions with accuracy, offer previews of exclusive content, and provide a highly personalized atmosphere.

Support An Ominichannel Experience

Retailers looking to stay competitive will need to provide omnichannel experiences and invest in integration across channels.

A challenge to retailers is providing consistency. People are open to different levels of service, but some customers will only settle for perfection

For instance, the IKEA app focuses on meeting a high standard of user experience.

The same customer experience is consistent with stores and the app. The company invests heavily in the shopping experience to make it pleasing.

IKEA was one of the first retailers to use augmented reality in their furniture showroom

When IKEA launched its new app, it provided a place to find inspiration and design ideas as well as facilitating online shopping. IKEA is claiming that the app will help shoppers find inspiration and purchase from their phones.

IKEA has an app that helps other retailers who want to try omnichannel shopping. Retailers need to realize their capabilities and should allow seamless transition between online and offline shopping.

Provide Safe Contact-less Payment Options

Shopping will continue to increase as both back-to-school and holiday shopping hits retailers head-on. Retailers need to be sure that their online payment systems are secure and fast, but in-store customer experience must also be efficient.

Nearly 25% of shoppers are looking for contactless payments. 58% of retailers already accept contactless cards, an increase from 40% last year.

The emergence and growth of contactless payments won’t slow down anytime soon. In a survey, 94% of shoppers reported that they anticipate contactless payments to increase in the next 18 months.

Walmart is using technology to better serve their customers. The retail store is testing cashier-less stores, which will help prevent the spread of coronavirus and speed up checkout time.

Another way that Walmart is responding to COVID-19 is by using a touch-free payment system where customers can simply use their phone to make a purchase, or add money to their Walmart shopping app.

With their Walmart Pay payment option, shoppers scan the QR code on their phone with the app to make purchases.

Bottom Line

COVID-19 is responsible for the integration of many new trends, including apps. When you have an app, you can connect with consumers and create a high level of customer satisfaction.

The best experience for customers comes from using apps, like quick deliveries and supply chain transparency. But the critical question is, are you ready for what comes after the COVID-19 revolution?

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Why User Feedback and A/B Testing Need Each Other

The tech savvy people of today demand optimization. Optimizing products mean that you have loyal brand advocates. If a digital product is not optimized, there will be unsatisfied customers who will not come back.

To optimize usability, allow your users to navigate with ease and be able to go where they want with a few clicks. The more effortless it becomes; the better optimization will be. The less hesitation the user has in continuing their navigation, the more effective it is.

Today’s companies know they need to optimize their digital channels but how do they do it exactly? Where should they start and which digital marketing approach is best for the company?

Some claim that the best way to come up with a marketing strategy is to look at the analytics data, while others say that user feedback is more important.

Combining data from analytics and user insights will reveal the best way to optimize your digital channels. This is the most effective way to get the information you need to optimize your digital channels. Analytics and quantitative data will tell you what’s happening and qualitative user feedback will tell you why.

First and Foremost

Direct data, such as web analytics, is one of the first steps to becoming data driven. You should use this direct data to determine where users are getting stuck and how they are viewing your content.

The process will give you relevant information that you need to start hypothesizing what could be affecting UX, but what’s next?

For a better understanding of how visitors are using your website, you need quantitative and qualitative data.

A/B Testing

For example, if you noticed a low conversion rate on your sign-up page, and that the culprit was one particular element, an A/B test would be used. This process is widely used by companies.

The advanced A/B testing tool Optimizely allows you to test different CTAs, images, and copy in order to improve the success of your website. The original is usually the control, with only one variation that is altered.

To form a better idea about what elements make a successful blog post, you can compare different versions of the same post. This gives you a sense of what’s working to construct relevant and quality content. However, it can be hard to know what to test when there are so many things to compare. As such, it’s important to prioritize certain elements you want to test based on how they will have an impact on user behavior.

To understand how visitors are moving and using your website, quantitative needs to be paired with qualitative data. This is where user feedback comes in.

User Feedback

There are tools like Usabilla and Feedbackify for example, that saves you time by telling you what needs to be tested. After determining what area needs to be tested, the tool conducts qualitative user research which determines the test criteria and validates the need for a test in the first place.

If you’ve seen gaps in your sign-up rates, don’t assume that the problem is mysterious or difficult to address. Go talk to some customers who have expressed hesitance to turn into paying customers and be ruthless about eliminating the factors that are preventing them from converting.

User feedback can change the design of your product by showcasing a certain feature that visitors are using.

If you’ve made a design change and then have asked feedback from the users, it could lead to the final layer of optimization. This is done by asking them directly what they think or making a simple survey that asks whether or not they’re happy with a certain page.

There are tools for instance that you can use to filter by experiment to gain an understanding of the positive and negative feedback. You will also be able to read the feedback from successful variations, which will help with intelligent iterations.

Test variations can be targeted based on A/B testing by using a feedback tool’s survey feature.

The Process

By integrating user feedback with an A/B test, you will save time and money by knowing what to test, what to prioritize as well as whether the final result is correct.

1. Use quantitative analytics to determine areas of friction. Where are customers bouncing? Why is conversion rates lower in certain pages?
2. Ask your customers what’s impacting their behavior and adjust accordingly. Running an exit survey, for example, can help to learn why your customers are leaving and how you may amend your website so they don’t leave.
3. Qualitative insights such as survey responses and user journey data will show you what should be prioritized during the A/B testing process.
4. With Content Testing, you can make adjustments to the winning variants in affected areas and see changes right away.
5. Feedback is an important and integral part of a conversion process. If you want to validate your changes and the process that led you to them, solicit feedback from those who have gone through those changes themselves.

A/B testing will help you optimize your site and push user feedback to the next level. By using improvements gathered by feedback tools, an open line with your customers and iterative optimization, you will have a continuous flow of optimized content.

When you want to be truly data-driven and user centric, combine your qualitative and quantitative sources. This will give you a seamless digital experience. You can get through these processes with customer feedback and A/B testing.

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Hiring a Digital Marketing Agency: Benefits and Expectations

These days, everything revolves around digital marketing. Digital marketing has become the means by which many businesses attract new customers. It has become the driving force behind a business as many move away from brick-and-mortar stores and pricey print marketing tactics.

Why hire a digital marketing agency?

At first, digital marketing may appear simple – after all, all you need is an internet connection and a few clicks, right? Businesses may wonder why they should outsource work that they can perform in-house. However, you can’t just log onto your website and wing it if you want to conduct an effective marketing campaign. Instead, the job necessitates meticulous planning, use of specialised tools and strategies, and in-depth knowledge of online marketing trends. The digital marketing world is crowded, and it takes knowledge and plan to guarantee your content stands out and successfully connects with your target market. You’re in luck if your team possesses those competencies in-house. However, the digital ecosystem is complex, and it is uncommon for businesses to have that level of expertise inside their ranks. It is therefore generally advisable to hire professionals. 

Working with a digital marketing agency can be beneficial in many ways. Continue reading to learn about the advantages of working with a digital marketing agency and why you should choose Creativ Digital.

Benefits of hiring a digital marketing agency 

1. Knowledge and expertise

Agencies have worked with a variety of clients across industries, providing specific insight into industry trends and best practices. When you work with a digital marketing agency, they give you access to a diverse set of skill sets under one contract, eliminating the need to hire for each function in-house. An in-house team can become isolated within their own business or industry, uninformed of what is going on outside of it. An agency analyses your situation from new angles in order to strategise and keep you ahead of the competition.

Marketing agencies are well-versed in the particular tools and strategies required to traverse an increasingly complex space. They’ve tested and explored many different methods and now they know what works, so you don’t waste precious time going the wrong way. Consider which choice is best suited to your requirements. If you only need someone to manage your social media channels, you might be better off by doing it in-house. If you want a multi-pronged approach to integrated marketing that focuses on pushing the needle and assisting you in reaching your company goals, you should work with an agency that can assist you in all areas of marketing, design, and development.

2. Fresh perspective

It’s difficult to see your business from the outside. Because you interact with every part of your business every day, it’s easy to get caught up on the little details. An agency will provide you with a fresh view on your company’s strengths and problems.

You may become tired of coming up with new campaigns for your business, no matter how creative you are. Also, if you’ve already had a successful plan, you may be cautious to branch out. An agency can assist you in ensuring that your next campaign stays fresh and exciting. You won’t have to rely on guesswork because they’ll have data and statistics to back up their strategies. Agencies can provide an estimate for any existing marketing activities you have in place.

3. Dependability and accountability 

A strong agency will be both dependable and accountable. Dependability means that you may call your strategist and discuss what’s going on with your stats or inquire about updating your existing strategy. This means that you get quick feedback from your agency, you trust and rely on them to know about and employ the finest techniques, and you get the general impression that they are there for you. 

In terms of accountability, you have someone who is responsible for your digital marketing plan and the metrics that support it.  For example, if you’re losing ground in organic search, it’s your agency’s responsibility to figure out why. If a paid advertisement fails to attract clients, your agency is responsible.

4. Specialised set of tools

Digital technology is always changing. Keeping up with the latest tools is part of the job of a digital marketing agency. They have the funds to purchase new software and hardware as needed. Buying those tools, on the other hand, might quickly deplete a small business’s budget.

If you decide to buy new marketing software, you must first learn how it works. You may also be required to train your personnel. Agencies have the resources to guarantee that their teams are ready to use any new tools and latest marketing trends.

Most marketing tools aim to deliver customer activity data. These applications, for example, can reveal how many people visit your website and whether or not they click any links. This is all useful information, but it is meaningless unless you know how to evaluate and leverage it for your business. A professional agency understands how to employ tools and data so you can maximise your return on investment. 

5. Measurable results

Every business owner wants to see their business grow. You don’t want to make investments that will yield no results. With so many marketing strategies available in digital marketing, it can be tough to determine the true return on investment (ROI) when doing it on your own.

Hiring a digital marketing agency will help you in determining key performance indicators (KPIs) (KPI). You can effectively conduct any marketing campaign once you’ve identified your KPIs. They will also assist you in identifying the key metrics to monitor across various channels in order to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns.

How to choose a digital marketing agency in Sydney

Here are some simple and clear tips that will help you choose a digital marketing agency. Before choosing a digital marketing agency in Sydney, it is important to consider certain factors, including:

1. Effective communication

When you deal with a digital marketing agency remotely, you have fewer (if any) possibilities to meet in person. As a result, you may occasionally feel as though something has been “lost in translation” and you’re not communicating effectively. You may grow frustrated trying to get your idea across, or you may be misunderstood by (or misinterpret) your agency’s partners.

Working with a local digital marketing agency in Sydney allows you to meet in person if needed. You can both spend quality time together, clear up any misunderstandings, and effectively convey your visions to one another. Working together allows you to collaborate and figure out how to move forward.

Having a local digital marketing agency also means that you are in the same time zone. You and your marketing agency partners begin work at 8 a.m., have lunch around 12 p.m. and conclude at 5 p.m. You take the same vacation days and know when you’ll be online and offline.

If you’re on Eastern Australia, you might have to wait for your colleagues in Western Australia to wake up before you can get things done. If you live in Australia and your agency lives in the United Kingdom, you will take different holidays. Processes may take longer, leaving you annoyed and trapped. If your agency is local, you can move faster and stay on the same page.

2. Audience-centred

If you own a locally based business, such as a retail store in Sydney CBD or a restaurant with locations throughout the Greater Sydney area, you’ll be best served by a local digital marketing agency in the Greater Sydney area, or the surrounding areas in New South Wales, because they understand the demographic you’re looking to attract. They also understand local jargon, the most popular venues in town, who the major influencers in your area are, and how to frame targeted ads on Google and other media sites.

Otherwise, you might end up with a branding or marketing disaster if you don’t work with a local digital marketing agency in Sydney. While this is an extreme example, GM faced a branding issue when it launched the Buick LaCrosse to Canada. Since “LaCrosse” is a disparaging slang in French, Buick quickly altered the vehicle’s name to Buick Allure. These types of branding incidents, according to branding strategist Ira Bachrach, occur frequently.

Perhaps if Buick hired a Canadian marketing agency for this launch, they wouldn’t have to encounter a backlash to change the car’s name. You may not be as big as Buick, but if you don’t get your branding right the first time, you could risk criticism or negative public opinion. When you launch a new product or service, you want to be remembered for all of the fantastic things you do, not for the mistakes you make.

3. Holistic approach

Many agencies work in specific directions: digital ads, SEO social media marketing, etc. However, the reality is that implementing an integrated approach will yield the best results. This is why you should decide to choose an agency that can work on your promotions holistically — gain positive rankings, drive more traffic, study your clients, convert new audiences, handle your online reputation, and so on. The approach is built on the concept of developing a consistent plan that connects all of the parts to market your company and brand. If done right, the agency can be your one-stop shop for a great marketing strategy. 

4. Data-driven

Any savvy business person will tell you that data is one of the most essential assets in any venture. Many businesses spend significant amounts of money on traditional research to gain these insights. Work with an agency that can provide you with data-driven marketing campaigns. An ideal marketing agency team employs objective real-time data, their hard-earned expertise, and a suite of innovative tools to discover opportunities and trends in your market as they emerge. They collect data, evaluate patterns, and use the knowledge to develop a marketing strategy. This will give you an idea whether or not your marketing spend is profitable.

Ready to scale?

When you manage your own business, your time could be better spent elsewhere. It takes time to check statistics, run digital campaigns and adjust the marketing plan for your various channels. Elevate your business to new heights with a digital marketing agency you can trust. At Creativ Digital, we’ve helped businesses in Sydney and across Australia attract, convert, and retain customers on all digital channels. We are a digital marketing agency in Sydney committed to honestly delivering actionable understanding of digital marketing. Contact us today for more information about our services.

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3 Basic Design Principles for Better UX

All web designers are striving to create a user-friendly design and need to use their observation powers because this is the simplest way of achieving amazing UX (user experience). Creative ideas are good but observation is still one of the most critical assets of designers when developing a design based on UX.

A good design in not just about creativity, it is the result of a combination of multiple design elements that brings ideas and imagination to life.

In order to create a successful user experience, consider all the factors before making any design changes.

• Are the customers able to relate to your brand?
• Did they find what they were looking for?
• Is your portfolio a fit for the end-user?
• Are the features offered easily accessible?

Design Process of UX

Using this simple framework, you can anticipate the customer’s needs and design a solution accordingly.

Check out these principles that influence UX and can help you come up with a winning strategy.

Contextual Theme

The user should be able to access more information as they explore your platform, not less. For example, Facebook has a homepage that shows everything the user could possibly want.

Facebook introduced the Timeline feature in 2011 that displays a user’s complete history as a storyline. The platform now boasts a multi-billion user base. Your company’s website needs to be built up comprehensively, just like Facebook’s Timeline.

A unified theme in your site will be easy to navigate and may involve products, interesting stories, coloring or point objectives. You will gradually observe organic traffic coming in on a weekly basis with this system.

Familiarity

Your graphic designers and software can’t increase your traffic or sales. Many web designers and business invest heavily on graphics. However, traffic generation is still stagnant and sales are sluggish.

If you have been thinking if the effort is in the right direction, don’t worry. Having amazing design is very important and can lead to better conversion rates.

Implementing new frameworks and plugins can be costly but can make your website look better. However, good looks is of no use if the user does not click the buy button.

To keep up with the competition, Ebay has implemented various strategies that have allowed them to maintain their gross income and build a responsive site. They also have a country-specific product list so that people can buy what they need in their home country.

They also implemented responsive site design, secure payment gateways and category-based shopping. Using these strategies enabled the company to maintain its leadership amidst the thousands of e-commerce platforms.

Here are ways to deliver ominichanel design solutions. Omnichannel design will help make your customers more efficient, increase customer satisfaction and even increase your revenue with a single platform.

• Take note of the sticky details for every OS. Make sure that your product looks exactly alike from platform to platform.
• Presentation matters, even if it seems like you’re projecting a simple image. Customers may eventually find what they need and perceive your content as having value. Use familiar patterns and familiar style.
• To make sure your platform is compatible on all devices, test it thoroughly. With this hands-on experience and feedback from your users, you will be aware of their perception of the platform.

Focus on the Usability of the Core Offering

User Experience design is more than just designing an attractive website. It should be easy to browse through and to purchase from. Most sales are made on smartphones, so most people want a simple design that focuses more on their offerings.

To increase engagement with small screens, there should be fewer elements per page, prominent buttons and drop-down menus.

The link, button, or piece of information on any page should be worth prioritizing. There’s no point in adding anything unless it is going to be helpful to a visitor.

Here are some tips for making your platform even more user-friendly:

• Make your site easily readable so that customers will not be turned off by cluttered information on a single page.
• Stop using the auto refresh information more than necessary. It creates lags in a slow connection.
• If you want to focus all of your energies on a new product, make sure to hide features that aren’t as important, and remove it from the bottom of your priority list.

A good web design is the best way to keep your customers interested and coming back for more. This minimizes complexity, while emphasizing accessibility across platforms. Responsive web design lets users navigate on their own time and without any lag between screens.

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How 5G Affects Mobile App Development

Currently, the latest technological innovation to capture the attention of people is 5G.

It is fair to say that 5G will change how we live. It has the potential to upend even the oldest of industries, but it could create new business opportunities as well.

More specifically, 5G will have an impact on mobile app development- and that is likely to happen more than you think. If you are interested in the future of mobile app development and the correlation with 5G, then you have landed at the right place.

In this blog post, I have outlined the essential skills needed to succeed in the technological revolution with a simple, fun and engaging manner.

The Basics of 5G

Consumers want convenient and fast technology in which they can be online at the same time. 4G doesn’t offer these services, but 5G may due to its instantaneous connections.

Developers are working on making technological features grow. As soon as one is rolled out, efforts begin to make it stronger.

5G is a game-changing technology that offers higher bandwidth and more stable connections than previous generation networks. It supports quick data transfer, real-time data transfers from multiple connected devices, and better reliability in the event of interruptions.

It may be a while before 5G is fully integrated into our lives. However, countries with centralized government and China have plans to speed up the wide-spread adoption of 5G.

This technology will help tech firms, entrepreneurs, innovators, and data-intensive organizations most because they can gain access to more data at faster speeds.

5G Features That Influence Mobile App Development

The launching of 5G will bring a new wave of innovation in the app industry by enhancing the services offered by all its users.

With 5G, you can depend on its fast speeds and big capacity to create apps that use a range of features.

Faster Speed

5G has the potential to provide a 100 times faster connection, according to Intel. One of the largest challenges of implementing and adapting 5G is the issue of when it will become available at an affordable price and in abundance.

Moving forward, 5G data transfer speeds will range from 50 Mbit/s to 2 Gbit/s. This will result in super-fast download times and file transfers.

Low Latency

With 5G, your phone will have a latency of one millisecond. You won’t ever have to wait again!

The development of 5G has lessened the possibility of network interference and delays, which will lead to more stable and fluid mobile apps that can offer a superior user experience.

Increased Connection

The low power consumption and latency allow for a better connection with multiple devices, like Internet of Things (IoT), allowing you to work on new app development. 4G supports a range of 2,000 devices, while 5G can support up to a million.

Better Capacity

With the increased speed of 5G, many services, such as entertainment and telecommunications, have more capacity to support mass audiences

5G will help optimize traffic and provide smoother handling for usage spikes. It will also help industries with their scaling by matching the technology initiatives with their goals.

Improved Bandwidth

5G will include all previous cellular spectrum, it will be faster, and more seamless than 4G. The higher frequencies and shorter wavelengths of 5G make it a superior platform for speed and efficiency.

Better Precision

The improved bandwidth of 5G translates to better precision and improved responsiveness. This is very important for high-precision GPS-enabled services.

How Will 5G Change Mobile App Development?

Mobile app developers are in frenzy, because with the help of 5G, they will have the opportunity to create groundbreaking mobile apps. Mobile app trends are expected to get a boost with the introduction of 5G.

There are many social and economic benefits that 5G will have on mobile app development in the near future.

Improved Video Apps

Video apps are about to get much better thanks to the approaching 5G. This new technology will increase video quality and decrease latency, which will make viewing a more pleasant experience.

Improved AR and VR-Based Apps

The future of mobile app development will not only focus on AR and VR, but also 5G. The better connection speeds and latency will make these new technologies much more integrated with mobile development.

The use of AR and VR will diversify with the incorporation of 5G. Moreover, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) will enable app developers to provide out-of-the-box interfaces suitable for specific uses, such as those for factories, schools, homes, etc.

Applied 3D Technology

The future will see more of immersive technology, 5G mobile apps and 3D printing.

AI can have a significant influence on multiple sectors, such as education, construction, and healthcare.

Greater IoT Implementation

IoT has become more popular in the past few years, with people wishing to be connected via their smartphones. The new generation of voice assistants uses their artificial intelligence to answer questions and control your devices.

With 5G, everyone can expect that their smart home will take a giant leap forward. You’ll be able to connect with your car and other devices and explore what lies ahead.

Mobile app development will take off exponentially in the coming years. 5G provides seamless global connectivity that’s faster, smoother, and of higher capacity.

Better GPS-Enabled Apps

5G uses higher frequencies and shorter wavelengths, which means devices can be connected in buildings and urban zones more easily. Furthermore, 5G offers highly accurate results for GPS-enabled apps.

By using GPS and improved connectivity, mobile app development will become faster.

Faster and Larger File Transfers

With 5G, data transfer will be faster and app developers can make improvements to increase productivity.

Enhanced User Experience

5G will have faster speeds, decreased load times, and increased clarity. It will also change the user interface.

Developers can use the improved performance of 5G networks for better app performance, which would boost app downloads and reduce abandonment.

Decreased Dependence on Hardware

5G removes the need to install apps on your device by running them remotely on the cloud. This means that consumers can access apps without having to download them and free up the device’s processing power and internal hardware.

With 5G technology, we will have fast data transfer capabilities for better connectivity and communication. This means that developers won’t need to rely as heavily on a smartphone’s processing power to create mobile apps.

Improved Battery Life

5G will decrease battery consumption which can extend the battery life of our mobile devices and IoT devices. This will give users more time to interact with apps without running out of power.

Better Integration

Developers will be able to integrate 5G into their apps. With the rise in personalized interactions, prompt feedback, and cloud-based services, 5G is expected to take these aspects even further. App developers must be prepared for more human-machine interactions as well as machine-machine interactions.

Wrap Up

5G was created as the ultimate solution to cellular connectivity. However, it is still in infancy. There’s much to be perfected. More data will be collected with wider adoption of 5G. Increased data collection could lead to more data breaches.

5G will require replacing our older devices, as they are not compatible. The technology has a lot to offer, with potential for faster mobile apps and smoother user experiences.

As IoT devices and wearables become mainstream, 5G networks will become easier to adopt. With enhanced capacity, developers can go and explore how powerful 5G is.

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Effective Ecommerce Website Design Practices to Help You Sell More

It comes as no surprise that e-commerce sales are increasing year after year. eMarketer estimates that online retail sales will reach USD6.17 trillion by 2023 with e-commerce websites accounting for 22.3% of total retail sales. In Australia, the country is ranked as the 11th largest e-commerce market in the world, with revenue expected to reach USD32.3 billion by 2024. 

Obviously, a lot of money is spent online. More and more consumers are choosing e-commerce shopping online instead of the conventional brick-and-mortar shopping. And as a new e-commerce business owner, you might be wondering how you can reach those customers.

E-commerce website design is a great place to start. What you want is a website that is attractive, simple and easy to use for customers. This, in turn, makes purchasing easy for them. 

Effective e-commerce website design

There are recognised best practices for most websites that can assist you in having a useful and functional site. However, e-commerce websites are distinct. They must manage merchandise, process payments, and provide an easy-to-use shopping interface. And businesses must work harder to overcome the inherent uncertainties of the internet in order to entice customers to part with their hard-earned money. Nonetheless, e-commerce websites must follow a unique set of standards than regular websites. And the first step toward that goal is a clutter-free design.

1. Simplicity is key 

Simplicity is ideal when it comes to e-commerce website design. While it is tempting to add more features or interactive graphics to a website, doing so can overwhelm your visitors and drive them away. Nobody wants to go through a million popups, browse through 5 pages of content, or find a navigation menu that does not exist. Such design flaws result in lost customers, which leads to lost sales.

If you want to improve the conversion rate of your e-commerce website, consider streamlining it. Consider your design as if you were the end user. Would you become frustrated when navigating? Would you find it difficult to navigate your website? Can you find everything you need in just one or two clicks? Are menus and buttons labeled clearly and legibly? All of these things should be considered when designing your online store.

Minimalist websites frequently outperform visually complicated ones. The easier it is for someone to shop with you, the more likely it is that they will complete the transaction process and give you a sale.

Other simple design elements include:

• Easily digestible content
• Simple and easy to read fonts
• Consistent color palette
• Easily identifiable navigation elements
• Easy to navigate product categories

2. Provide clear navigation

If you walk into a crowded store where the shelves are overflowing with merchandise and there is no apparent order, you would probably leave. That is not an enjoyable shopping experience. An e-commerce site with poor navigation equates to a cluttered, disorganised store.

Keeping in mind the minimalist design, navigation is frequently an area where users feel confused and choose to exit a site. With bad navigation, finding what a customer needs can become a daunting endeavour, especially when a site offers a broad selection of things (e.g. Myer or Woolworths). 

You may considerably improve the user experience you provide by keeping your menu clean and orderly. Create an orderly, tiered structure with only a few primary categories at the top (home page) to make it easy for your customers to discover your products. Likewise, make sure that your product pages are also clearly organised as you don’t want your users to get lost when they have almost found your desired product. Consumers like the opportunity to find exactly what they’re searching for without having to wade through irrelevant information. Including a search box on your site enables visitors to begin a targeted search for the item or service they’re looking for right away. There’s no need to sift through multiple layers of menus; simply input your search criteria and go. 

3. Use quality photos and videos 

Modern e-commerce website design typically demands high-quality photographs and videos. The more accurate you represent your products, the more users will prefer shopping to your online store. This includes large, high-resolution images, 360-degree views, videos, and 3D models.

Sometimes, a customer wants to see a product in action before deciding whether or not to buy it. Images boost conversion rates by up to 40%, so it’s vital to put them front and center.  They pique the clients’ interest and make them want to learn more. Some consumers believe that low-quality images indicate that a store does not care about making an effort to sell, therefore they are more inclined to find another that does.  Customers want to know exactly what they’re buying and see it from as many perspectives as possible before making a purchase. Clean, professional product images develop trust. That is why your online store should focus primarily on your photos and images.  

4. Use social proof

It’s no secret that many smart shoppers look for customer reviews before making any kind of purchase. According to Dimensional Research, 90 percent of consumers value internet reviews more than sales professionals’  feedback. Meanwhile, Spiegel Research Center research published a 2017 report saying that 95 percent of customers examine online reviews before making a purchase. 

Include a rating system in your e-commerce website design so that customers may rate your products (and then get as many 5 star reviews as you can). Obviously, aim to get as many positive ones as possible. Request that customers review your products and tell you what they like about them before posting them on your blog. Provide an assurance to your visitors that you are a trustworthy and credible business. Your conversions will increase as a result. 

5. Keep checkout easy

Make it easy for your customers to complete the checkout process. You put a lot of time and effort into investing in a website that takes customers to their destination. Make sure they get through it. Shopping cart abandonment is one of the biggest complaints of online businesses. With an average dropout rate of 69.57%, it is well worth trying to reduce this number, 

Customers will be more motivated to complete the task if you provide a progress bar or explain the remaining tasks. The entire process should be laid out, from the delivery details to the available shipping options to the credit card number. Show them a preview of the products in the cart with a description so they can review what they’re buying. Make them fill out as few data fields as possible with only the information that is required. When they completed their order, send your customers to a confirmation page to ensure that their transaction went smoothly.

In short, make the checkout process as simple as possible if you want customers to buy from you.

Conclusion

A well-executed e-commerce website design can elevate your online store to the next level. It provides the ideal platform for you to develop a brand, engage with target clients, and sell products or services that bring value to their lives. Good e-commerce web design is crucial when you want to convert website visitors into customers – but only if you have a website design that caters to the preferences of all types of customers. 

Online businesses like yours should avoid losing a lot of customers due to poor website design. Consider hiring a professional e-commerce website design company such as Creativ Digital. We’ve designed and improved over a thousand websites in Sydney and across Australia. We’d love to add yours to the list!

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