How Introduction of Mobile Apps Influences Performance of Multinational Online Businesses

The mobile revolution of the past decade ignited a major shift in online enterprises’ business models. Many of those who embraced and adapted to the new paradigm have achieved results hardly imaginable in the pre-mobile era, since the smartphone and related technologies provide new opportunities to interact with customers more often and directly than ever before, and new ways to capitalize on those interactions. In this study, influence of mobile apps on companies’ performance is examined, and suggestions on the best practices of apps’ implementation are provided. The paper covers historical web search data, interviews with development professionals, and a number of case studies of high-profile companies. The results include a confirmation of correlation (or lack thereof) between the event of mobile apps’ introduction and the changes in the company’s certain key performance indicators, and a number of suggestions on what the best practices are.